- 22 Jun 09, 17:34#128355
Origins
The Stig's name derives from presenter Jeremy Clarkson's days at Repton School; where, according to Clarkson, new students were always called "Stig".[2] A proposed name for the Stig was originally "The Gimp" until protests from Perry McCarthy put a stop to the idea.[3] There have been two official Stigs on the show, while various other Stigs have made cameo appearances for particular episodes.
Black Stig
The Stig (Series 1 & 2)
The first Stig wore black overalls and helmet. It was introduced in the first episode of the current format by Jeremy Clarkson as the resident test driver, as the presenters could not consistently post fast times themselves. 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." Clarkson then described the Stig as having a very small brain, who had worthless opinions, and a disorder described by Clarkson as "Mansell Syndrome". Its job description was to "just go out there and drive fast".[4]
Black Stig posted a lap time of 1:46 for the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment. This Stig was used for the first two series of the show. It was then "killed off" at the start of the third series when he was shown driving a modified Jaguar XJ-S off the flight deck of HMS Invincible during a stunt and landing in the sea.[5][6]
White Stig
After the Black Stig was "killed off", a new "White Stig" was introduced, wearing white overalls and helmet.[7] White Stig has been featured in the show beyond just the Power Lap segment. His work has included driving cars in other segments of the show,[8] and racing against the hosts [9]. He has also been recruited to undertake other tests.[10] White Stig has also appeared outside Top Gear in some of Clarkson's motoring specials, such as 2005's Heaven and Hell, 2006's The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, 2007's Supercar Showdown, and 2008's Thriller.
The Stig also collected Top Gear's third award for Best factual programme at the 2008 British National Television Awards. The Stig did not speak, but supplied an acceptance letter from the rest of the crew, read out by Griff Rhys Jones.[11]
White Stig posted the fastest lap time of 1:44.4 around the Top Gear test track for the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment.
The White Stig was 'revealed' to be former Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher in the first episode of the thirteenth series, first broadcast on 21 June 2009. However at the end of the show this was implied to be an elaborate joke. Schumacher is also credited as the Special Guest of the episode, separately to 'the Stig'.[12]
Other Stigs
There have been various cameo appearances by other Stigs on Top Gear.
Series 9 Episode 3 was set in the United States, with the presenters purchasing American cars and driving them across four states whilst on holiday. One of the challenges set for the presenters was for the cars to set a lap time around a racetrack, for which "the Stig's American cousin" was introduced. This Stig was nicknamed "Big Stig" by the presenters due to his obese appearance[13] and was noted by Clarkson to have a "very relaxed driving style".[14]
Series 10 Episode 4 featured the presenters driving across Botswana. To test the performance of the three cars used by the presenters around a dirt rally track, Clarkson introduced "the Stig's African cousin". This incarnation of the Stig was black, wore only Puma shoes, a loincloth and the iconic white helmet. He set lap times for two of the cars, but walked away from the track when Clarkson's Lancia Beta failed to start. The others joked that African Stig was "in a hurry", and decided "not to take your [Jeremy's] car".[15]
Series 12 Episode 1 featured Stig's lorry driving cousin ("Rig Stig," as identified via Jeremy's narration), who was set as a stereotypical lorry driver, with the right hand sleeve of his jump suit tanned brown and an obese appearance. He demonstrated to Clarkson, May and Hammond that it was possible to powerslide a lorry cab.[16].
The Vietnam special featured the 'Stig's Communist cousin' a red-jumpsuit clad motorcyclist, who set lap times on the presenters' bikes. Previously seen in the series 12 preview montage, the scenes were deleted from the broadcast, but the footage of the 'Communist cousin' was included in the extra materials of the DVD.[citation needed]
The Stig's true identity is never revealed on the show, and in order to maintain the secrecy, all shots show him wearing full Alpinestars racing overalls and matching Simpson Diamondback helmet.[26][27] All that can be seen from the gap between his helmet and jumpsuit is that he is a white male with dark hair. It is also known that he wears Size 10 racing boots as discovered by the Sunday Times[28] and a well-timed camera flash managed to show The Stig's eyes by Auto Trader.[29] Although the Stig does talk with celebrities while preparing them for their "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" lap times, he is almost never shown talking on screen, and in both the programme and Top Gear magazine articles he is portrayed as unable or unwilling to talk.[30][31] Clarkson has written that the Stig is not permitted to talk on screen because "any opinion he might voice on cars would be rubbish",[4][32] though he has been caught speaking on camera.[33]
The identity of Black Stig was revealed to be Perry McCarthy when his book Flat Out, Flat Broke was published in 2002. McCarthy is a former Formula One driver and test driver for the Benetton, Arrows and Williams teams, and also tested for BMW F1.[3][26]
The identity of White Stig has not been officially revealed and is regarded as a carefully guarded secret by the BBC.[34] [35] Racing drivers ranging from Julian Bailey, [34][36] Ben Collins, [34] [37][38] [39][40] Chris Goodwin,[34] Damon Hill, [41] [42] Heikki Kovalainen,[34] Tim Schrick,[43] [44] [45], Michael Schumacher,[46] [47] and Russ Swift,[34] [38] [41] have been speculated as being the Stig at one point or another by the press, other racing drivers, and fans of the show.
