Top Gear/WMG

Stig is not a name but a title.
Stunt Technician In Gear. i.e, a special driver with a lot of protection garb. Makes sense huh?

Okay, let's have them. Who is the Stig?
Or rather, what is the Stig? Is he a robot? A giant wasp? A visitor from an anti-matter universe whose pressure suit is the only thing that prevents him from exploding and destroying our world? Is he, in fact, Bruce Wayne?
 * Clearly, he is Jesus.
 * Status: Confirmed in the 2010 Christmas drive to Bethlehem Special. No, really.
 * He's the Anti-Anti-Christ or Kroenen's less Ax Crazy but much more single-minded creation. Kroenen needed a Badass Driver - that's the black one, and the black one made the white one... somehow.
 * Apparently, he's a dude called Ben Collins. But the BBC's keeping their mouths shut over the matter.
 * Perhaps there's no one Stig, though there may be a "primary" Stig who handles most of the appearances. There may be a clause in the Stig's contract to the effect that he gets fired if his identity is ever leaked to the press, so Auntie Beeb would want to keep its mouth shut over the matter.
 * Specifically, there's probably one who does all the power laps, one who does the rally type stuff, one who does the really heavy stuff such as F1 car driving, and guest Stigs to do all the weird and wonderful bits and pieces. Not to mention the clearly-different joke Stigs such as African Stig and (maybe, it might be padding) Rig Stig and American Stig.
 * Ben Collins is one potential Stig, he's certainly the chap mentioned as a co-presenter in the official accident report into Hammond's near fatal jet car crash.
 * The BBC failed to get an injunction preventing his autobiography being published.
 * American Stig was definitely Elvis.
 * Excel-2009. He's a spy from the BBC charged with keeping their already outrageous antics in check. The BBC lets Top Gear get away with a lot; the Stig is the arbiter of how far past the limit they're allowed to cross.
 * What happens if they cross the line? Does Stig dispense justice himself or just report them?
 * Maybe it's ex-presenter Jason Dawes, presumably on loan from old format inheritor Fifth Gear?
 * Viewers might be able to detect a slight difference between the silhouette of him and the Stig.
 * The Germans didn't notice the difference between Stig and May, though....
 * Considering Verizon FiOS has added Jason Dawe(s)' name to the Top Gear cast list for every episode... Or maybe it's a, um, Patriot Day prank? (checks back a week later: No, he's still on the lists... odd)
 * Clearly, he's the White Ranger.
 * This troper is fairly shameless about how much he detests the "character X is a Time Lord!" meme, but even he can admit when it fits and it's quite obvious that the Stig is a regeneration of Ayrton Senna.
 * Not a Time Lord, but a Slab. Stranded on earth, wandering the countryside, accidentally run over by James as he crossed a road, and now kept around to test cars with robotic precision. Plus he doesn't complain or eat much, so that's a plus.
 * I've heard a rumour that sometimes the car manufacturers aren't happy having someone they don't know throw their expensive test cars around the track for the power lap, so the Stig in those sections is one of the manufacturers own test drivers.
 * The Stig always takes the same line while testing, so that's unlikely (it's the same line Lewis Hamilton used, but no other F1 drivers... hmmmm...). Anyway, we all know the Stig is really the Goddamned Batman!
 * It wouldn't be hard to just ask the test driver to take the Stig's line. After all, it almost certainly IS the fastest line for almost all cars. F1 drivers take a different line because their experience tends to be in open-wheel racing, not sports-car racing. Only one F1 driver beat the Stig's time in the liana, and IIRC he took Stig line.
 * Apparently, the big reveal is tonight (21st June). This troper putting his money on a big unreveal
 * I'll take that bet.
 * The Stig is . The reason that last lap was so incompetent is that he happened to be possessed by Sam Beckett, who may have an IQ of 267, multiple black belts and the ability to speak seven languages, but never trained as a racing driver.
 * Except for 2 things: was still racing for the majority of White Stig's run, and probably wouldn't have been off filming power laps for TV, and Schumacher's still credited separately from the Stig on that episode...
 * Also, why would "The Stig" have to do that lap in the first place? He's already done one back when they changed the cars. Shame that we'll never see Schuey actually do a real lap now to compare with Mansell and Hamilton....
