Italy special replaces Top Gear in the US

BBC Worldwide will provide US Top Gear fans with a two-part special in lieu of the episodes they would miss after the cancellation of the remainder of the UK series.

++++UPDATE++++BBC Worldwide has now confirmed that it has offered all of the international Top Gear broadcasters the two-part Italian special to replace the episodes they would have got had the regular series not been cut short++++UPDATE++++

In the US the original UK series goes out on cable channel BBC America, which is now a joint venture between AMC Networks and BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of UK pubcaster the BBC.

It will schedule Top Gear: The Perfect Road Trip Italy in place of the regular episodes of the motoring magazine series. The first part will go out on BBC America today (March 16) in a 9pm slot and the concluding next Monday.

Top Gear has been engulfed in controversy after star presenter Jeremy Clarkson was involved in a fracas one of the series’ production team, leading to the remaining instalments of the twenty second series to be shelved.

The Italy special sees Clarskon and his two fellow presenters tour Italy, taking in Venice, Bologna, Siena and Rome.

The US version of Top Gear is on A+E-owned cable channel History. The format and finished series are distributed by BBCWW, which moved late last week to downplay the financial impact of the unexpected early end to the current series.

in the UK the series goes out on BBC Two in a Sunday night slot. It scheduled a doc on acrobatic flying team The Red Arrows in place of the motoring series.