Perry McCarthy,[3] Russ Swift,[41] and an unnamed former Stig[34] have claimed that there is more than one driver who plays the role of the Stig. James May claims that there is a clause in the Stig's contract that should his identity be exposed either through his own willingness or via a member of the Top Gear staff (including the hosts of Top Gear), he has to be fired. Black Stig was let go via this clause; the same clause would apply also to White Stig under the same circumstances.[48]
Specialist drivers and stuntmen have also been hinted at playing the role of the Stig; Stuntmen Terry Grant and Russ Swift have been hinted as donning the Stig's trademark racing suit.[34] The Winter Olympics special episode of Top Gear showed the Stig doing a ski jump using a snowmobile; the driver performing the ski jump stunt was claimed to be Dan Lang, a Swedish snowmobile cross driver.[34][49] "Rig Stig" seen in Series 12 Episode 1 drove British Truck racing champion Stuart Oliver's truck on the show, indicating a truck racing driver was used in the segment .[50]
Some people have criticized the apparent fascination of trying to identify the Stig.[34][51] The Times criticized the outing of Ben Collins by the Daily Telegraph in an article which asserted that the "identity of the white-suited Stig ... has been an open secret within the motoring world for some years, with newspapers refraining from publishing his name, to uphold the spirit of the programme."[40]
The BBC has varied their responses to the Stig's true identity. One official BBC response to such speculation is "We never comment on speculation as to who or what the Stig is."[34] In "response" to the outing of Ben Collins as the Stig, the BBC revealed the Stig's true identity as deceased racing driver Graham Hill,[52] then as troubled Royal Bank of Scotland boss Sir Tom McKillop,[53] and Barack Obama.[54] In the revamp of the Top Gear website, one staffer alluded to the identity of Stig as himself, while the Stig walked behind him debunking the theory.[55]
Michael Schumacher made a guest appearance as The Stig at the start of series 13.
It was announced on the BBC News website on 21 June 2009 that the Stig's true identity would be revealed in the first episode of the new series of Top Gear to be broadcast on the evening of the same day. Jeremy Clarkson writing in his column for The Sun newspaper, said the reveal would be a "staggering surprise" to viewers. [56]
In the first episode of the 13th series of Top Gear, broadcast on 21 June 2009, former Formula One driver Michael Schumacher (identified and dressed, as the Stig at the time) drove his own all-black Ferrari FXX[57] around the Top Gear Test Track, achieving their fastest lap time for a production car of 1:10.7.[58]. Later in the show he was brought in to the studio, again identified and dressed as the Stig, and then revealed himself. Clarkson stated at the end of the show "I'm not sure if Michael Schumacher is the Stig" after showing a comedy clip of Schumacher (again, as the Stig) supposedly struggling to drive the Suzuki Liana.
Star in a Reasonably Priced Car
Mark Webber with an "I AM THE STIG" T-shirt presented to him by Jeremy
The show has alluded to the Stig with Formula One drivers that visit the show. Damon Hill appeared as a "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" and when asked directly by Clarkson if he was the Stig, Hill played on the fact that he may be the Stig, but then denied it.[42] 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.[59]
When former F1 driver Nigel Mansell appeared on the show, Jeremy Clarkson noted that the Stig theorised that the Suzuki Liana (the show's "reasonably priced car" at the time) could achieve a 1:44 time on the track.[60] Mansell proved the Stig's theory by lapping in a time of 1:44.6; the Stig subsequently posted a lap-time of 1:44.4 in the Liana. During the review of Jenson Button's lap, Clarkson commented that he, as did most of the other F1 drivers, took very different racing lines from the Stig's. Button commented that "...obviously, the Stig isn't a Formula One Driver, then", to which Clarkson replied, "might be."[61]
Listening habits
Another source of entertainment for the presenters is the music the Stig listens to whilst doing Power Laps around the Top Gear track. Often a specific genre will be chosen for one or more series. These have included power ballads, one-hit wonders, easy listening, country and western, progressive rock, baroque, advertising jingles, foreign language tapes, romantic novels, salesman techniques, the hits of Elton John, the speeches of Margaret Thatcher, self-help tapes, and Morse Code.
