The Stig
Encyclopedia
The Stig is a character in the British motoring television show Top Gear. The character plays on the anonymity of racing drivers' full-face helmets, with the running joke that nobody knows who, or indeed what, is inside the character's racing suit. The character was the creation of presenter Jeremy Clarkson
and the show's producer Andy Wilman
. "Stig" was a nickname for new boys at their old school
, Repton
. Although there is one "main" Stig, there are several "spin-off" Stigs, referred to by the presenters as "The Stig's cousin."
The Stig is responsible for setting lap times for cars tested on the show, as well as instructing celebrity guests in the show's Star in a Reasonably Priced Car section. (see "Role" below) There have currently been three Stigs-the first Stig started on episode 1, but was killed off in the first episode of series 3. The second Stig appeared in the next episode, and lasted until series 15. The third Stig took over from December 2010.
The BBC has always refused to confirm officially the identity of the driver who plays the Stig. "Who is The Stig?" became a frequently asked question on the internet. The identity of the original 'Black' Stig, Perry McCarthy
, was exposed by a Sunday newspaper after the first series
of the show, in January 2003. McCarthy confirmed that he was 'The Stig' in the second edition of his autobiography
, published following series two
, and is now generally acknowledged as having been the first Stig, even by BBC media. The second Stig's identity was revealed, in his own autobiography, as Ben Collins, a professional racing driver who has participated in Formula Three
, Indy Lights, sportscars, GT racing, stock cars & V8 Supercars.
's and producer Andy Wilman
's concept for the relaunched Top Gear show, bringing a new format to the original version of Top Gear which ceased production in 2001. The relaunched show would introduce a live studio audience, the Stig, a racetrack, and madcap stunts. Clarkson is credited by the Sunday Times with having come up with the original idea for the Stig. Clarkson and Wilman wanted to have a professional racing driver as part of the show's cast, but ran into difficulty finding a driver sufficiently adept at speaking on-camera. Clarkson then asked Wilman why the driver needed to speak at all, and the decision was made that the Stig's role would be silent.
The name Stig derives from Wilman and Clarkson's time at the private Repton School
, where new boys had always been called "Stig". According to McCarthy, speaking in 2006, the producers had wanted the anonymous driver to be called 'The Gimp', referring to the use of gimp suits
in BDSM
sexual role-playing. After McCarthy objected, the name Stig was settled upon. McCarthy had said of the idea at the time that "I don't want to be forever remembered as the Gimp".
racing suit with small Grand Prix Racewear logo, a white Simpson
Bandit and later, Diamondback race helmet, black on white Alpinestars Tech 1-ZX gloves, and white Alpinestars Tech 1-T racing shoes. His white helmet was originally a Simpson Speedway RX model, while his shoes also began as Alpinestars Tech 1-K kart items.. The New Stig's uniform is very similar to the previous Stig but has black epaulettes
.
According to the Sunday Times writing in 2006, most of the crew did not know his identity, relaying how one camera assistant once observed him eating his lunch in the back of an ambulance to avoid being spotted. Again according to The Sunday Times writing in 2009, just a few BBC production staff and other journalists knew the Stig's real identity..
Although the Stig does talk with celebrities while preparing them for their "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" lap times, he is never shown talking on screen. Clarkson has joked that he is "not a very talkative chap" when keeping silent while on set, in order to hide his identity. In a rare spoken interview, the Stig has reportedly said when asked what his real name was, that he didn't remember because his memory had been erased when he got the job. The Stig's muteness is extended to appearances in other media, such as the 'Brain Stig' viral video
released by the BBC on their YouTube
channel, to promote the new Top Gear website in 2009, depicting a frustrated staff member holding a brainstorming
session for show ideas.
Clarkson has written in his newspaper column that the Stig is not permitted to talk because "the opinions of all racing drivers are completely worthless", going on to explain that, because of their familiarity with cars equipped for track racing, they believe any and all road cars are rubbish, even a Lamborghini Gallardo
or a Bugatti Veyron
. He confirmed this by test driving for himself a BMW 3-series diesel road car converted to a race car, complete with slick tyres, race suspension and brakes, and concluding that driving it was "more exciting and more fun to drive than any supercar".
drivers. When Jeremy Clarkson stated that the Stig believed that the Suzuki Liana, the show's Reasonably Priced Car at the time, could do a time of 1:44, a former F1 driver, Nigel Mansell
, appearing as a guest on the programme, duly obliged by posting a lap time of 1:44.6, while the Stig then posted a lap time of 1:44.4. Clarkson has often mentioned that F1 drivers seem to take a different racing line on the test track than the Stig, such as on Jenson Button
's drive; however, during Rubens Barrichello
's and Lewis Hamilton
's visits to the show, Clarkson observed that they took the same line around the track as The Stig. Formula One driver Mark Webber
's appearance on the show was marked at the conclusion of his lap with Clarkson presenting him with an "I AM THE STIG" T-shirt. The show made various references to the Stig apparently having developed a jealous rivalry with Rubens Barrichello
, after he became the first person to beat his time posted in the "Reasonably Priced Car" by a tenth of a second, posting a lap time of 1:44.3. Sebastian Vettel
currently holds the record for F1 drivers with a time of 1:44.0.
Syndrome".
The Stig's status and oddity has often been underlined with humorous introductions by the presenters before his appearances on the show. Initially, the Stig would be given simple humorous introductions on the show, such as "His Holiness
, The Stig!" (introducing the Power Lap for the Bowler Wildcat
.) Beginning in Series 6, these began to follow a format of "Some say that [facts]. All we know is, he's called the Stig.", where the facts give away some unusual trait or other detail about the Stig. These often detail his odd character traits, such as being afraid of bells or confused by stairs. His possibly machine like or at least non-human body is hinted at by revelations that his voice can only be heard by cats, or that he never blinks, naturally faces magnetic north, all his legs are hydraulic, he has two sets of knees, and heart ticks like a watch. He is even hinted at being a wild creature, spending his spare time catching fish with his tongue or foraging for wolves in the woods. Other odd details revealed in these introductions have included such facts as his face appears on high-value stamps in Sweden his left nipple is the shape of the Nürburgring
, one of his eyes is a testicle, that he invented the curtain, that he daydreams of Rubens Barrichello
being caught in a ham slicer, his salary is paid by the BBC
in strong pornography, and that he developed the wonderful scent of Wednesday.
His introductions often jokingly refer to current events of the day, such as when Clarkson introduced Michael Schumacher as the Stig in 2009 by stating he "recently submitted a £20,000 expenses claim for some gravel for his moat," in reference to the MPs' expenses scandal, or when it was said "if you give him a really important job, he'll skive off and play croquet", referring to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott
in 2006. One introduction even made reference to the conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Princess Diana: "Some say that he's banned from the town of Chichester and that in a recent late-night deal, he bought a slightly dented white Fiat Uno from the Duke of Edinburgh
."
For the trip to the Isle of Man
road test, the Stig was depicted as a piece of cargo, being collected by Clarkson from the baggage conveyor at the airport. On the Top Gear 2005 DVD Revved Up, the Stig is depicted as being stored in a cupboard when not in use. The Stig is also portrayed as having bizarre listening habits as heard on the car stereo as he performs Power Laps. Often a specific genre is chosen for one or more series. These have included power ballads, one-hit wonder
s, easy listening
, country and western, Morse code
, progressive rock
, whale songs, baroque
, advertising jingles, foreign language tapes, romantic novels, salesman techniques, the hits of Elton John
, the speeches of Margaret Thatcher
, self-help
tapes, pipe band music, Chas & Dave, vuvuzela
s, and, in episode 5 of series 15, the Bee Gees
in German
.
The Stig's odd persona was maintained in his appearance at the National Television Awards, when he silently accepted an award, and handed the host Griff Rhys Jones
a letter from Clarkson, May and Hammond, instructing him to give the Stig the award in his left hand, as his right one is magnetic, and cautioning organisers that he wasn't to be seated near the cast of Coronation Street
, as "he's decided all northerners
are edible".
, Richard Hammond
, and James May
as a presenter of Top Gear in the end credits. The Stig's primary roles on the show centre on the Top Gear test track
at the show's base at Dunsfold Aerodrome
, Surrey. His two main functions are to post lap times for various featured performance cars in the 'Power Laps' segment, and to train celebrity guests to set lap times on the test track in the 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' segment.
The Stig's role as a test driver is described on the Top Gear website Power Laps board as follows:
When first introduced, the Stig was described as the resident test driver, as the presenters could not consistently post fast times themselves. His stated mission was to "just go out there and drive fast". This was reflected by the original Stig Perry McCarthy who described in 2006 how a racing driver was intended to be used as part of the presenting team in order to produce definitive fastest lap times for tested cars.
was the original, Black Stig, appearing in 22 episodes of the programme in all.
McCarthy got the role of the Stig after a chance meeting with Jeremy Clarkson at the launch party for McCarthy's autobiography, Flat Out, Flat Broke: Formula 1 the Hard Way!
, published on 4 July 2002. This led to an audition as a regular presenter, before the production team then decided the racing driver would be anonymous. (Although in 2008, McCarthy said that Clarkson mentioned the idea of a 'top secret' racing driver at their first meeting.)
After the first series
ended, an article on 12 January 2003 in The Sunday Mirror named the Stig as Perry McCarthy. The newspaper quoted a show insider stating "Just a handful of the crew know that he is actually Perry". At the time, McCarthy simply stated "I do know who the Stig is but I cannot comment any further." After the second series
ended, McCarthy published the second edition of his autobiography, confirming that he was The Stig. McCarthy was then "killed off" in the first episode of the third series
, which aired on 26 October 2003.
The scene which saw Black Stig "killed off", nicknamed "Top Gun vs Top Gear", was an attempt to race to 100 mi/h and then come to a halt on the 200 metres (656.2 ft) long flight deck of HMS Invincible
, a Royal Navy aircraft carrier, on which British Aerospace Sea Harrier jump jets reach 100 mi/h before take-off. He would be using the 'old Top Gear Jag', a white Jaguar XJS
bought for a 'couple of hundred quid
', stripped of its fittings and fitted with nitrous
injection, to take it to 500 bhp, which had been featured in series 2, beating 'just about every supercar on the planet' in a drag race. Black Stig accelerated along the deck, and an on screen speedometer indicated 109 mi/h, before a cutaway shot saw the car flying off the end of the runway ramp and into the sea. Clarkson then revealed in the last scene of the episode, that the shot of a glove floating on the sea was all that divers had found. According to McCarthy, "We tried to make it as much like a scene out of James Bond
as possible".
The explanations for his exit vary. Speaking in 2008, McCarthy stated "My time at Top Gear ended nicely enough. I’d had a great time and felt it was time to call it a day. So we all shook hands and they threw me off an aircraft carrier." The Times claimed in 2009 that he fell out with producers. In August 2010, he described how he became tired of the job, which he claimed paid just £700 a week. He said part of his annoyance with the role had come from an attempt by a car owner to sue him for ruining his car, a rare Jaguar C-Type
, winner of the 1953 Le Mans 24 Hours, and the BBC stating they could not defend him due to his anonymity. He stated that the BBC eventually chose not to renew his contract, and wrote him out.
