Quentin Willson
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Quentin Willson (born July 23, 1957) is a British TV presenter.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Early years
Willson studied English Literature under Philip Larkin. After university he started up a car dealership selling Ferraris and Maseratis. In the early nineties he was the deputy editor of the only magazine solely devoted to second hand motors, Buying Cars.
[edit] Top Gear
He joined the BBC to co-host Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson. For a decade between 1991 and 2001 he appeared every week on Top Gear, routinely exposing shoddy service and poor product, educating car buyers on how to beat the system as well as pressurising the industry to lower new car prices in the UK.
He also presented his own classic car series The Car's The Star along with the first property show to talk about money, All The Right Moves, both for the BBC.
[edit] Post Top Gear
After Top Gear's cancellation he left the BBC to present Channel Five's rival motoring programme, Fifth Gear. When Top Gear was relaunched Willson derided his former colleague, Clarkson, saying "It's a compliment that the [BBC] are so afraid of losing ratings to us they've lured my old co-host out of semi-retirement from his toe-curling chat shows."[1] The relaunched Top Gear has gone on to be a "massive success"[2] with an audience of 8 million in 2007.[3]
While at Five he created the Britain's Worst Driver format which was nominated for best reality show in the Montreux Golden Globe Awards.[citation needed] A raft of Worst derived shows followed, including Britain's Worst DIYer, Worst Mother in Law, Worst Husband, Worst Teenager and Worst Builder to name just a few.
[edit] References
- ^ Methven, Nicola. "Car wars; Exclusive Quentin's dig at 'old hat' Clarkson", The Mirror, MGN, 2002-03-27, p. 22. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
- ^ "Top Gear's chequered past", BBC, 2006-09-21. Retrieved on February 15, 2007.
- ^ "Top Gear sets new ratings record", Digital Spy, 2007-03-6. Retrieved on March 13, 2007.
[edit] External links
- Official Quentin Willson website
- Link Official Top Gear (magazine) website
- Official BBC Top Gear website
| Top Gear |
| Top Gear (1977 to 2001) - Top Gear (2002 to present) |
| Original format presenters |
|---|
| Jason Barlow - Steve Berry - Julia Bradbury - Jeremy Clarkson - Vicki Butler-Henderson - Brendan Coogan - Noel Edmonds - Chris Goffey - Kate Humble
Tony Mason - James May - Tiff Needell - Michele Newman - Angela Rippon - Quentin Willson - William Woollard |
| Current format presenters |
| Jeremy Clarkson - Jason Dawe - Richard Hammond - James May - The Stig |
| Current format episodes and broadcasters |
| Top Gear Episode List - Top Gear Broadcasters and Video Releases |
| Current format featured segments |
| Power Laps - Races - Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car - The Cool Wall - Caravan destruction - Cheap Car Challenges |
| Spin-offs |
| Rally Report - Top Gear Motorsport - Stars in Fast Cars - Top Gear of the Pops |
| Related articles |
| Top Gear Magazine - Jon Bentley - Fifth Gear |