The Stig's name derives from presenter Jeremy Clarkson's days at Repton School; where, according to Clarkson, new students were always called "Stig".[2] A proposed name for the Stig was originally "The Gimp" until protests from Perry McCarthy put a stop to the idea.[3] There have been two official Stigs on the show, while various other Stigs have made cameo appearances for particular episodes.
Black Stig
The Stig (Series 1 & 2)
The first Stig wore black overalls and helmet. It was introduced in the first episode of the current format by Jeremy Clarkson as the resident test driver, as the presenters could not consistently post fast times themselves. 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." Clarkson then described the Stig as having a very small brain, who had worthless opinions, and a disorder described by Clarkson as "Mansell Syndrome". Its job description was to "just go out there and drive fast".[4]
Black Stig posted a lap time of 1:46 for the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment. This Stig was used for the first two series of the show. It was then "killed off" at the start of the third series when he was shown driving a modified Jaguar XJ-S off the flight deck of HMS Invincible during a stunt and landing in the sea.[5][6]
White Stig
After the Black Stig was "killed off", a new "White Stig" was introduced, wearing white overalls and helmet.[7] White Stig has been featured in the show beyond just the Power Lap segment. His work has included driving cars in other segments of the show,[8] and racing against the hosts [9]. He has also been recruited to undertake other tests.[10] White Stig has also appeared outside Top Gear in some of Clarkson's motoring specials, such as 2005's Heaven and Hell, 2006's The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, 2007's Supercar Showdown, and 2008's Thriller.
The Stig also collected Top Gear's third award for Best factual programme at the 2008 British National Television Awards. The Stig did not speak, but supplied an acceptance letter from the rest of the crew, read out by Griff Rhys Jones.[11]
White Stig posted the fastest lap time of 1:44.4 around the Top Gear test track for the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment.
The White Stig was 'revealed' to be former Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher in the first episode of the thirteenth series, first broadcast on 21 June 2009. However at the end of the show this was implied to be an elaborate joke. Schumacher is also credited as the Special Guest of the episode, separately to 'the Stig'.[12]
Other Stigs
There have been various cameo appearances by other Stigs on Top Gear.
Series 9 Episode 3 was set in the United States, with the presenters purchasing American cars and driving them across four states whilst on holiday. One of the challenges set for the presenters was for the cars to set a lap time around a racetrack, for which "the Stig's American cousin" was introduced. This Stig was nicknamed "Big Stig" by the presenters due to his obese appearance[13] and was noted by Clarkson to have a "very relaxed driving style".[14]
Series 10 Episode 4 featured the presenters driving across Botswana. To test the performance of the three cars used by the presenters around a dirt rally track, Clarkson introduced "the Stig's African cousin". This incarnation of the Stig was black, wore only Puma shoes, a loincloth and the iconic white helmet. He set lap times for two of the cars, but walked away from the track when Clarkson's Lancia Beta failed to start. The others joked that African Stig was "in a hurry", and decided "not to take your [Jeremy's] car".[15]
Series 12 Episode 1 featured Stig's lorry driving cousin ("Rig Stig," as identified via Jeremy's narration), who was set as a stereotypical lorry driver, with the right hand sleeve of his jump suit tanned brown and an obese appearance. He demonstrated to Clarkson, May and Hammond that it was possible to powerslide a lorry cab.[16].
The Vietnam special featured the 'Stig's Communist cousin' a red-jumpsuit clad motorcyclist, who set lap times on the presenters' bikes. Previously seen in the series 12 preview montage, the scenes were deleted from the broadcast, but the footage of the 'Communist cousin' was included in the extra materials of the DVD.[citation needed]
The Stig's true identity is never revealed on the show, and in order to maintain the secrecy, all shots show him wearing full Alpinestars racing overalls and matching Simpson Diamondback helmet.[26][27] All that can be seen from the gap between his helmet and jumpsuit is that he is a white male with dark hair. It is also known that he wears Size 10 racing boots as discovered by the Sunday Times[28] and a well-timed camera flash managed to show The Stig's eyes by Auto Trader.[29] Although the Stig does talk with celebrities while preparing them for their "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" lap times, he is almost never shown talking on screen, and in both the programme and Top Gear magazine articles he is portrayed as unable or unwilling to talk.[30][31] Clarkson has written that the Stig is not permitted to talk on screen because "any opinion he might voice on cars would be rubbish",[4][32] though he has been caught speaking on camera.[33]
The identity of Black Stig was revealed to be Perry McCarthy when his book Flat Out, Flat Broke was published in 2002. McCarthy is a former Formula One driver and test driver for the Benetton, Arrows and Williams teams, and also tested for BMW F1.[3][26]
The identity of White Stig has not been officially revealed and is regarded as a carefully guarded secret by the BBC.[34] [35] Racing drivers ranging from Julian Bailey, [34][36] Ben Collins, [34] [37][38] [39][40] Chris Goodwin,[34] Damon Hill, [41] [42] Heikki Kovalainen,[34] Tim Schrick,[43] [44] [45], Michael Schumacher,[46] [47] and Russ Swift,[34] [38] [41] have been speculated as being the Stig at one point or another by the press, other racing drivers, and fans of the show.