Speaking in 2009, McCarthy relayed how to keep his anonymity, when he drove to work as the Stig, he would don the Stig's helmet while going through the security gates at Dunsfold aerodrome, and then he would change into his racing overalls in a special room behind the gatehouse, before then driving into the studio areas. He would speak as little as possible in the backstage areas, and put on an accent, which some mistook as French. McCarthy also explained that hiding his identity while coaching the celebrities for Star in a Reasonably Priced Car proved difficult. He stated that he did reveal his true identity while coaching Ross Kemp
and David Soul
, as he had previously met them. For other drives, if celebrities asked if he was a particular person, he would just say "How did you know?", adding that more often than not, the suggestion was Michael Schumacher.
Having had background in top level motor racing before Top Gear, and having originally intended to be a Formula One
driver, albeit failing to qualify for any races in the 1992 Formula One season
for the Moda Judd
team, McCarthy stated in 2006 he did not regret leaving the supercars on Top Gear, and instead harboured ambitions at re-entering racing in the Grand Prix Masters
series. After Top Gear he went on to run an investment company, and earn £6,000 a time doing after dinner speaking.
However, according to the Sunday Times writing in 2009, McCarthy had revealed in his book that there had always been more than one Stig, and that 47 year-old Julian Bailey
, a former Formula One driver for Tyrrell
and Lotus
, had acted as a stand in for McCarthy, as Black Stig. In a June 2009 interview with the Daily Mail, Bailey, who was selling his home in Effingham, Surrey, said "I was one of the Stigs...which was pretty handy as filming was done just down the road...I have stopped now, but I am not supposed to talk about it."
road test, driving a Caterham Seven
from Caterham
to Knockhill
, riding a London Bus, the DLR
and the Tube
across London, and jumping a snowmobile off a ski-jump in Lillehammer
, Norway. He has also been used in various roles at the studio, such as playing a police pursuit driver in the White Van Man
challenge.
Since Clarkson's 2010 DVD The Italian Job, This Stig is now known as "Sacked Stig".
There had been much speculation over the identity of this Stig since 2005, from various sources, claiming that a number of drivers, including Collins, Damon Hill
, Julian Bailey
, Russ Swift
, Darren Turner
and Tim Schrick
, as well as former Top Gear Presenter, now Fifth Gear
presenter Tiff Needell
were the Stig. There had also been speculation of multiple drivers being the Stig. Many people had also claimed to be the Stig themselves, including Jay Kay and Damon Hill.
When Richard Hammond crashed a rocket-powered car, the accident report into the crash described Ben Collins as someone who worked closely with Top Gear as a high performance driver and consultant.
Original Stig Perry McCarthy stated in November 2006 that he knew who the White Stig was, and hinted at the multiple driver theory.
Many racing drivers, and principals, including Andrew Kirkaldy
, Susie Stoddart
and Stewart Roden claimed to know who it was, saying that "In the racing world, a lot of the team managers (and racing drivers) know who is under the helmet, but it's top secret", with Kirkaldy claiming He's reasonably quiet and modest and doesn't ever talk about it. I only found out by chance and he's certainly never admitted it."
After observing the Stig's charity drive around the Silverstone Circuit
just before the July 2008 British Grand Prix
, former Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso
remarked, "Whoever’s in that car is a seriously good driver... I’ve no idea who he is, but he’s definitely ex-F1".
During 2009, the rumours of the Stig's identity increased rapidly, with various newspapers claiming during January that it was indeed Collins. These include a builder who claimed to have seen his white helmet and uniform on display in his house while doing some work for him, and an art gallery owner and his son claiming that in 2008 a man had enquired about the creation of 450 signed and limited edition prints of the Stig. He first claimed to be a BBC executive, but then revealed himself to be the Stig after they agreed to do the job and signed a confidentiality agreement to keep it secret.
Furthermore, the tabloid News of the World
obtained information stating he was on a salary of around £150,000 a year, by combining his Top Gear job with some stunt and test driving. He was in his 30s, married, living in a £300,000 home and drove a car worth £15,000. It quoted the BBC source stating "This is the best-kept secret in motor racing and we want to keep it that way. No one will ever officially confirm his identity." This contradicts with many newspapers beliefs (and that of car magazines, such as Peter Lawton, consumer editor of What Car?
magazine) that this had been an "open secret within the motoring world for some years" which the media had previously kept secret in order to "uphold the spirit of the programme".
A BBC source said "The simple fact of the matter is that there are currently four Stigs who drive on the test track" for reasons of practicality. The report claimed that in addition to the rumoured Ben Collins,and MIRA Ice Racing Champion Mike Wilson, Julian Bailey was also currently working as the Stig, with more drivers also used when their schedules clashed. Supporting this, it relayed the source's explanation that if you look at the show the height of the Stig varies.
Whilst these rumours were ongoing, the Top Gear website blog facetiously revealed that the Stig was a Royal Bank of Scotland
chairman Sir Tom McKillop attempting to recover crippling losses, as well as the newly elected US President Barack Obama
, who only ran for election to fill in the time between series, and Graham Hill
, who they claim faked his own death in a plane crash in 1975 to take the role.
In his newspaper column in The Sun on 24 January 2009, Clarkson joked that the Stig was in fact the BBC Royal Correspondent Nicholas Witchell
, declaring he would now have to be killed by being dropped from a Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport plane, and the Telegraph will have to now find another big secret to expose, such as the size of the TARDIS
, or the identity of Father Christmas.
The Daily Mail claimed it had tracked down "another former Stig" who anonymously told them the names of a total of eight drivers who had "recently stood in as the test-driving mystery man." In addition to the previously mentioned Ben Collins and Julian Bailey, and the man named "Will", the paper named the Formula One driver Heikki Kovalainen, the former GT world champion Chris Goodwin, stunt drivers Terry Grant and Russ Swift, and the Swedish snow mobile racing champion Dan Lang. It claimed Kovalainen raced a Formula One car around the test track in 2004, and Lang was the driver in the snowmobile ski jump stunt. The BBC refused to comment on the story.
In September 2009, British racing driver Justin Bell
, best friend of the original Stig Perry McCarthy
, has said he knew who the Stig was, but would not reveal his name. He also stated that he didn't understand why he did it, stating "You can't talk about it and nobody knows who you are. There's nothing good about it ... unless you go to a convention of other people in white helmets and white suits". Bell spoke out after being hired for the job of driving instructor on The Jay Leno Show
s Green Car Challenge segment, similar to the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, causing him to be dubbed 'America's Stig'.
In September 2010, it was claimed that 26-year-old racing driver Phil Keen had stood in for the White Stig, both behind the wheel, and in appearances, when Collins was unavailable, including at the 2009 Top Gear Live event in Germany.
On 20 June 2009, Jeremy Clarkson revealed in his Sun newspaper column that the Stig would finally show the world his face, in the series thirteen
opening episode to be broadcast the next day. Clarkson said that The Stig wished to unmask himself to quash speculation over his identity, stating "He's been fed up with newspapers speculating that he's a photocopier salesman from Bolton, or lives in a pebble-dashed house in Bristol".
The show first depicted the Stig driving a Ferrari FXX
round the test track in a time of 1:10.7 seconds. Afterwards, after walking into the studio and sitting on the green couch, with the audience shouting "Off! Off! Off! Off!", the Stig took his helmet off to reveal he was the former Formula One multiple World Champion Michael Schumacher
. In the following interview, Schumacher then played up to some of the supposed defining character traits of the Stig, such as the claim he only knows two facts about ducks (both being wrong), and that he is illegal in only nine (and not seventeen) US states.
The BBC would initially not confirm or deny it was a just a stunt, but a spokesman was quoted as saying "You have to bear in mind that Top Gear is an entertainment programme. We never reveal who or what The Stig is,". The next day however, The Telegraph wrote: "A spokesman for Top Gear confirmed Schumacher had been The Stig during the Ferrari circuit, driving his own car ... But the spokesman added that the identity of the driver at other times would remain "a mystery".
On 19 August 2010 it was reported that there was a legal dispute progressing between publishers representing the Stig and the BBC over plans to release an autobiography revealing his identity. It stated that the dispute surrounded the Stig's dissatisfaction at being unable to exploit his fame, and earning an estimated £5,000 and £10,000 per show, compared to six and seven figure earnings by the other Top Gear presenters. It described the situation as incredibly tense, with Clarkson said to be deeply upset, and with show insiders fearing that the Stig could either quit the show, or be fired, with the dispute needing to be settled way before the sixteenth series
. A BBC spokesman confirmed to the paper that "The BBC is in a legal dispute over the publication of a book relating to Top Gear as this breaches agreed contractual and confidentiality obligations relating to the show."
Then, the Sunday Times claimed to have unearthed more evidence that showed Collins was the Stig, namely financial documents for his company Collins Autosport dating back to the White Stig's entry to the show. They stated the documents reported in December 2003 an increase in profits, put down to "driving services provided for the BBC, mainly in the Top Gear programme", just a month after the White Stig's first appearance. When contacted over the story, Collins merely stated "I can't speak to you. I'm going into a tunnel". Responding to the report, the BBC stated that it was "no surprise that Ben Collins's company listed Top Gear amongst its work as the driver had appeared numerous times on the programme and he often supplied other drivers for both the programme and Top Gear Live".
The BBC sued the publisher for an attempt to profit from the unauthorised use of the Top Gear brand, maintaining that revealing the identity would spoil viewers' enjoyment of the show. The publisher responded, stating "We are disappointed that the BBC has chosen to spend licence fee payers' money to suppress this book and will vigorously defend the perfectly legitimate right of this individual to tell his story".
The Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman wrote on a Top Gear blog on 27 August, attacking the publisher for trying to cash in on the programme, describing them as a "bunch of chancers", describing the action as an issue of trust, and justifying the use of license fee to fight the case based on the brand's value to the programme and the viewers, clarifying that half of the case costs were being met by BBC Worldwide, their commercial arm.
On 29 August 2010, the Daily Mirror claimed the BBC had already sacked Collins from the Stig role, citing the Stig's appearance at the Top Gear Live August 2010 Stunt Show at the Nürburgring
in Germany, at the same time as Collins was photographed at his West Country home. When asked about the ongoing High Court action, Collins stated "I am not allowed to talk about it." Despite objections from the publisher, the legal case hearings began in private on 31 August.
After a day and a half of hearings, the case concluded, with the judge finding against the BBC, refusing to grant an injunction blocking the publication. The proposed book was reportedly called The Man in the White Suit, and was indeed about Ben Collins, but still clarifying that it "won't confirm or deny that Ben Collins either was or remains The Stig". Collins was in court to hear the final judgment. HarperCollins confirmed that the reasons for declining the injunction were to be given by the judge later, in a private judgment.