 * was the Stig ... on the episode he was unmasked on. This is because the car featured in the power lap, the Ferrari FXX, is so absurdly rare and powerful that only the owner is authorized/qualified to drive it. The black FXX is a special car, (the rest of the FXXs are Ferrari red) 30th in a limited edition of 29, presented to by the company as a retirement gift.
 * They aren't all red, there are also yellow, black, silver and white but Schumacher's is the only black FXX without a stripe, it comes with red trim on the wheels, it has matte exhaust tips (regular FXX's have chrome tips), and his personal logo is stitched on the racing seats.
 * The Stig is James May. However, to keep his identity secret, the James May from an alternate dimension has agreed to cross over and co-present the show.
 * Richard Hammond insinuated in Series 6 Episode 4 that James' mum was The Stig. Stig-ness must run in the family.
 * The Stig is the last of the Mandalorians. Come on, do you really think the design of the racing helmet is just a coincidence?
 * The Stig is Dr. Helmer from Riget. Come on! His first name IS Stig!
 * While skulking the Death Note WMG page, someone suggested Soichiro Yagami was the Stig. Considering he crashed a van into a TV station (not long after suffering a minor heart attack, mind you), they may have a point.
 * At the very least, the Stig is clearly protecting himself from Kira.
 * For record's sake, the fangirls on Livejournal tend to suggest Stiggy's an alien or an android. The best idea I heard is he's an android from the future created by Jeremy.
 * This troper has a friend who once met Clarkson, and was told that The Stig is . Why else would he be able to drive all the different cars with only a couple of laps to practice?
 * Well that does explain.
 * The Stig is a person who is good at driving cars.
 * Actually I retract that, I think the Stig is Tim Gunn.
 * Nonsense, Tim Gunn is Iron Man, so clearly the Stig is Tony Stark (and I'm sure a lot of people think Tony's a git).
 * If there are multiple Stigs for different cars and different types of driving, and they are all The Stig, then we have to look at what they have in common: The Costume. Any driver wearing the helmet and coveralls literally becomes The Stig. The Stig is always The Stig, it's just that he wears different people.
 * Thank you for turning the Stig into Nightmare Fuel.
 * It wasn't as hard as you'd think.
 * The Stig is someone from Watchmen, I just haven't decided who... maybe it's all of them taking turns:
 * Movie!Nite Owl II wears a rather Stig-like mask/helmet in the Arctic, and he's clearly handy with machines.
 * Rorscharch (he'd be an older Stig) considers his mask to be his true face, and though he doesn't talk very much he's quick on his feet and his mind.
 * If the rarely-clothed, glowing, talkative (under the right circumstances) Dr. Manhattan wanted to go out and relax, what else would he disguise himself as but as a guy who is completely covered and silent? (those occasional flashes of flesh are just an additional layer of clothes)
 * Adrian Veidt wouldn't pass up the chance to drive the most powerful cars on earth as fast as he can.
 * Silk Spectre I and/or II... why the hell not?
 * Like Darth Vader, after seriously injuring himself in the rocketcar crash Richard Hammond was given significant cybernetic implants and became The Stig. All previous Stig appearances are going to be explained when Ham/Stig is given a time machine in the last season.
 * Gentlemen, I put
 * Jamie Hyneman. With all the other things he's done, "tame racing driver" isn't too much of a stretch.
 * While patrolling WMG, I saw that someone suggested that England from Axis Powers Hetalia was the Stig. I quite like this idea, myself.
 * A member of Daft Punk. One of them happens to like cars, and still wants to be The Faceless.
 * Dennis from The Art Of Racing In The Rain, dudes. I mean the Stig could have been an American road race driver who happen to know a writer and have a dog named Enzo. Maybe much of that book is true except the part about Dennis going to drive for Ferrari.
 * A fairy. Namely, the folktale version. He is said to be afraid of bells, confused by stairs, heard only by cats, has weird anatomy, and spends his spare time acting hunting wolves and fish. All of these traits are at least partially influenced by traits ascribed to fairfolk in legends. It's possible that the "real" Stig, the one that the other Stigs are covering up for, is a fairy who is trying to reach out to and integrate with the humans to bring about a new era of fairy/human cooperation. Either that, or he has somehow been roped into a contract with the creators of Top Gear.
 * The Pyro. Both of them have seven letter names and suits with masks. Stig just crosses between dimensions when he's not driving cars.