Perry McCarthy,[3] Russ Swift,[41] and an unnamed former Stig[34] have claimed that there is more than one driver who plays the role of the Stig. James May claims that there is a clause in the Stig's contract that should his identity be exposed either through his own willingness or via a member of the Top Gear staff (including the hosts of Top Gear), he has to be fired. Black Stig was let go via this clause; the same clause would apply also to White Stig under the same circumstances.[48]
Specialist drivers and stuntmen have also been hinted at playing the role of the Stig; Stuntmen Terry Grant and Russ Swift have been hinted as donning the Stig's trademark racing suit.[34] The Winter Olympics special episode of Top Gear showed the Stig doing a ski jump using a snowmobile; the driver performing the ski jump stunt was claimed to be Dan Lang, a Swedish snowmobile cross driver.[34][49] "Rig Stig" seen in Series 12 Episode 1 drove British Truck racing champion Stuart Oliver's truck on the show, indicating a truck racing driver was used in the segment .[50]
Some people have criticized the apparent fascination of trying to identify the Stig.[34][51] The Times criticized the outing of Ben Collins by the Daily Telegraph in an article which asserted that the "identity of the white-suited Stig ... has been an open secret within the motoring world for some years, with newspapers refraining from publishing his name, to uphold the spirit of the programme."[40]
The BBC has varied their responses to the Stig's true identity. One official BBC response to such speculation is "We never comment on speculation as to who or what the Stig is."[34] In "response" to the outing of Ben Collins as the Stig, the BBC revealed the Stig's true identity as deceased racing driver Graham Hill,[52] then as troubled Royal Bank of Scotland boss Sir Tom McKillop,[53] and Barack Obama.[54] In the revamp of the Top Gear website, one staffer alluded to the identity of Stig as himself, while the Stig walked behind him debunking the theory.[55]
Michael Schumacher made a guest appearance as The Stig at the start of series 13.
It was announced on the BBC News website on 21 June 2009 that the Stig's true identity would be revealed in the first episode of the new series of Top Gear to be broadcast on the evening of the same day. Jeremy Clarkson writing in his column for The Sun newspaper, said the reveal would be a "staggering surprise" to viewers. [56]
In the first episode of the 13th series of Top Gear, broadcast on 21 June 2009, former Formula One driver Michael Schumacher (identified and dressed, as the Stig at the time) drove his own all-black Ferrari FXX[57] around the Top Gear Test Track, achieving their fastest lap time for a production car of 1:10.7.[58]. Later in the show he was brought in to the studio, again identified and dressed as the Stig, and then revealed himself. Clarkson stated at the end of the show "I'm not sure if Michael Schumacher is the Stig" after showing a comedy clip of Schumacher (again, as the Stig) supposedly struggling to drive the Suzuki Liana.
Star in a Reasonably Priced Car
Mark Webber with an "I AM THE STIG" T-shirt presented to him by Jeremy
The show has alluded to the Stig with Formula One drivers that visit the show. Damon Hill appeared as a "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" and when asked directly by Clarkson if he was the Stig, Hill played on the fact that he may be the Stig, but then denied it.[42] 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.[59]
When former F1 driver Nigel Mansell appeared on the show, Jeremy Clarkson noted that the Stig theorised that the Suzuki Liana (the show's "reasonably priced car" at the time) could achieve a 1:44 time on the track.[60] Mansell proved the Stig's theory by lapping in a time of 1:44.6; the Stig subsequently posted a lap-time of 1:44.4 in the Liana. During the review of Jenson Button's lap, Clarkson commented that he, as did most of the other F1 drivers, took very different racing lines from the Stig's. Button commented that "...obviously, the Stig isn't a Formula One Driver, then", to which Clarkson replied, "might be."[61]
Listening habits
Another source of entertainment for the presenters is the music the Stig listens to whilst doing Power Laps around the Top Gear track. Often a specific genre will be chosen for one or more series. These have included power ballads, one-hit wonders, easy listening, country and western, progressive rock, baroque, advertising jingles, foreign language tapes, romantic novels, salesman techniques, the hits of Elton John, the speeches of Margaret Thatcher, self-help tapes, and Morse Code.
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- By darwin dali