Both Collins and HarperCollins refused to confirm his status as the Stig to reporters waiting outside the court after the case, but the publisher maintained surprise at the BBC's decision to fight the case, stating the information in dispute had always been in the public domain. Following the court ruling, Collins' autobiography, The Man in the White Suit, was due to be published on 16 September 2010. As of 2 September 2010, the web site of the Gordon Poole Agency, the talent agency representing Ben Collins, referred to Collins as Top Gear's The Stig.
In the immediate reaction, The Telegraph asserted that the judgment meant that the Stig had now been conclusively outed as Ben Collins, bringing an end to seven years of speculation and theories as to who wore the white overalls. It also conceded that, " with the corporation yet to officially acknowledge the fact, Collins' future in the role is less certain". The BBC News
website published a profile of Collins' career on the same day, but merely stated that he will "publish an autobiography in which he claims to be The Stig".
Following the BBC's failure to obtain an injunction against the autobiography, James May jokingly stated "Obviously I'm now going to have to take some legal action of my own, because I have been the Stig for the past seven years, and I don't know who this bloke is, who's mincing around in the High Court pretending it's him." May kept up the pretence in a column in The Telegraph, expounding on his double life as Captain Slow and the Stig, and how his replacement was named Collins - the Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins
.
A couple of names were then considered to be the next Stig, if there was to be one, most notably Heikki Kovalainen
and Anthony Davidson
as the favourites, as well as former White Stig stand-in, racing driver Phil Keen. The odds on a female Stig were also cut, after Clarkson suggested the character will be replaced.
The Telegraph claimed that Collins had been axed by Top Gear, citing BBC sources who said that as a result of the court case, Collins' contract with the BBC, having already expired in the previous month, would not now be renewed by the BBC. It claimed that a television talent management agency was now planning to use Collins in a new show in competition with Top Gear. It also claimed the BBC had spent up to £100,000 in their bid to have the court impose a temporary injunction banning Collins' book.
Speaking to a radio station the same day, James May explained that in the new series of the show, for which filming was to start the following week, he will be dealt with in a similar way to how the Black Stig was killed off and replaced, having "had to be dealt with by Andy [Wilman, the show producer]". Possible ideas included "driving to The Stig's house and nailing his head to the table", in addition to reclaiming the overalls, shoes and gloves, which were "not his", claiming Wilman was furious at Collins for writing his autobiography.
On 4 September, The Sun quoted a BBC spokeswoman as saying "No decision has yet been made as to whether The Stig will be killed off.
Under the heading 'Driver Wanted', Jeremy wrote in his column in The Sun that "Top Gear, the motoring show on BBC2, is looking for a driver with a high level of racing experience to be The Stig. The successful applicant need not speak English, or indeed any language at all, but he or she must hate Boy Scouts, be able to punch a horse to the ground, have eyes that blink sideways and, most important of all, understand that no one, under any circumstances, should ever rat on their friends." The newspaper claimed only three people other than the presenters Clarkson, Hammond and May, had known the Stig's identity for certain, before the High Court judgment.
In an interview on 7 September 2010, Jeremy Clarkson said, 'put it this way, he's history as far as we are concerned. He's sacked.'
On 5 November 2010, the Top Gear website released a video clip about its "Stig Farm", the end of which introduced a new Stig for Top Gear Live. He sports a white helmet and overalls, with black highlights on the shoes, sleeves and shoulders. The video also featured a satire of Collins' autobiography, in which one example of a Stig tries to write a book on a computer, before proceeding to correct one of its numerous mistakes with Tippex.
In the USA road trip (aired 21 December 2010), the presenters branded the Stig a traitor, with James May declaring his true name to be Judas Iscariot
. In a later challenge in which the presenters had to take part in a mock drive-by shooting, the targets used were cardboard cut-outs of the Stig—which, on his turn, Hammond turned around to take the specific opportunity to "shoot [the Stig] in the back!"
During Collins' appearance with the military amputees rally team broadcast in July 2011, Collins was introduced and acknowledged by Richard Hammond
as "ex-Stig... Ben Collins".
, James, Jeremy and Richard went to the manger in Bethlehem and the baby turned out to be a baby Stig. In the first episode of series 16, Jeremy and James explained that Stigs grow very quickly and within a month Baby Stig was fully grown and referred to him as New Stig. He allegedly set broadly very similar lap times to "Sacked Stig". He set the fastest time of any car around the track of 1:15.1 in an Ariel Atom
V8 on his first episode.
In the US Special
in 2006, the show featured a portly American cousin nicknamed "Big Stig" with a relaxed driving style. He raced the presenters' cars around the Moroso Motorsports Park track. "Big Stig" should not be confused with the white Stig of Top Gear America.
The Botswana Special
featured the Stig's African cousin, with dark skin, wearing just Puma
racing boots, a loincloth, white racing gloves and the iconic white helmet. He raced the presenters' chosen cars around an improvised rally track. According to the Special's DVD commentary, this cousin did have experience in Formula 1 racing.
In Series 12, episode 1
, 'Rig Stig' made his debut, sporting a "sunburned" right sleeve and glove in reference to his supposed job as a lorry driver. He appeared powersliding
a Team Oliver
racing truck
to show to the presenters that a lorry could drift.
There was another cousin in the Vietnam Special
, although his scenes were not broadcast due to time constraints. He was nicknamed the Stig's Vietnamese/Communist cousin and wore a red uniform. The footage was however included in a later DVD release. Top Gear hired a local motorcycle stunt rider.
In Series 14, episode 2
, the Stig's vegetarian cousin, nicknamed "Janet Stig Porter
", appeared. He wore green overalls, Birkenstock
sandals with socks and a solar-powered helmet. He drove the presenters' "Hammerhead iEagle Thrust" hybrid around the MIRA
test circuit to see how long it would last, but eventually died from the car's diesel fumes.
In Series 15, episode 2
, the Stig's German cousin, nicknamed "Herr Stig" and "Stiggy Ray Cyrus" (a parody of Billy Ray Cyrus
), he was almost identical to the main Stig, wearing white overalls, the main difference being that he had a mullet
haircut. He drove the presenters' cheap sports saloons around a German track.
The U.S. Top Gear
, Top Gear Australia
and Top Gear Russia
also feature their own versions of The Stig.
, Top Gear used Dan Lang, a Swedish snowmobile champion, to jump a snowmobile.
In the USA Road Trip (aired 21 December 2010), Tiff Needell
was brought in as an 'Emergency Stig' to train Danny Boyle
on the track.
in wet conditions, hours before the start of the 2008 British Grand Prix
. The drive was the prize in a charity auction held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital
where the winning bidder paid £35,000 for the privilege. Stig appeared at the October 2008 National Television Awards
to accept Top Gear's third award for best factual programme, as the other presenters were ostensibly busy filming the new series. The Stig also appears at Top Gear Live events, such as the August 2010 Stunt Show at the Nürburgring
in Germany, in which he is billed as the star of the show alongside the other stunt drivers and cars, with the other Top Gear presenters not playing a part. The Stig has also appeared outside Top Gear in Clarkson's motoring DVDs since 2005. He also appeared before the 2011 British Grand Prix whilst Clarkson and Hammond gave the camera crew a tour of the Top Gear studio.
In the 2011 X Games 17, The Stig can be seen walking in the background during one of Brian Deegan's interviews during Rallycross.
able to tame the most powerful cars, while possessing all the mystique of Zorro
" The Sunday Times in 2009 described the Stig as "not a man but an idea, possibly an extraterrestrial", speculating that, along the lines of the Spartacus mythology, that the more people were linked with the character, the stronger the mystery would become. It paid tribute for how long the show had actually kept the secret.
On the question of 'Who is the Stig?', it has been described variously by The Telegraph as one of the most popular internet search questions of 2009, by The Times in 2009 as one of the ten most-searched-for terms on the Ask.com internet search engine, and by the Sunday Times as most-asked question on the internet in 2008. In addition, the Sunday Times has stated that on-line and text-answering services
rated it as one of the most popular questions of all time, along with the meaning of life
.
With the BBC asserting that the anonymity of the Stig was a vital part of the show's appeal which was valued by the audience during their legal dispute with HarperCollins, an on-line poll by The Guardian asking the question "Do we need a new Stig?", returned 64% "Yes - his identity should always be a mystery", against 36% for "No - why the big fuss over a man in a helmet?".
After the High Court judgment allowing Ben Collins to publish his autobiography revealing himself as White Stig, The Guardian asserted that the question of the character's identity had "always been one of the modern age's greatest mysteries", and immediately posed the question, "if the Stig is dead, then who'll be the new Stig?", adding, "The whole beauty of the Stig is that we don't know who he is. He's just a jumpsuit and a helmet, the contents of which are eminently replaceable".
The Stig has been notionally 'spotted' in the wild in images collected for Google Street View
. He was photographed by a Street View car standing on the side of the A82 road
in Loch Ness
, Scotland. He was also captured by a Street View tricycle in three locations within Legoland Windsor
in Berkshire, including riding a go-kart
and sitting on a camel. A Street View image taken from the A40 Westway
of the Stig apparently standing in a window of the Top Gear office in BBC Television Centre
in West London was reportedly just a cardboard cut-out.
The BBC has capitalised on the mystery behind the Stig by marketing "I AM THE STIG" T-Shirts and variants through the Top Gear shop. Other Stig merchandise has included bubble wash, pens, keyrings, soap on a rope, lunchbags and a "sonic toothbrush".
Through a partnership with Polyphony Digital
, The Stig's helmet and overalls are available for purchase in the videogame Gran Turismo 5
and Forza Motorsport 4
as avatar items, which also feature the Top Gear Test Track.
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...
and the show's producer Andy Wilman
Andy Wilman
Andrew "Andy" Wilman is a British television producer who is best known as the producer of the present Top Gear show. He has also presented segments of the original Top Gear...
. "Stig" was a nickname for new boys at their old school
Public School (UK)
A public school, in common British usage, is a school that is neither administered nor financed by the state or from taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of endowments, tuition fees and charitable contributions, usually existing as a non profit-making charitable trust...
, Repton
Repton School
Repton School, founded in 1557, is a co-educational English independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the British public school tradition, located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, in the Midlands area of England...
. Although there is one "main" Stig, there are several "spin-off" Stigs, referred to by the presenters as "The Stig's cousin."
The Stig is responsible for setting lap times for cars tested on the show, as well as instructing celebrity guests in the show's Star in a Reasonably Priced Car section. (see "Role" below) There have currently been three Stigs-the first Stig started on episode 1, but was killed off in the first episode of series 3. The second Stig appeared in the next episode, and lasted until series 15. The third Stig took over from December 2010.
The BBC has always refused to confirm officially the identity of the driver who plays the Stig. "Who is The Stig?" became a frequently asked question on the internet. The identity of the original 'Black' Stig, Perry McCarthy
Perry McCarthy
-Career:Born in Billericay, Essex, McCarthy grew up to work for his father's company servicing North Sea oil rigs. Unlike most Formula One drivers, McCarthy did not start racing in karts...