One or more characters is a Time Lord

 * Which one, though?
 * All of them. They're all different regenerations of the same one.
 * No, which presenter?
 * ....the Stig. More on the Time Lord WMG page itself.
 * The picture of "James" from 1973 shown during the news segment of the last episode of Series 17 seems to be good evidence for him being one.
 * Richard Hammond is a Time Lord and his TARDIS is Oliver.

The Stig is black.
During a special African edition of the show, "African Stig" appeared, and he was obviously black. Back in the UK, we all assume The Stig is white, but his outfit keeps it ambiguous. But wouldn't it be simpler to assume both Stigs are the same person?
 * Indeed. Clearly he is Lewis Hamilton.
 * We have seen the back of The Stig's neck (between the helmet and the leathers). He is white with dark hair.
 * or he has vitiligo...

The entire programme is the fantasy of Alex Drake.
An Ashes to Ashes special for Comic Relief has the team meet Richard Hammond inspecting Gene Hunt's Quattro. At the end of the skit, Hammond drives off with Alex saying the Stig would like to meeet her. If other people from 2008 appear in Alex's Coma World, then the entire programme is her fantasy.
 * Alternatively, the presenters of Top Gear are all in hospital like Alex. Hammond and the Stig were able to get into her Coma World, like how that male cop got into hers during season 2.
 * Or the Stig exists there when he's not on the track, and Hammond ended up there after crashing the Jet Car.
 * In the Ashes to Ashes finale

The Aston Martin Vantage segment was predicting an ending-Clarkson's.
Call me crazy, and I certainly don't WANT this to happen, but that segment felt more like a eulogy than anything. Jeremy Clarkson's confirmed that Top Gear is continuing and that he's still on it, so that means one last thing...Clarkson is doomed to die. Maybe he doesn't even know it yet, really, just has a feeling, but something is about to go horribly, horribly wrong.
 * Of all the WMGs here, this is the one I most hope to see proven wrong.
 * Fucking second man. I fear for him from now till November.
 * And at two days before the new series begins, I am officially calling this one Jossed. Thank. God.
 * Hear hear. Long live Jezza.

The decorations Madison Welch put on May's helmet will still be there next series.
Or, alternately, they removed the flower but those...fake jewel things will still be on there. And I am invoking the Rule of Funny as the reason why.
 * I think that was silver nail polish.... which may well still be on since nail varnish is difficult to remove.
 * At least not without ruining the paintjob.
 * As of Series 18, during the track day car test, the rhinestones are still there!

Sabine Schmitz would've beat Clarkson's time...
...if the van had been left-hand drive. Seriously, why else would they bother bringing a right-hand drive van all the way from Britain for a German to drive in Germany if not to deliberately invoke Damn You, Muscle Memory!?
 * ...someone forward this to her already!

There will be a car vs. helicopter race.
With Hammond taking helicopter lessons, sooner or later there's going to be another epic race to let Hammond show off his new skill. It may even be a three-way race (plane, helicopter, car) to give May and his light aircraft a shot at redemption.
 * In which Richard Hammond will cheat by

What will be the next Reasonably Priced Car?
They confirmed in 14x07 that the Lacetti will be retired, so what will they replace it with? Place your bets now!

(Note: according to The Other Wiki, official rumors suggest the Chevrolet Cruze. Update: Top Gear Magazine is confirming that it will be the Cruze.)


 * Robin Zimm: I'm looking at the Toyota Yaris, actually. The magazine lists a 1.3 liter for 9682, and it's reported to have good handling.
 * Buckets o' body lean, but otherwise yes.
 * Chariset: Morris Marina?
 * Robin Zimm: ...that would be hilarious!
 * Chariset: If you can't get around the track in under 2:00... well, let's just say you don't want to know what will happen then.
 * Kazokuhouou: Whatever it is, Michael Gambon will come back and clip the corner with it. Make it a hat-trick!

And the final update: Everything is Jossed! The car is a Kia cee'd! And Tom Cruise clips the last corner with it!

