I mentioned some years ago the phenomenon of YouTube channels carrying old episodes of TV series that probably wouldn’t be broadcast anymore.

Clarkson-era Top Gear is probably not such a series, but recently I discovered that thirteen months ago the channel Top Gear Classic was launched, carrying compressed clips of the various challenges the three presenters undertook from 2002 to 2015. The name is a little confusing as I would have thought that “Classic” in this context should refer to the 1977-2001 broadcasts. Many of the clips on this new channel are the same that were already uploaded to the main Top Gear channel, and indeed the BBC Studios channel, many years ago. The most obvious difference now is the much higher video quality. Given how many amateur fan channels have sprung up with compilations from this time, and subsequently The Grand Tour, it would have been a great loss for the BBC not to get in on the act themselves I suppose.

Another new find is the channel Rails, Roads & Runways, launched in January this year by ITV Studios and containing, as you may expect, episodes of rather old documentary series about trains, cars and aeroplanes.