, was exposed by a Sunday newspaper after the first series
Top Gear (series 1)
The first series of the television series current format of Top Gear was broadcast in the United Kingdom starting on October 20, 2002, and concluding on December 29, 2002, and contained 10 episodes. The series included presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and Jason Dawe. This was Dawe's only...
of the show, in January 2003. McCarthy confirmed that he was 'The Stig' in the second edition of his autobiography
Flat Out, Flat Broke: Formula 1 the Hard Way!
Flat Out, Flat Broke: Formula 1 the Hard Way! is the autobiography of retired racing driver, Perry McCarthy.This book goes through his career, and the hardships he faced while trying to break the ranks of Formula One....
, published following series two
Top Gear (series 2)
The second series of the television series Top Gear began on May 11, 2003, and concluded on July 27, 2003. The series featured 10 episodes. The series was subsequently followed by one "Best Of Top Gear" episode, charting the best moments from Series 1 and 2. The series was the first to be recorded...
, and is now generally acknowledged as having been the first Stig, even by BBC media. The second Stig's identity was revealed, in his own autobiography, as Ben Collins, a professional racing driver who has participated in Formula Three
Formula Three
Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers...
, Indy Lights, sportscars, GT racing, stock cars & V8 Supercars.
Creation and name
The idea for the character was part of host Jeremy ClarksonJeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...
's and producer Andy Wilman
Andy Wilman
Andrew "Andy" Wilman is a British television producer who is best known as the producer of the present Top Gear show. He has also presented segments of the original Top Gear...
's concept for the relaunched Top Gear show, bringing a new format to the original version of Top Gear which ceased production in 2001. The relaunched show would introduce a live studio audience, the Stig, a racetrack, and madcap stunts. Clarkson is credited by the Sunday Times with having come up with the original idea for the Stig. Clarkson and Wilman wanted to have a professional racing driver as part of the show's cast, but ran into difficulty finding a driver sufficiently adept at speaking on-camera. Clarkson then asked Wilman why the driver needed to speak at all, and the decision was made that the Stig's role would be silent.
The name Stig derives from Wilman and Clarkson's time at the private Repton School
Repton School
Repton School, founded in 1557, is a co-educational English independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the British public school tradition, located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, in the Midlands area of England...
, where new boys had always been called "Stig". According to McCarthy, speaking in 2006, the producers had wanted the anonymous driver to be called 'The Gimp', referring to the use of gimp suits
Bondage suit
A bondage suit, also commonly called a gimp suit, is a garment designed to cover the body completely , fitting it closely, and often including anchor points for bondage. It often has an attached hood; if not, it will be worn with a bondage hood or "gimp mask"...
in BDSM
BDSM
BDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
sexual role-playing. After McCarthy objected, the name Stig was settled upon. McCarthy had said of the idea at the time that "I don't want to be forever remembered as the Gimp".
Uniform
The Black Stig wore a black helmet and overalls. The White Stig (MkI) uniform consists of a white AlpinestarsAlpinestars
Alpinestars is a manufacturer of technical, high performance protective gear for motorcycle and auto racing , as well as action sports such as Mountain Biking and Surfing....
racing suit with small Grand Prix Racewear logo, a white Simpson
Simpson Performance Products
Simpson Performance Products is an American motorsports parts supplier. It supplies gloves, helmets, restraints, driver's suites, HANS devices, and shoes to racers at local tracks to international teams. It was started by Bill Simpson as Simpson Drag Chutes....
Bandit and later, Diamondback race helmet, black on white Alpinestars Tech 1-ZX gloves, and white Alpinestars Tech 1-T racing shoes. His white helmet was originally a Simpson Speedway RX model, while his shoes also began as Alpinestars Tech 1-K kart items.. The New Stig's uniform is very similar to the previous Stig but has black epaulettes
Epaulette
Epaulette is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations.Epaulettes are fastened to the shoulder by a shoulder strap or "passant", a small strap parallel to the shoulder seam, and the button near the collar, or by laces on the...
.
According to the Sunday Times writing in 2006, most of the crew did not know his identity, relaying how one camera assistant once observed him eating his lunch in the back of an ambulance to avoid being spotted. Again according to The Sunday Times writing in 2009, just a few BBC production staff and other journalists knew the Stig's real identity..
Anonymity and silence
In the very first episode when introducing the Black Stig, Clarkson noted that, "We don't know its name, we really don't know its name, nobody knows its name, and we don't wanna know, 'cause it's a racing driver". According to the Daily Mail writing in 2010, his face is never revealed on set, not even the celebrity guests training on the reasonably priced car are allowed to learn his identity. He stays suited and with his helmet on throughout the show, arriving early and leaving late, and having his own dressing room and eating privately. The studio audience has no access to him at any time.Although the Stig does talk with celebrities while preparing them for their "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" lap times, he is never shown talking on screen. Clarkson has joked that he is "not a very talkative chap" when keeping silent while on set, in order to hide his identity. In a rare spoken interview, the Stig has reportedly said when asked what his real name was, that he didn't remember because his memory had been erased when he got the job. The Stig's muteness is extended to appearances in other media, such as the 'Brain Stig' viral video
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
released by the BBC on their YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel, to promote the new Top Gear website in 2009, depicting a frustrated staff member holding a brainstorming
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which a group tries to find a solution for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members...
session for show ideas.
Clarkson has written in his newspaper column that the Stig is not permitted to talk because "the opinions of all racing drivers are completely worthless", going on to explain that, because of their familiarity with cars equipped for track racing, they believe any and all road cars are rubbish, even a Lamborghini Gallardo
Lamborghini Gallardo
The Lamborghini Gallardo is a sports car built by Lamborghini. The Gallardo is Lamborghini's most-produced model to date, with over 10,000 built in its first seven years of production...
or a Bugatti Veyron
Bugatti Veyron
The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engined grand touring car. The Super Sport version is the fastest road-legal production car in the world, with a top speed of . The original version has a top speed of...
. He confirmed this by test driving for himself a BMW 3-series diesel road car converted to a race car, complete with slick tyres, race suspension and brakes, and concluding that driving it was "more exciting and more fun to drive than any supercar".
Driving ability
The show has often compared and contrasted the Stig's driving ability, particularly against Formula OneFormula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
drivers. When Jeremy Clarkson stated that the Stig believed that the Suzuki Liana, the show's Reasonably Priced Car at the time, could do a time of 1:44, a former F1 driver, Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
, appearing as a guest on the programme, duly obliged by posting a lap time of 1:44.6, while the Stig then posted a lap time of 1:44.4. Clarkson has often mentioned that F1 drivers seem to take a different racing line on the test track than the Stig, such as on Jenson Button
Jenson Button
Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion.Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British...
's drive; however, during Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable...
's and Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
's visits to the show, Clarkson observed that they took the same line around the track as The Stig. Formula One driver Mark Webber
Mark Webber
Mark Alan Webber is an Australian Formula One driver.After some racing success in Australia, Webber moved to the United Kingdom in 1995 to further his motorsport career...
's appearance on the show was marked at the conclusion of his lap with Clarkson presenting him with an "I AM THE STIG" T-shirt. The show made various references to the Stig apparently having developed a jealous rivalry with Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable...
, after he became the first person to beat his time posted in the "Reasonably Priced Car" by a tenth of a second, posting a lap time of 1:44.3. Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and ....
currently holds the record for F1 drivers with a time of 1:44.0.
Other characteristics
The Stig has been described by Clarkson as having a very small brain, worthless opinions, and a disorder called "MansellNigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
Syndrome".
The Stig's status and oddity has often been underlined with humorous introductions by the presenters before his appearances on the show. Initially, the Stig would be given simple humorous introductions on the show, such as "His Holiness
His Holiness
His Holiness is the official style or manner of address in reference to the leaders of certain religious groups. In Christianity, specifically the Orthodox Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church, Armenian Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Roman Catholic...
, The Stig!" (introducing the Power Lap for the Bowler Wildcat
Bowler Wildcat
The Bowler Wildcat is an off-road vehicle originally made by Bowler Offroad, it is an evolution of the Bowler Tomcat which is not based on the Land Rover Defender against common belief...
.) Beginning in Series 6, these began to follow a format of "Some say that [facts]. All we know is, he's called the Stig.", where the facts give away some unusual trait or other detail about the Stig. These often detail his odd character traits, such as being afraid of bells or confused by stairs. His possibly machine like or at least non-human body is hinted at by revelations that his voice can only be heard by cats, or that he never blinks, naturally faces magnetic north, all his legs are hydraulic, he has two sets of knees, and heart ticks like a watch. He is even hinted at being a wild creature, spending his spare time catching fish with his tongue or foraging for wolves in the woods. Other odd details revealed in these introductions have included such facts as his face appears on high-value stamps in Sweden his left nipple is the shape of the Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...
, one of his eyes is a testicle, that he invented the curtain, that he daydreams of Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Gonçalves "Rubinho" Barrichello is a Brazilian Formula One racing driver. He is currently racing for Williams F1.Barrichello has scored the seventh highest points total in Formula One history. Barrichello drove for Ferrari from to , as Michael Schumacher's teammate, enjoying considerable...
being caught in a ham slicer, his salary is paid by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in strong pornography, and that he developed the wonderful scent of Wednesday.
His introductions often jokingly refer to current events of the day, such as when Clarkson introduced Michael Schumacher as the Stig in 2009 by stating he "recently submitted a £20,000 expenses claim for some gravel for his moat," in reference to the MPs' expenses scandal, or when it was said "if you give him a really important job, he'll skive off and play croquet", referring to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott
John Prescott
John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott is a British politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007. Born in Prestatyn, Wales, he represented Hull East as the Labour Member of Parliament from 1970 to 2010...
in 2006. One introduction even made reference to the conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Princess Diana: "Some say that he's banned from the town of Chichester and that in a recent late-night deal, he bought a slightly dented white Fiat Uno from the Duke of Edinburgh
Duke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh is a British royal title, named after the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family only four times times since its creation in 1726...
."
For the trip to the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
road test, the Stig was depicted as a piece of cargo, being collected by Clarkson from the baggage conveyor at the airport. On the Top Gear 2005 DVD Revved Up, the Stig is depicted as being stored in a cupboard when not in use. The Stig is also portrayed as having bizarre listening habits as heard on the car stereo as he performs Power Laps. Often a specific genre is chosen for one or more series. These have included power ballads, one-hit wonder
One-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder is a person or act known mainly for only a single success. The term is most often used to describe music performers with only one hit single.-Characteristics:...
s, easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
, country and western, Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
, progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, whale songs, baroque
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
, advertising jingles, foreign language tapes, romantic novels, salesman techniques, the hits of Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, the speeches of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, self-help
Self-help
Self-help, or self-improvement, is a self-guided improvement—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. There are many different self-help movements and each has its own focus, techniques, associated beliefs, proponents and in some cases, leaders...
tapes, pipe band music, Chas & Dave, vuvuzela
Vuvuzela
The vuvuzela , also known as lepatata Mambu , colloquially known in South Africa as "Moerstripper", is a plastic horn, about long, which produces a loud monotone note, typically around B3 . Some models are made in two parts to facilitate storage, and this design also allows pitch variation...
s, and, in episode 5 of series 15, the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
The Stig's odd persona was maintained in his appearance at the National Television Awards, when he silently accepted an award, and handed the host Griff Rhys Jones
Griff Rhys Jones
Griffith "Griff" Rhys Jones is a Welsh comedian, writer, actor, television presenter and personality. Jones came to national attention in the early 1980s for his work in the BBC television comedy sketch shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Mel Smith...
a letter from Clarkson, May and Hammond, instructing him to give the Stig the award in his left hand, as his right one is magnetic, and cautioning organisers that he wasn't to be seated near the cast of Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
, as "he's decided all northerners
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
are edible".