In the South American Special, Richard Hammond intentionally wrecked his Land Cruiser.
Robin Zimm: Think about it. The car had been "a constant source of troubles", it'd lost its suspension multiple times, its steering was dodgy, its clutch and its transfer box were failing, it only had front wheel drive remaining ... the timing of the car vanishing just after he got out was too strong to be a coincidence. He - or, more likely, the entire Top Gear crew - decided it was too broken to risk driving down the dune and so he pushed it.

Certy Sterluson is The Stig's cousin
...and it follows that The Stig is a Dullahan.

The American version will have Robert Downey Jr. as a student-Richard Hammond to Jay Leno's Jeremy Clarkson/James May
Did anyone see RDJ on Jay Leno? He looked exactly like Hammond (with Tony Stark's beard)! This was sparked when Leno asked if RDJ really knew what a certain car/piece of equipment in Tony Stark's garage was and RDJ admitted that he didn't know, but would like to learn. Leno could be RDJ's mentor into the world of car fanatics!
 * And now he's stolen James May's hairstyle! It's all coming true!

Future and returning guests?
Now that we've got a new Reasonably Priced Car, who do you think will have another interview on Top Gear, and what newcomers do you think will come?
 * As I said up at the RPC WMG, I think Michael Gambon will come back for one more go, simply because it'd be hilarious.
 * Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and/or Arthur Darvill. Matt Smith's the easy answer why, the past two Doctors have been on Top Gear, it'd make sense to have the new one. And there's precedent for companions to go on the show, look at Billie Piper. Karen Gillan's the more likely bet, cause she's easy on the eyes, but if Arthur has enough of a car history he's got a shot.
 * John Barrowman's probably out though. I've heard that he refuses to go onto Top Gear cause Jeremy's made some homophobic jokes.
 * Series 18 has seen Matt Smith not only become the most recent, but also the fastest Time Lord in a Reasonably-Priced Car.
 * Currently, The Other Wiki page is suggesting that the next guests will be Alastair Campbell (former Director of Communications and Strategy for Tony Blair), Rupert Grint (which makes sense, if he's promoting Deathly Hallows), and Rubens Barrichello (which makes only a marginal amount of sense, the date he's slated to be on is the weekend of the British Grand Prix, so he'd be in the country, but would he have time to make the interview and the race?). Having said that, Wikipedia's been proven wrong before.
 * Campbell's confirmed.
 * Barrichello confirmed his visit on his Twitter
 * Having also said that, though, as a diehard Rubens fan, I totally support bringing him on. I also call, if Lewis Hamilton wins this year's championship, he'll probably be back on. If someone else wins the F1 championship, whether they come on or not will really depend on their reputation here. Mark Webber is more likely to be invited than, say, Fernando Alonso.
 * Also, I fully support inviting David Coulthard and Mika Hakkinen on.
 * It's too late now to do it this series, but a future one-namely one that coincides with one of the Breaking Dawn movies-could see Robert Pattinson. He's the only likely one: he's British.
 * Since a new reasonably priced car is being used it is likely Jay Kay will try to reclaim his top spot.

Episode 1 of Series 16 will not feature the 'death' (or other removal) of the White Stig
User:Robin Zimm: Given that the Black Stig was fired when Perry McCarthy outed himself in his 2002 autobiography, one might expect that White Stig would face the same treatment after Ben Collins' 2010 autobiography. While that seems *possible*, my gut feeling is that they'll keep Collins. For one thing, there are two good reasons to: first, he's an excellent driver (his 2006 time in the Liana stood for four years), and second, he's been on the show for so long that it would be distracting to most of the fandom to change colors again.
 * Last time I checked, there's a line in his contract that means he has to be fired if his identity is revealed.

