''Driven'' is a
motoring
Motoring may refer to:
* ''Motoring'' (film), a 1927 British comedy film
* Motoring (TV series), a Canadian automotive television program (1988 to present)
* 310 Motoring, an automotive customization garage based in Los Angeles, California
* Mot ...
television programme launched by
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
in 1998 as a rival to the successful and long-running
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
series ''
Top Gear''. It last aired new episodes in 2002.
History
The style was similar to its rival, but with additional features such as the "Driven 100", a road test of three cars in the same class, where each car would be given marks for qualities such as practicality, desirability and cost of ownership. The car with the highest total score would be the winner. The programme launched with the concept that the presenters should interact with each other rather than present items on their own, as was then the case on ''Top Gear''. The first series also featured a "headquarters", a racing team track, set on a former USAF base (Wethersfield, Essex) at which cars were put through their paces. These concepts resurfaced in the reborn ''
Top Gear'' soon after.
Originally presented by
Mike Brewer,
James May
James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter, alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond, of the motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' fr ...
and
Jason Barlow, subsequent series also featured the rally driver
Penny Mallory and the racing driver
Jason Plato
Timothy Jason Plato (born 14 October 1967) is a British auto racing, racing driver who last competed in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) for BTC Racing. He has twice been List of BTCC champions, BTCC Champion, in 2001 British Touring ...
. The latter pipped
Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond (born 19 December 1969) is an English journalist, television presenter, and author. He co-hosted the BBC Two motoring programme ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' from 2002 until 2015 with Jeremy Clarkson and James Ma ...
to the role according to the pair's conversation on motoring podcast Fuelling Around.
During the show's run, both May and Barlow left the show to join the old format of BBC's ''
Top Gear''.
Following the creation of ''
Fifth Gear
''Fifth Gear'' is a British motoring television magazine series which has been broadcast since 2002. Originally shown on Channel 5 from 2002 to 2011 (and branded as ''5th Gear'' until 2005), it began as a continuation of the original version ...
'' and the revival of ''Top Gear'', ''Driven'' was cancelled by Channel 4 in 2002. Plato went on to present ''Fifth Gear'', May joined the newly relaunched ''
Top Gear'', Brewer presented
ITV's ''
Pulling Power'' and Mallory could be seen on ITV4's ''Used Car Roadshow''.
Reception
The ''
Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
''s Maeve Quigley praised the series, writing, "The show is fast and furious yet manages to get its message across without appearing as laddish as its nearest BBC rival."
The ''
Liverpool Echo
The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...
'' said, "The demise of the BBC's longrunning motor magazine ''
Top Gear'' left car enthusiasts with a dearth of quality programming to satisfy their interest. But this sleek new model is being driven to succeed as more than just an adequate replacement for its vintage predecessor."
See also
*
Channel 4 programming
References
External links
*
Automotive television series
Channel 4 original programming
Driving in the United Kingdom
1998 British television series debuts
2002 British television series endings
British English-language television shows
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