Role
The Stig is credited alongside Jeremy ClarksonJeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...
, Richard Hammond
Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond is an English broadcaster, writer, and journalist most noted for co-hosting car programme Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as presenting Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky 1.-Early life:...
, and James May
James May
James Daniel May is an English television presenter, journalist and writer. He is best known for his role as co-presenter of the award-winning motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond....
as a presenter of Top Gear in the end credits. The Stig's primary roles on the show centre on the Top Gear test track
Top Gear Test Track
The Top Gear test track is used by the BBC automotive television programme Top Gear. It is located at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, United Kingdom. The track was designed by Lotus Cars...
at the show's base at Dunsfold Aerodrome
Dunsfold Aerodrome
Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, England, near the village of Cranleigh, was built by the Canadian Army and civilian contractors as a Class A Bomber Airfield for Army Co-operation Command...
, Surrey. His two main functions are to post lap times for various featured performance cars in the 'Power Laps' segment, and to train celebrity guests to set lap times on the test track in the 'Star in a Reasonably Priced Car' segment.
The Stig's role as a test driver is described on the Top Gear website Power Laps board as follows:
When first introduced, the Stig was described as the resident test driver, as the presenters could not consistently post fast times themselves. His stated mission was to "just go out there and drive fast". This was reflected by the original Stig Perry McCarthy who described in 2006 how a racing driver was intended to be used as part of the presenting team in order to produce definitive fastest lap times for tested cars.
Black Stig
Racing driver Perry McCarthyPerry McCarthy
-Career:Born in Billericay, Essex, McCarthy grew up to work for his father's company servicing North Sea oil rigs. Unlike most Formula One drivers, McCarthy did not start racing in karts...
was the original, Black Stig, appearing in 22 episodes of the programme in all.
McCarthy got the role of the Stig after a chance meeting with Jeremy Clarkson at the launch party for McCarthy's autobiography, Flat Out, Flat Broke: Formula 1 the Hard Way!
Flat Out, Flat Broke: Formula 1 the Hard Way!
Flat Out, Flat Broke: Formula 1 the Hard Way! is the autobiography of retired racing driver, Perry McCarthy.This book goes through his career, and the hardships he faced while trying to break the ranks of Formula One....
, published on 4 July 2002. This led to an audition as a regular presenter, before the production team then decided the racing driver would be anonymous. (Although in 2008, McCarthy said that Clarkson mentioned the idea of a 'top secret' racing driver at their first meeting.)
After the first series
Top Gear (series 1)
The first series of the television series current format of Top Gear was broadcast in the United Kingdom starting on October 20, 2002, and concluding on December 29, 2002, and contained 10 episodes. The series included presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and Jason Dawe. This was Dawe's only...
ended, an article on 12 January 2003 in The Sunday Mirror named the Stig as Perry McCarthy. The newspaper quoted a show insider stating "Just a handful of the crew know that he is actually Perry". At the time, McCarthy simply stated "I do know who the Stig is but I cannot comment any further." After the second series
Top Gear (series 2)
The second series of the television series Top Gear began on May 11, 2003, and concluded on July 27, 2003. The series featured 10 episodes. The series was subsequently followed by one "Best Of Top Gear" episode, charting the best moments from Series 1 and 2. The series was the first to be recorded...
ended, McCarthy published the second edition of his autobiography, confirming that he was The Stig. McCarthy was then "killed off" in the first episode of the third series
Top Gear (series 3)
The third series of Top Gear began on October 26, 2003, and concluded on December 28, 2003. The series featured 9 episodes. The series was subsequently followed by one "Best Of Top Gear" special, charting the best moments from the series. The series was the first series of Top Gear to get more than...
, which aired on 26 October 2003.
The scene which saw Black Stig "killed off", nicknamed "Top Gun vs Top Gear", was an attempt to race to 100 mi/h and then come to a halt on the 200 metres (656.2 ft) long flight deck of HMS Invincible
HMS Invincible (R05)
HMS Invincible was a British light aircraft carrier, the lead ship of three in her class in the Royal Navy. She was launched on 3 May 1977 and is the seventh ship to carry the name. She saw action in the Falklands War when she was deployed with , she took over as flagship of the British fleet when...
, a Royal Navy aircraft carrier, on which British Aerospace Sea Harrier jump jets reach 100 mi/h before take-off. He would be using the 'old Top Gear Jag', a white Jaguar XJS
Jaguar XJS
The Jaguar XJ-S is a luxury grand tourer produced by the British manufacturer Jaguar from 1975 to 1996. The XJ-S replaced the E-Type in September 1975, and was based on the XJ saloon. It had been developed as the XK-F, though it was very different in character from its predecessor...
bought for a 'couple of hundred quid
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
', stripped of its fittings and fitted with nitrous
Nitrous
Nitrous oxide is a chemical compound used as an oxidizing agent to increase an internal combustion engine's power output by allowing more fuel to be burned than would normally be the case.-Nitrous and NOS:...
injection, to take it to 500 bhp, which had been featured in series 2, beating 'just about every supercar on the planet' in a drag race. Black Stig accelerated along the deck, and an on screen speedometer indicated 109 mi/h, before a cutaway shot saw the car flying off the end of the runway ramp and into the sea. Clarkson then revealed in the last scene of the episode, that the shot of a glove floating on the sea was all that divers had found. According to McCarthy, "We tried to make it as much like a scene out of James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
as possible".
The explanations for his exit vary. Speaking in 2008, McCarthy stated "My time at Top Gear ended nicely enough. I’d had a great time and felt it was time to call it a day. So we all shook hands and they threw me off an aircraft carrier." The Times claimed in 2009 that he fell out with producers. In August 2010, he described how he became tired of the job, which he claimed paid just £700 a week. He said part of his annoyance with the role had come from an attempt by a car owner to sue him for ruining his car, a rare Jaguar C-Type
Jaguar C-Type
The Jaguar C-Type is a racing sports car built by Jaguar and sold from 1951 to 1953. The "C" designation stood for "competition"....
, winner of the 1953 Le Mans 24 Hours, and the BBC stating they could not defend him due to his anonymity. He stated that the BBC eventually chose not to renew his contract, and wrote him out.
Speaking in 2009, McCarthy relayed how to keep his anonymity, when he drove to work as the Stig, he would don the Stig's helmet while going through the security gates at Dunsfold aerodrome, and then he would change into his racing overalls in a special room behind the gatehouse, before then driving into the studio areas. He would speak as little as possible in the backstage areas, and put on an accent, which some mistook as French. McCarthy also explained that hiding his identity while coaching the celebrities for Star in a Reasonably Priced Car proved difficult. He stated that he did reveal his true identity while coaching Ross Kemp
Ross Kemp
Ross James Kemp is a BAFTA award-winning British actor, author and journalist, who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders...
and David Soul
David Soul
David Soul is an American-British actor and singer, best known for his role as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the television programme Starsky and Hutch . He gained British citizenship in 2004.-Early life:...
, as he had previously met them. For other drives, if celebrities asked if he was a particular person, he would just say "How did you know?", adding that more often than not, the suggestion was Michael Schumacher.
Having had background in top level motor racing before Top Gear, and having originally intended to be a Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
driver, albeit failing to qualify for any races in the 1992 Formula One season
1992 Formula One season
The 1992 Formula One season was the 43rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 1, 1992, and ended on November 8 after sixteen races...
for the Moda Judd
Andrea Moda Formula
Andrea Moda Formula was a Formula One team, created by Andrea Sassetti, a shoe manufacturer from Italy. In September 1991 he bought the Coloni F1 team after it had failed to pre-qualify a car for every single race that year....
team, McCarthy stated in 2006 he did not regret leaving the supercars on Top Gear, and instead harboured ambitions at re-entering racing in the Grand Prix Masters
Grand Prix Masters
Grand Prix Masters was a one-make motor racing series featuring retired Formula One drivers. The inaugural event, at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa, took place on 11–13 November, but the series folded after a 2 race season in 2006....
series. After Top Gear he went on to run an investment company, and earn £6,000 a time doing after dinner speaking.
However, according to the Sunday Times writing in 2009, McCarthy had revealed in his book that there had always been more than one Stig, and that 47 year-old Julian Bailey
Julian Bailey
Julian Bailey is a former Formula One driver who raced for the Tyrrell and Lotus teams.Although born in the United Kingdom, he was raised in Menorca, Spain, and became an accomplished Formula Ford 1600 racer in Britain, winning the important Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch...
, a former Formula One driver for Tyrrell
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...
and Lotus
Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing...
, had acted as a stand in for McCarthy, as Black Stig. In a June 2009 interview with the Daily Mail, Bailey, who was selling his home in Effingham, Surrey, said "I was one of the Stigs...which was pretty handy as filming was done just down the road...I have stopped now, but I am not supposed to talk about it."
The First White Stig
This Stig started in the episode after Black Stig was killed off, and lasted until August 2010, when he revealed himself as Ben Collins. This Stig's job was similar to the last Stig's although while Black Stig was primarily used for Power Lap times and Reasonably Priced Car training, the white Stig's role had been expanded, and he has been used beyond the Top Gear test track in other show challenges and road tests, such as producing timed runs in the Isle of ManIsle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
road test, driving a Caterham Seven
Caterham Seven
The Caterham Seven is a super-lightweight sports car produced by Caterham Cars in the United Kingdom. It is based on the Lotus Seven, a lightweight sports car sold in kit and factory-built form by Lotus Cars, from the late 1950s to the early 1970s...
from Caterham
Caterham
Caterham is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is geographically divided into two sections: Caterham on the Hill and Caterham Valley - the main town centre. The town lies close to the A22, a few miles south of Croydon, in a valley cut into the dip slope of the North Downs...
to Knockhill
Knockhill Racing Circuit
Knockhill Racing Circuit in Fife is Scotland's national Motorsport centre. The circuit is located in the Fife countryside about north of Dunfermline. The track, initially opened in 1974, is long and 10 metres wide and was created by joining service roads to a nearby disused mineral railway,...
, riding a London Bus, the DLR
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...
and the Tube
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
across London, and jumping a snowmobile off a ski-jump in Lillehammer
Lillehammer
is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was...
