Top Gear Live (show)

Top Gear Live (previously known as the MPH Show) was a supercar motor show. It was held annually at Earls Court beginning in 2003, later expanding to be also held at the Birmingham NEC from 2005 with the two shows being around one week apart. The show took up either one or two halls at both venues, and there were usually two parts to it: the Exhibition and the Main Show. From 2011 the show was rebranded and relaunched as "Top Gear Live", tying together its close links to the Top Gear television series and with a venue change to ExCeL London. Top Gear Live was later expanded, being used by BBC Worldwide as a brand of touring stadium show.

A Top Gear Live show in 2012

Exhibition Section
Two Spyker C8 Spyders at MPH 07

Visitors arrive and have the opportunity to take a look at exhibitors' stands. Many are there to advertise a product that they sell (for example there was a 'Shell' stand at MPH '06 advertising Shell V Power) There are also exhibition stands advertising car lease, whilst showing actual cars that can be leased at the stand. These are the likes of the Ferrari Enzo, Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, Ferrari F430 or the Aston Martin DBS V12.

There are also a few car manufacturers exhibiting, although not to the scale of the 'Sunday Times Motor Show'. At MPH 2006, Land Rover turned half of the hall into a simulated off-road environment with ramps and severe slopes, on which people could drive the new Land Rover Discovery 3.

There are also VIP enclosures such as 'The Sunday Times' enclosure, or the 'Auto Express' enclosure in which people with VIP tickets can go and enjoy a glass of wine for example. Overall, the exhibition side of the show is very trade based and does not include many car manufacturers.

Main show
A Top Gear Live show in Moscow, 2013
Chariot racing with motorcycles at a live show in 2012

The main event is a 90-minute show, which takes up an entire hall and has the audience sitting in stadium-like seating. The show features stunt driving and a catwalk-style presentation of new cars. Also included in the show are the usual team antics, well known from Top Gear and TGT; at MPH 2006 they placed James May in a shopping trolley and pushed him across the hall with a Ford Mustang at 40 mph into huge ten-pin bowling skittles.

Stunts are performed during the show

There were also 3D presentations during the show; for example MPH 2005, included a virtual and life-size 3D Apache helicopter shooting at a real Lotus Elise as it raced around the arena. Pyrotechnics added live explosions to the display, simulating missile hits and ricochets from gunfire; due to its success, it made a return appearance in 2006. MPH 2006 also included a virtual 3D Hummer being dropped out of an aircraft, shot down by a Tornado jet, and landing in pieces in the ocean. A 3D Gatso Camera/Dragon of the future battled it out with the Stig at MPH 2007.

In 2006, the MPH show was presented by Jeremy Clarkson and James May (Top Gear presenters), and Tiff Needell (Fifth Gear presenter) who was drafted in to cover for Richard Hammond who could not make the show due to a crash. At MPH 2007 the presenters were Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond (then the Top Gear presenters).

Exhibited cars in the MPH 2006 show included the Caparo T1, Pagani Zonda F, Jaguar XKR, Lamborghini LP640, Bentley GTC, Koenigsegg CCX, Spyker C8, Spyker D8, Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder, Invicta, and the Porsche Cayenne Magnum black gunsmoke.

Tour dates
List of shows, showing date, city, country, venue.
Date City Country Venue
2008
October 30 London England Earls Court Exhibition Hall
October 31
November 1
November 2
November 13 Birmingham National Exhibition Centre
November 14
November 15
November 16
November 27 Dublin Ireland RDS Simmoncourt
November 28
November 29
November 30
2009
January 29 Johannesburg South Africa Coca Cola Dome
January 30
January 31
February 1
February 6 Sydney Australia Acer Arena
February 7
February 8
February 9
February 12 Auckland New Zealand ASB Showgrounds
February 13
February 14
February 15
February 19 Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre
February 20
February 21
February 22
November 5 London England Earls Court Exhibition Centre
November 6
November 7
November 8
November 12 Birmingham National Exhibition Centre
November 13
November 14
November 15
December 3 Dublin Ireland Royal Dublin Society
December 4
December 5
December 6
2010
January 21 Amsterdam Netherlands Heineken Music Hall
January 22
January 23
January 24
January 28 Cape Town South Africa Grand Arena
January 29
January 30
January 31
February 4 Johannesburg Coca Cola Dome
February 5
February 6
February 7
February 11 Sydney Australia Acer Arena
February 12
February 13
February 14
February 18 Auckland New Zealand ASB Showgrounds
February 19
February 20
February 21
November 4 London England Earles Court Exhibition Centre
November 5
November 6
November 7
November 11 Birmingham National Exhibition Centre
November 12
November 13
November 14
2011
March 3 Brisbane Australia Brisbane Entertainment Centre
March 4
March 5
March 6
March 7
March 11 Melbourne Melbourne Showgrounds
March 12
March 13
March 14
March 17 Johannesburg South Africa Kyalami
March 18
March 19
March 20
March 24 Oslo Norway Oslo Spektrum
March 25
March 26
March 27
July 16 Moscow Russia Red Square
July 17
July 22
July 23
July 24
November 11 Birmingham England National Exhibition Centre
November 12
November 13
November 24 London ExCel, London
November 25
November 26
November 27
December 8 Perth Australia Burswood Dome
December 9
December 10
2012
February 23 Moscow Russia Olympic Stadium (Moscow)
February 24
February 25
March 15 Stockholm Sweden Ericsson Globe
March 16
March 17
March 29 Copenhagen Denmark Forum Copenhagen
March 30
March 31
April 1
June 16 Durban South Africa Moses Mabhida Stadium
June 17
October 25 Birmingham England National Exhibition Centre
October 26
October 27
October 28
November 23 Helsinki Finland Messukeskus Helsinki
November 24
November 25
2013
February 22 Moscow Russia Olympic Stadium (Moscow)
February 23
March 9 Sydney Australia Sydney Motorsport Park
March 10
April 26 Amsterdam Netherlands Ziggo Dome
April 27
April 28 Antwerp Belgium Sportpaleis
June 15 Durban South Africa Moses Mabhida Stadium
June 16
September 21 Warsaw Poland PGE Narodowy
2014
January 17 Glasgow Scotland OVO Hydro
January 18
January 19
March 8 Sydney Australia Sydney Motorsport Park
March 9
March 25 Moscow Russia Olympic Stadium (Moscow)
March 26
March 29 St. Petersburg Ice Palace (St. Petersburg)
May 17 St. Philips Barbados Bushy Park Circuit
May 18
June 21 Durban South Africa Moses Mabhida Stadium
June 22
June 27 Prague Czech Republic O2 Arena (Prague)
June 28
July 1 Budapest Hungary Budapest Sports Arena
July 3 Zagreb Croatia Arena Zagreb
July 5 Torino Italy Pala Alpitour
July 6
2015
February 13 Liverpool England Liverpool Echo Arena
February 14
February 20 Newcastle Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
February 21
May 22 Belfast Northern Ireland Odyssey Complex
May 23
May 24
June 5 Sheffield England Sheffield Arena
June 6
June 7
June 12 Johannesburg South Africa WeBuyCars Dome
June 13
June 14
June 19 Stavanger Norway Sørmarka Arena
June 20
June 21
July 18 Perth Australia RAC Arena
July 19
July 25 Sydney Sydney Super Dome
July 26
October 24 Warsaw Poland PGE Narodowy
November 27 London England The O2 Arena
November 28
November 29
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