So now that the Stig's been outed, a) how will his 'death' top being launched off an aircraft carrier, and b) what will be the new Stig's color?
I got nothing for A, but as for B, it can't be red, because that's Communist Stig, or green, since that's Vegetarian Stig. The logical guess would be grey, since it's in between black and white, but honestly, I'd like to see a blue Stig. Mostly cause I like the color blue.
 * For, B) I'm going to put it out there and say silver. Or Union Jack coloured.
 * Mmm, Top Gear has too much Patriotic Fervor as it is. Union Jack would be over the top. Like the silver idea, though.
 * Okay, got an A. It doesn't exactly beat aircraft carrier, but it does fall with a running gag. The Stig spontaneously combusts when Rubens Barrichello escapes with his life from pancake-hood at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
 * The Tartan Stig, maybe?
 * Yellow (normal yellow, not neon "safety" yellow), which will set off a bunch of Bruce Lee / Beatrix Kiddo speculations.
 * Alternatively it will be neon yellow and they'll claim it's because he's been sent by the BBC's Health and Safety department.
 * Orange (or whatever color those things are in the UK) with reflective accents as the Half-Human Hybrid offspring of the Stig and a road safety cone, either created in a lab or consensually. Would that be considered a Cargo Ship or Foe Yay?
 * And here I thought Krauser having a one night stand with the Tokyo Tower couldn't be topped.
 * Granted, it is possible that they would not even dignify Ben Collins's departure with a 'death' for the White Stig, just hire someone new to play him. Thing is: this would just prove Collins's point about how he's outing himself because he's tired of feeling expendable, and also I think the hosts and producers need to get their anger out somehow.
 * For B, I second whoever said blue. The reason? The black uniform had white as a second color, and the white uniform has a blue visor... Yeah, not so strong of evidence, but it's the only lead I have. And as for A, it obviously won't be water-related. I hope they do something with fire.
 * I suspect they'll get another "White Stig" and carry on as though nothing had happened. The "Stig Farm" sketch showed a white-clad Stig apparently being selected.

There was only ever one Stig.
None of the people claiming to be the Stig have ever actually been truthful, nor has there ever been a replacement. All that really happened was that the BBC contacted certain persons to say they are the Stig whenever someone's too close to seeing the Stig, and then they have a stunt guy 'die' while Stiggy picks out some new clothes.

The Stig, of course, goes along with it so he can change his style every now and again. I'd imagine those suits eventually age weirdly, and perhaps the white one simply held up better than the black.

And the injunction on "white's" autobiography? A devious ploy to hide their intentions.
 * I agree. That helmet is F**KING good for hiding a face.

The presenters are RPG characters
Jeremy and James are two wizards; one an over-optimised powergamer and the other an overly serious and theatrical roleplayer. Richard is a druid whose abilities allow him to control cars rather than animals (Oliver the Car is his animal companion). He is the reason they always have a backup car (he summoned it). The Stig is, of course, a min-maxer with a very generous GM, who has allowed him to trade the ability to speak or show his face for huge driving skills, as well as all his other abilities (such as a digital face, hydraulic legs, the power to fire Alan Sugar, and a peerage).
 * This would actually fit disturbingly well in one of those Darths and Droids alternate reality strips...

The next overseas special will be in either Australia, or Northern China and/or Mongolia and/or Siberia
This is as of May, 2011. Map out the regions covered so far, and they do broadly cover most regions of the world, apart from Europe (which Top Gear has seen plenty of times, being a European show), and the two regions mentioned in the guess. Australia also seems a good location for some shorter segments (like the Bonneville flats episode) seen occasionally.
 * There have been verified sightings in October 2011 of the guys in  filming for this year's special.

Oliver is a minibot Transformer.
And now he owes a life debt to Richard Hammond for getting him out of Africa, repairing him, and giving him a loving home and a TV career.

There will be a crossover with Myth Busters in the near future.
And it will be glorious.

There will be a crossover between the British and US versions of the show in the near future.
Hell, they've already crossed over with the Australian version and the German equivalent. It's logical that they'd cross the pond eventually. Also, it'll be more glorious than the Myth Busters crossover.


 * The only question is which team crosses The Pond to do it -- my money's on the US hosts going to Britain. -- User:Robin Zimm
 * It's entirely possible that they could do one episode of each show with the other team making a guest appearance. -- User:Kevin W.
 * Given the British hosts' incessant cheating on prior international challenges, UK-->US would allow a great Hoist by His Own Petard opportunity in the stacked-car race. Imagine Tanner, Rut, Adam and their fourth with Geos stacked onto police-auction-"fresh" Crown Vics after waving Jezza, Hamster and Captain Slow into their original, much-crashed Austin-on-Jag setups.
 * The US team might even have a challenge that has one of the hosts drive one of the other team members cars that had shown up on the show. Clarkson would get Tanner's racing car while Adam "The Wrecker" would drive... Oliver.

James is bi.
They've joked about him being gay, although James has denied this. This could be a possible explanation, considering he has a girlfriend.