, Norway. He has also been used in various roles at the studio, such as playing a police pursuit driver in the White Van Man
White van man
"White van man" is a term popularised in the United Kingdom by the journalist Jonathan Leake, then transport editor at The Sunday Times, to describe drivers of light commercial vehicles such as the Ford Transit....
challenge.
Since Clarkson's 2010 DVD The Italian Job, This Stig is now known as "Sacked Stig".
Speculation over the White Stig's identity
There had been much speculation over the identity of this Stig since 2005, from various sources, claiming that a number of drivers, including Collins, Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...
, Julian Bailey
Julian Bailey
Julian Bailey is a former Formula One driver who raced for the Tyrrell and Lotus teams.Although born in the United Kingdom, he was raised in Menorca, Spain, and became an accomplished Formula Ford 1600 racer in Britain, winning the important Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch...
, Russ Swift
Russ Swift
Paul Russell "Russ" Swift is a British driver who is known for performing stunts and for precision driving.-Career:Starting out as a rally co-driver, and later moving into the sport of Autotesting, Russ Swift has built his career on a sturdy motorsport foundation...
, Darren Turner
Darren Turner
Darren Turner is an English racing driver. He was McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year in 1996. He is a former test driver for the McLaren Formula One team, but has raced primarily in touring cars and sportscars since 2000. He spent 2 years in the DTM for Keke Rosberg's...
and Tim Schrick
Tim Schrick
Tim Schrick is a German racecar driver and television presenter. He is the son of Peter Schrick, founder of engine manufacturing company Dr...
, as well as former Top Gear Presenter, now Fifth Gear
Fifth Gear
Fifth Gear is a motoring television magazine show from the United Kingdom. Originally shown on Channel 5, the show is currently presented by Tiff Needell, Vicki Butler-Henderson, Jason Plato, Jonny Smith and Ben Collins...
presenter Tiff Needell
Tiff Needell
Timothy "Tiff" Needell isa British racing driver and television presenter. He is best known as a former co-presenter of Top Gear and current co-presenter of Fifth Gear.-Biography:...
were the Stig. There had also been speculation of multiple drivers being the Stig. Many people had also claimed to be the Stig themselves, including Jay Kay and Damon Hill.
When Richard Hammond crashed a rocket-powered car, the accident report into the crash described Ben Collins as someone who worked closely with Top Gear as a high performance driver and consultant.
Original Stig Perry McCarthy stated in November 2006 that he knew who the White Stig was, and hinted at the multiple driver theory.
Many racing drivers, and principals, including Andrew Kirkaldy
Andrew Kirkaldy (racing driver)
Andrew Kirkaldy is a Scottish racing driver and team principal.-Single-seaters:Kirkaldy began his career competing in karting, winning the Scottish Junior Championship in 1989 and the Scottish Senior Championship in 1993. He raced in the Formula Vauxhall championship in 1996 and 1997, finishing...
, Susie Stoddart
Susie Stoddart
Susie Wolff is a Scottish racing driver. She has progressed through the ranks of motorsport, starting off in karting, then moving up to Formula Renault and Formula 3 before moving to the DTM to compete for Mercedes-Benz since 2006...
and Stewart Roden claimed to know who it was, saying that "In the racing world, a lot of the team managers (and racing drivers) know who is under the helmet, but it's top secret", with Kirkaldy claiming He's reasonably quiet and modest and doesn't ever talk about it. I only found out by chance and he's certainly never admitted it."
After observing the Stig's charity drive around the Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
just before the July 2008 British Grand Prix
2008 British Grand Prix
The 2008 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 6 July 2008 at the Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, England. It was the 9th race of the 2008 Formula One season. The race, contested over 60 laps, was won by Lewis Hamilton for the McLaren team after starting from fourth...
, former Formula One World Champion Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....
remarked, "Whoever’s in that car is a seriously good driver... I’ve no idea who he is, but he’s definitely ex-F1".
During 2009, the rumours of the Stig's identity increased rapidly, with various newspapers claiming during January that it was indeed Collins. These include a builder who claimed to have seen his white helmet and uniform on display in his house while doing some work for him, and an art gallery owner and his son claiming that in 2008 a man had enquired about the creation of 450 signed and limited edition prints of the Stig. He first claimed to be a BBC executive, but then revealed himself to be the Stig after they agreed to do the job and signed a confidentiality agreement to keep it secret.
Furthermore, the tabloid News of the World
News of the World
The News of the World was a national red top newspaper published in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the biggest selling English language newspaper in the world, and at closure still had one of the highest English language circulations...
obtained information stating he was on a salary of around £150,000 a year, by combining his Top Gear job with some stunt and test driving. He was in his 30s, married, living in a £300,000 home and drove a car worth £15,000. It quoted the BBC source stating "This is the best-kept secret in motor racing and we want to keep it that way. No one will ever officially confirm his identity." This contradicts with many newspapers beliefs (and that of car magazines, such as Peter Lawton, consumer editor of What Car?
What Car?
What Car? is a long-running UK monthly automobile magazine and website, currently edited by Steve Fowler and published by Haymarket Motoring. First published in 1973, it is intended primarily as a magazine for consumers rather than dedicated automobile enthusiasts...
magazine) that this had been an "open secret within the motoring world for some years" which the media had previously kept secret in order to "uphold the spirit of the programme".
A BBC source said "The simple fact of the matter is that there are currently four Stigs who drive on the test track" for reasons of practicality. The report claimed that in addition to the rumoured Ben Collins,and MIRA Ice Racing Champion Mike Wilson, Julian Bailey was also currently working as the Stig, with more drivers also used when their schedules clashed. Supporting this, it relayed the source's explanation that if you look at the show the height of the Stig varies.
Whilst these rumours were ongoing, the Top Gear website blog facetiously revealed that the Stig was a Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group is a British banking and insurance holding company in which the UK Government holds an 84% stake. This stake is held and managed through UK Financial Investments Limited, whose voting rights are limited to 75% in order for the bank to retain its listing on the...
chairman Sir Tom McKillop attempting to recover crippling losses, as well as the newly elected US President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, who only ran for election to fill in the time between series, and Graham Hill
Graham Hill
Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion. He is the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Formula One World Championship.Graham Hill and his son Damon are the only father and son pair both to...
, who they claim faked his own death in a plane crash in 1975 to take the role.
In his newspaper column in The Sun on 24 January 2009, Clarkson joked that the Stig was in fact the BBC Royal Correspondent Nicholas Witchell
Nicholas Witchell
Nicholas Newton Henshall Witchell is an English journalist. He is the current diplomatic and royal correspondent for BBC News...
, declaring he would now have to be killed by being dropped from a Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport plane, and the Telegraph will have to now find another big secret to expose, such as the size of the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
, or the identity of Father Christmas.
The Daily Mail claimed it had tracked down "another former Stig" who anonymously told them the names of a total of eight drivers who had "recently stood in as the test-driving mystery man." In addition to the previously mentioned Ben Collins and Julian Bailey, and the man named "Will", the paper named the Formula One driver Heikki Kovalainen, the former GT world champion Chris Goodwin, stunt drivers Terry Grant and Russ Swift, and the Swedish snow mobile racing champion Dan Lang. It claimed Kovalainen raced a Formula One car around the test track in 2004, and Lang was the driver in the snowmobile ski jump stunt. The BBC refused to comment on the story.
In September 2009, British racing driver Justin Bell
Justin Bell
Justin Bell is a British racecar driver. He is the son of Derek Bell.-Career:Justin and his father raced together from the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans through the 1996 24 Hours of Le Mans. He tried to qualify for the 1996 Indianapolis 500 in a 4 year old Lola chassis...
, best friend of the original Stig Perry McCarthy
Perry McCarthy
-Career:Born in Billericay, Essex, McCarthy grew up to work for his father's company servicing North Sea oil rigs. Unlike most Formula One drivers, McCarthy did not start racing in karts...
, has said he knew who the Stig was, but would not reveal his name. He also stated that he didn't understand why he did it, stating "You can't talk about it and nobody knows who you are. There's nothing good about it ... unless you go to a convention of other people in white helmets and white suits". Bell spoke out after being hired for the job of driving instructor on The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show is an American comedy show created by and starring Jay Leno, that aired from September 14, 2009 to February 9, 2010 on NBC following the May 29, 2009 conclusion of Leno's first tenure as host of The Tonight Show...
s Green Car Challenge segment, similar to the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, causing him to be dubbed 'America's Stig'.
In September 2010, it was claimed that 26-year-old racing driver Phil Keen had stood in for the White Stig, both behind the wheel, and in appearances, when Collins was unavailable, including at the 2009 Top Gear Live event in Germany.
Michael Schumacher 'revealed'
On 20 June 2009, Jeremy Clarkson revealed in his Sun newspaper column that the Stig would finally show the world his face, in the series thirteen
Top Gear (series 13)
Top Gear returned to BBC Two for a 13th series on 21 June 2009, with the usual presenting team of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and The Stig. The series contained 7 episodes. Despite forced budget cuts, series 13 contained new challenges, new power tests, more foreign travel and more...
opening episode to be broadcast the next day. Clarkson said that The Stig wished to unmask himself to quash speculation over his identity, stating "He's been fed up with newspapers speculating that he's a photocopier salesman from Bolton, or lives in a pebble-dashed house in Bristol".
The show first depicted the Stig driving a Ferrari FXX
Ferrari FXX
The Ferrari FXX is a high performance race car built by automobile manufacturer Ferrari in Maranello, Italy. The FXX is based on the street-legal Enzo. Production of the FXX began in 2005.- Overview :...
round the test track in a time of 1:10.7 seconds. Afterwards, after walking into the studio and sitting on the green couch, with the audience shouting "Off! Off! Off! Off!", the Stig took his helmet off to reveal he was the former Formula One multiple World Champion Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
. In the following interview, Schumacher then played up to some of the supposed defining character traits of the Stig, such as the claim he only knows two facts about ducks (both being wrong), and that he is illegal in only nine (and not seventeen) US states.
The BBC would initially not confirm or deny it was a just a stunt, but a spokesman was quoted as saying "You have to bear in mind that Top Gear is an entertainment programme. We never reveal who or what The Stig is,". The next day however, The Telegraph wrote: "A spokesman for Top Gear confirmed Schumacher had been The Stig during the Ferrari circuit, driving his own car ... But the spokesman added that the identity of the driver at other times would remain "a mystery".
Ben Collins' autobiography
On 19 August 2010 it was reported that there was a legal dispute progressing between publishers representing the Stig and the BBC over plans to release an autobiography revealing his identity. It stated that the dispute surrounded the Stig's dissatisfaction at being unable to exploit his fame, and earning an estimated £5,000 and £10,000 per show, compared to six and seven figure earnings by the other Top Gear presenters. It described the situation as incredibly tense, with Clarkson said to be deeply upset, and with show insiders fearing that the Stig could either quit the show, or be fired, with the dispute needing to be settled way before the sixteenth series
Top Gear (series 16)
The sixteenth series of BBC motoring series Top Gear began airing on 21 December 2010, with the usual team of Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, and The Stig.-Episodes:...
