Top Gear’s final episode sets new series ratings low

The revamped Top Gear set a new series ratings low with its final episode last night, bowing out to less than 2 million viewers.

Just 1.9 million viewers (8.7%) tuned into the Chris Evans-fronted Top Gear revamp, beating the series’ previous record of 2.3 million for the fourth episode of the new series. Episode four was the lowest ratings the show had seen in fourteen years, until last night.

Top Gear‘s final episode faced competition from the Euro 2016 quarter-final between France and Iceland, which attracted 6.6 million viewers for ITV. On BBC One, a Musketeers repeat claimed 2.6 million while documentary China’s Forgotten Emperor interested 1.3 million on Channel 4.

Top Gear has suffered with poor ratings during its six-week run, repeatedly clashing with this year’s Euro 2016 championships in France. Across six episodes, Top Gear averaged only 2.8 million viewers, nearly half of the 5.3 million who tuned into Jeremy Clarkson’s last season in January 2015.

There was some good news for Evans and the BBC Two bosses however, as Top Gear remains above the channel’s slot average for the past 12 months (1.7 million).

The low ratings are yet another development in the seemingly-doomed revamp of Top Gear.