. A BBC spokesman confirmed to the paper that "The BBC is in a legal dispute over the publication of a book relating to Top Gear as this breaches agreed contractual and confidentiality obligations relating to the show."
Then, the Sunday Times claimed to have unearthed more evidence that showed Collins was the Stig, namely financial documents for his company Collins Autosport dating back to the White Stig's entry to the show. They stated the documents reported in December 2003 an increase in profits, put down to "driving services provided for the BBC, mainly in the Top Gear programme", just a month after the White Stig's first appearance. When contacted over the story, Collins merely stated "I can't speak to you. I'm going into a tunnel". Responding to the report, the BBC stated that it was "no surprise that Ben Collins's company listed Top Gear amongst its work as the driver had appeared numerous times on the programme and he often supplied other drivers for both the programme and Top Gear Live".
The BBC sued the publisher for an attempt to profit from the unauthorised use of the Top Gear brand, maintaining that revealing the identity would spoil viewers' enjoyment of the show. The publisher responded, stating "We are disappointed that the BBC has chosen to spend licence fee payers' money to suppress this book and will vigorously defend the perfectly legitimate right of this individual to tell his story".
The Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman wrote on a Top Gear blog on 27 August, attacking the publisher for trying to cash in on the programme, describing them as a "bunch of chancers", describing the action as an issue of trust, and justifying the use of license fee to fight the case based on the brand's value to the programme and the viewers, clarifying that half of the case costs were being met by BBC Worldwide, their commercial arm.
On 29 August 2010, the Daily Mirror claimed the BBC had already sacked Collins from the Stig role, citing the Stig's appearance at the Top Gear Live August 2010 Stunt Show at the Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...
in Germany, at the same time as Collins was photographed at his West Country home. When asked about the ongoing High Court action, Collins stated "I am not allowed to talk about it." Despite objections from the publisher, the legal case hearings began in private on 31 August.
Outcome
After a day and a half of hearings, the case concluded, with the judge finding against the BBC, refusing to grant an injunction blocking the publication. The proposed book was reportedly called The Man in the White Suit, and was indeed about Ben Collins, but still clarifying that it "won't confirm or deny that Ben Collins either was or remains The Stig". Collins was in court to hear the final judgment. HarperCollins confirmed that the reasons for declining the injunction were to be given by the judge later, in a private judgment.
Both Collins and HarperCollins refused to confirm his status as the Stig to reporters waiting outside the court after the case, but the publisher maintained surprise at the BBC's decision to fight the case, stating the information in dispute had always been in the public domain. Following the court ruling, Collins' autobiography, The Man in the White Suit, was due to be published on 16 September 2010. As of 2 September 2010, the web site of the Gordon Poole Agency, the talent agency representing Ben Collins, referred to Collins as Top Gear's The Stig.
In the immediate reaction, The Telegraph asserted that the judgment meant that the Stig had now been conclusively outed as Ben Collins, bringing an end to seven years of speculation and theories as to who wore the white overalls. It also conceded that, " with the corporation yet to officially acknowledge the fact, Collins' future in the role is less certain". The BBC News
BBC News
BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
website published a profile of Collins' career on the same day, but merely stated that he will "publish an autobiography in which he claims to be The Stig".
Aftermath
Following the BBC's failure to obtain an injunction against the autobiography, James May jokingly stated "Obviously I'm now going to have to take some legal action of my own, because I have been the Stig for the past seven years, and I don't know who this bloke is, who's mincing around in the High Court pretending it's him." May kept up the pretence in a column in The Telegraph, expounding on his double life as Captain Slow and the Stig, and how his replacement was named Collins - the Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins
Michael Collins (astronaut)
Michael Collins is a former American astronaut and test pilot. Selected as part of the third group of fourteen astronauts in 1963, he flew in space twice. His first spaceflight was Gemini 10, in which he and command pilot John Young performed two rendezvous with different spacecraft and Collins...
.
A couple of names were then considered to be the next Stig, if there was to be one, most notably Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Johannes Kovalainen is a Finnish Formula One racing driver who spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons with British based team McLaren and the 2010 and 2011 seasons with Team Lotus....
and Anthony Davidson
Anthony Davidson
Anthony Denis Davidson is a British former Formula One racing driver from England, born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. He has raced for Minardi, Super Aguri and been a test and/or reserve driver for the British American Racing, Honda and Brawn GP teams...
as the favourites, as well as former White Stig stand-in, racing driver Phil Keen. The odds on a female Stig were also cut, after Clarkson suggested the character will be replaced.
The Telegraph claimed that Collins had been axed by Top Gear, citing BBC sources who said that as a result of the court case, Collins' contract with the BBC, having already expired in the previous month, would not now be renewed by the BBC. It claimed that a television talent management agency was now planning to use Collins in a new show in competition with Top Gear. It also claimed the BBC had spent up to £100,000 in their bid to have the court impose a temporary injunction banning Collins' book.
Speaking to a radio station the same day, James May explained that in the new series of the show, for which filming was to start the following week, he will be dealt with in a similar way to how the Black Stig was killed off and replaced, having "had to be dealt with by Andy [Wilman, the show producer]". Possible ideas included "driving to The Stig's house and nailing his head to the table", in addition to reclaiming the overalls, shoes and gloves, which were "not his", claiming Wilman was furious at Collins for writing his autobiography.
On 4 September, The Sun quoted a BBC spokeswoman as saying "No decision has yet been made as to whether The Stig will be killed off.
Under the heading 'Driver Wanted', Jeremy wrote in his column in The Sun that "Top Gear, the motoring show on BBC2, is looking for a driver with a high level of racing experience to be The Stig. The successful applicant need not speak English, or indeed any language at all, but he or she must hate Boy Scouts, be able to punch a horse to the ground, have eyes that blink sideways and, most important of all, understand that no one, under any circumstances, should ever rat on their friends." The newspaper claimed only three people other than the presenters Clarkson, Hammond and May, had known the Stig's identity for certain, before the High Court judgment.
In an interview on 7 September 2010, Jeremy Clarkson said, 'put it this way, he's history as far as we are concerned. He's sacked.'
On 5 November 2010, the Top Gear website released a video clip about its "Stig Farm", the end of which introduced a new Stig for Top Gear Live. He sports a white helmet and overalls, with black highlights on the shoes, sleeves and shoulders. The video also featured a satire of Collins' autobiography, in which one example of a Stig tries to write a book on a computer, before proceeding to correct one of its numerous mistakes with Tippex.
In the USA road trip (aired 21 December 2010), the presenters branded the Stig a traitor, with James May declaring his true name to be Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
. In a later challenge in which the presenters had to take part in a mock drive-by shooting, the targets used were cardboard cut-outs of the Stig—which, on his turn, Hammond turned around to take the specific opportunity to "shoot [the Stig] in the back!"
During Collins' appearance with the military amputees rally team broadcast in July 2011, Collins was introduced and acknowledged by Richard Hammond
Richard Hammond
Richard Mark Hammond is an English broadcaster, writer, and journalist most noted for co-hosting car programme Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as presenting Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky 1.-Early life:...
as "ex-Stig... Ben Collins".
The Second White Stig (Current Stig)
After the identity of the previous Stig was revealed, the producers of Top Gear were unsure about whether to have a new Stig. Pictures emerged, however, of a 'Stig Farm', in which the producers and presenters supposedly went to pick the new Stig. At the end of the Middle East SpecialTop Gear (series 16)
The sixteenth series of BBC motoring series Top Gear began airing on 21 December 2010, with the usual team of Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, and The Stig.-Episodes:...
, James, Jeremy and Richard went to the manger in Bethlehem and the baby turned out to be a baby Stig. In the first episode of series 16, Jeremy and James explained that Stigs grow very quickly and within a month Baby Stig was fully grown and referred to him as New Stig. He allegedly set broadly very similar lap times to "Sacked Stig". He set the fastest time of any car around the track of 1:15.1 in an Ariel Atom
Ariel Atom
The Ariel Atom is a high performance sports car made by the Ariel Motor Company based in Somerset, England and under licence in North America by TMI Autotech, Inc. at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia....
V8 on his first episode.
Appearance before Birth
'New Stig' appeared in 'The Ashes Special' which aired in Australia in September 2010 (before Stig's birth in December 2010). Although, it wasn't revealed to be the new Stig in the Australian Coverage as it was in the English Coverage (which aired during Series 16).The Stig's 'cousins'
The Stig is also portrayed as having an extended family of cousins who appear in his place, reinforcing various comical stereotypes.In the US Special
Top Gear: US Special
Top Gear: US Special was an episode of the popular series Top Gear, first broadcast on 11 February 2007 on BBC Two, as part of series 9. In this full-length story, presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May attempted to see if it was cheaper to buy a car for exploring the southern...
in 2006, the show featured a portly American cousin nicknamed "Big Stig" with a relaxed driving style. He raced the presenters' cars around the Moroso Motorsports Park track. "Big Stig" should not be confused with the white Stig of Top Gear America.
The Botswana Special
Top Gear: Botswana Special
Top Gear: Botswana Special was an episode of the popular British television series Top Gear, first broadcast on 4 November 2007 on BBC Two, as part of series 10...
featured the Stig's African cousin, with dark skin, wearing just Puma
PUMA AG
Puma SE, officially branded as PUMA, is a major German multinational company that produces high-end athletic shoes, lifestyle footwear and other sportswear. Formed in 1924 as Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik by Adolf and Rudolf Dassler, relationships between the two brothers deteriorated until the two...
racing boots, a loincloth, white racing gloves and the iconic white helmet. He raced the presenters' chosen cars around an improvised rally track. According to the Special's DVD commentary, this cousin did have experience in Formula 1 racing.
In Series 12, episode 1
Top Gear (series 12)
The 12th series of Top Gear contained eight episodes, and premiered on 2 November 2008, with the usual presenting team of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and The Stig. Clarkson was injured while filming the series, after crashing a lorry through a brick wall at 56 mph in the first...
, 'Rig Stig' made his debut, sporting a "sunburned" right sleeve and glove in reference to his supposed job as a lorry driver. He appeared powersliding
Drifting (motorsport)
Drifting refers to a driving technique and to a motorsport where the driver intentionally over steers, causing loss of traction in the rear wheels through turns, while maintaining vehicle control and a high exit speed...
a Team Oliver
Stuart Oliver (racing driver)
Stuart Oliver is a British auto racing driver, who races in Truck Racing, where he has won many titles. He drives a MAN TGA D26 in both the British Truck Racing Championship and the FIA European Truck Championship, for Team Oliver Racing.-Truck Racing:He first entered the British Championship in...
racing truck
Truck Racing
Truck racing is a form of motor racing which involves modified versions of heavy tractor units on racing circuits.The sport started in England in 1984 with the first race held at Donington Park and enjoyed great success, but declined in the 1990s. However, in the last few years the profile of...
to show to the presenters that a lorry could drift.
There was another cousin in the Vietnam Special
Top Gear: Vietnam Special
Top Gear: Vietnam Special is a special 75-minute episode of the motoring series Top Gear, which was broadcast on 28 December 2008 at 8:00 pm on BBC Two. An edited 46 minute edition of the show was broadcast on the UK TV channel Dave in the 8.00pm - 9.00pm slot on Monday 19 January 2009...
, although his scenes were not broadcast due to time constraints. He was nicknamed the Stig's Vietnamese/Communist cousin and wore a red uniform. The footage was however included in a later DVD release. Top Gear hired a local motorcycle stunt rider.
In Series 14, episode 2
Top Gear (series 14)
Top Gear returned for a 14th series, aired on BBC Two and BBC HD, on 15 November 2009, with the usual presenting team of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and The Stig. The series contained 7 episodes...
, the Stig's vegetarian cousin, nicknamed "Janet Stig Porter
Janet Street-Porter
Janet Street-Porter is a British media personality, journalist and television presenter. She was editor for two years of The Independent on Sunday. She relinquished the job to become editor-at-large in 2002...
", appeared. He wore green overalls, Birkenstock
Birkenstock
Birkenstock Orthopädie GmbH & Co. KG is a shoe manufacturer headquartered in Vettelschoß, Germany. The company sells Birkenstock, a German brand of sandals and other shoes notable for their contoured cork and rubber footbeds, which conform somewhat to the shape of their wearers' feet...
sandals with socks and a solar-powered helmet. He drove the presenters' "Hammerhead iEagle Thrust" hybrid around the MIRA
Motor Industry Research Association
MIRA Ltd, formerly known as the Motor Industry Research Association, is a limited company based near Nuneaton in Hinckley and Bosworth, Leicestershire in the United Kingdom, which provides product engineering, research, testing, information and certification services to the automotive...
test circuit to see how long it would last, but eventually died from the car's diesel fumes.
In Series 15, episode 2
Top Gear (series 15)
Top Gear returned for a 15th series, aired on BBC Two and BBC HD, on 27 June 2010, and concluded on 1 August 2010, with the usual presenting team of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May and The Stig. Prior to the series, the channel advertised the show's return by featuring a home video...
, the Stig's German cousin, nicknamed "Herr Stig" and "Stiggy Ray Cyrus" (a parody of Billy Ray Cyrus
Billy Ray Cyrus
William "Billy" Ray Cyrus is an American country music singer, songwriter, actor and philanthropist, who helped make country music a worldwide phenomenon...
), he was almost identical to the main Stig, wearing white overalls, the main difference being that he had a mullet
Mullet (haircut)
The mullet is a hairstyle that is short at the front and sides, and long in the back. . The mullet began to appear in popular media in the 1960s and 1970s but did not become generally well-known until the early 1980s...
haircut. He drove the presenters' cheap sports saloons around a German track.
The U.S. Top Gear
Top Gear (U.S. TV series)
Top Gear is a motoring television series, based on the BBC series of the same name. The show's presenters are professional racing driver Tanner Foust, actor and comedian Adam Ferrara, and automotive and racing analyst Rutledge Wood. As with the original British version, the show has its own version...
, Top Gear Australia
Top Gear Australia
Top Gear Australia was an Australian motoring television series based on the BBC series Top Gear.The show premiered on SBS One on 29 September 2008 at 7:30 pm AEST, with its first season consisting of 8 episodes...
and Top Gear Russia
Top Gear Russia
Top Gear Russia was a Russian motoring television series on Ren-TV, based on the British program Top Gear produced by the BBC. It premiered on 22 February 2009.-Presenters:The hosts chosen for Top Gear Russia are:...
also feature their own versions of The Stig.
Temporary Stigs
In the Winter Olympics specialTop Gear Winter Olympics
Top Gear Winter Olympics is an episode of Top Gear.-Summary:Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May travel to Lillehammer, Norway for a special edition of the show, themed on the Winter Olympics....
, Top Gear used Dan Lang, a Swedish snowmobile champion, to jump a snowmobile.
In the USA Road Trip (aired 21 December 2010), Tiff Needell
Tiff Needell
Timothy "Tiff" Needell isa British racing driver and television presenter. He is best known as a former co-presenter of Top Gear and current co-presenter of Fifth Gear.-Biography:...
was brought in as an 'Emergency Stig' to train Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle
Daniel "Danny" Boyle is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Trainspotting. For Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle won numerous awards in 2008, including the Academy Award for Best Director...
on the track.
Other appearances
In June 2008 Stig drove a passenger in a two-seat Formula One car at up to 178 mi/h for three laps around the Silverstone CircuitSilverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
in wet conditions, hours before the start of the 2008 British Grand Prix
2008 British Grand Prix
The 2008 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 6 July 2008 at the Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, England. It was the 9th race of the 2008 Formula One season. The race, contested over 60 laps, was won by Lewis Hamilton for the McLaren team after starting from fourth...
. The drive was the prize in a charity auction held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children is a children's hospital located in London, United Kingdom...
where the winning bidder paid £35,000 for the privilege. Stig appeared at the October 2008 National Television Awards
National Television Awards
The National Television Awards is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted on by the general public. Because of the way the awards are decided, winners are...
to accept Top Gear's third award for best factual programme, as the other presenters were ostensibly busy filming the new series. The Stig also appears at Top Gear Live events, such as the August 2010 Stunt Show at the Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...
in Germany, in which he is billed as the star of the show alongside the other stunt drivers and cars, with the other Top Gear presenters not playing a part. The Stig has also appeared outside Top Gear in Clarkson's motoring DVDs since 2005. He also appeared before the 2011 British Grand Prix whilst Clarkson and Hammond gave the camera crew a tour of the Top Gear studio.
In the 2011 X Games 17, The Stig can be seen walking in the background during one of Brian Deegan's interviews during Rallycross.
Cultural impact and merchandising
The Scotsman described the Stig in 2008 as a "real-life James BondJames Bond (character)
Royal Navy Commander James Bond, CMG, RNVR is a fictional character created by journalist and novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He is the main protagonist of the James Bond series of novels, films, comics and video games...
able to tame the most powerful cars, while possessing all the mystique of Zorro
Zorro
Zorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York-based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media....
" The Sunday Times in 2009 described the Stig as "not a man but an idea, possibly an extraterrestrial", speculating that, along the lines of the Spartacus mythology, that the more people were linked with the character, the stronger the mystery would become. It paid tribute for how long the show had actually kept the secret.
On the question of 'Who is the Stig?', it has been described variously by The Telegraph as one of the most popular internet search questions of 2009, by The Times in 2009 as one of the ten most-searched-for terms on the Ask.com internet search engine, and by the Sunday Times as most-asked question on the internet in 2008. In addition, the Sunday Times has stated that on-line and text-answering services
Mobile Search
Mobile search is an evolving branch of information retrieval services that is centered around the convergence of mobile platforms and mobile phones and other mobile devices. Web search engine ability in a mobile form allows users to find mobile content on websites which are available to mobile...
rated it as one of the most popular questions of all time, along with the meaning of life
Meaning of life
The meaning of life constitutes a philosophical question concerning the purpose and significance of life or existence in general. This concept can be expressed through a variety of related questions, such as "Why are we here?", "What is life all about?", and "What is the meaning of it all?" It has...
.
With the BBC asserting that the anonymity of the Stig was a vital part of the show's appeal which was valued by the audience during their legal dispute with HarperCollins, an on-line poll by The Guardian asking the question "Do we need a new Stig?", returned 64% "Yes - his identity should always be a mystery", against 36% for "No - why the big fuss over a man in a helmet?".
After the High Court judgment allowing Ben Collins to publish his autobiography revealing himself as White Stig, The Guardian asserted that the question of the character's identity had "always been one of the modern age's greatest mysteries", and immediately posed the question, "if the Stig is dead, then who'll be the new Stig?", adding, "The whole beauty of the Stig is that we don't know who he is. He's just a jumpsuit and a helmet, the contents of which are eminently replaceable".
The Stig has been notionally 'spotted' in the wild in images collected for Google Street View
Google Street View
Google Street View is a technology featured in Google Maps and Google Earth that provides panoramic views from various positions along many streets in the world...
. He was photographed by a Street View car standing on the side of the A82 road
A82 road
The A82 is a trunk road in Scotland. It is the principal route from Lowland Scotland to the western Scottish Highlands, running from Glasgow to Inverness, going by Loch Lomond, Glen Coe and Fort William. It is the second longest primary A-road in Scotland after the A9, which is the other...
in Loch Ness
Loch Ness
Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately southwest of Inverness. Its surface is above sea level. Loch Ness is best known for the alleged sightings of the cryptozoological Loch Ness Monster, also known affectionately as "Nessie"...
, Scotland. He was also captured by a Street View tricycle in three locations within Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor
Legoland Windsor is a child-oriented theme park in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego toy system. The park opened in 1996 on the former Windsor Safari Park as the second Legoland after Legoland Billund in Denmark. The park is located within close distance of Windsor Castle and...
in Berkshire, including riding a go-kart
Go-kart
thumb|A [[Kart racing|racing kart]] at the [[Commission Internationale de Karting|CIK-FIA]] European Championship 2008A go-kart is a small four-wheeled vehicle...
and sitting on a camel. A Street View image taken from the A40 Westway
Westway (London)
The Westway is a long elevated dual carriageway section of the A40 route in west London running from Paddington to North Kensington. The road was constructed between 1964 and 1970 to relieve congestion at Shepherd's Bush caused by traffic from Western Avenue struggling to enter central London on...
of the Stig apparently standing in a window of the Top Gear office in BBC Television Centre
BBC Television Centre
BBC Television Centre at White City in West London is the headquarters of BBC Television. Officially opened on 29 June 1960, it remains one of the largest to this day; having featured over the years as backdrop to many BBC programmes, it is one of the most readily recognisable such facilities...
in West London was reportedly just a cardboard cut-out.
The BBC has capitalised on the mystery behind the Stig by marketing "I AM THE STIG" T-Shirts and variants through the Top Gear shop. Other Stig merchandise has included bubble wash, pens, keyrings, soap on a rope, lunchbags and a "sonic toothbrush".
Through a partnership with Polyphony Digital
Polyphony Digital
Polyphony Digital, Inc. is an internal video game developing company of Sony Computer Entertainment and is part of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios...
, The Stig's helmet and overalls are available for purchase in the videogame Gran Turismo 5
Gran Turismo 5
is the fifth edition of the Gran Turismo racing video game series. Developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, it was released for PlayStation 3 on November 24, 2010...
and Forza Motorsport 4
Forza Motorsport 4
Forza Motorsport 4 is a racing video game released by Turn 10 Studios for the Xbox 360. It is the fourth installment in the Forza Motorsport series, and was released in North America on October 11, 2011 and in Europe on October 14, 2011...
as avatar items, which also feature the Top Gear Test Track.