I don’t think anyone is expecting the new series of Top Gear, airing later this year, to be business as usual.

Chris Evans is no Jeremy Clarkson. His days of TFI Fridays, FHM covers and being an all round ‘lad’ are far behind him – after all, it’s not the 90s anymore.

I did think, however, that his choice as replacement for Clarkson was a good one. He has that rebellious streak in him that would fit right into the Top Gear brand, as well as petrol coursing through his veins. Perhaps, then, there’s hope for the series’ revival?

Unfortunately I think not.

This week, The Sun, The Daily Mail and The Telegraph, amongst others, ran a story after a film shoot for the new series, that took place near the Cenotaph, was labelled as disrespectful to the memorial and to whom it honours.

Now I think it is a load of rubbish. They were driving near it, not defacing it. The Cenotaph is on a main road in the centre of London, cars drive by it every day. But that is besides the point.

What worried me is how quickly Evans and Top Gear came out to humbly apologise; something that was very BBC and very un-Top Gear.

What we loved about the old Top Gear, with Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, is that they were unlike anything seen before.

Whether you liked Clarkson or not, there was something infectiously gripping about the way he went about making programmes and all the controversy that surrounded it. He managed to take a boring car show and turn it into one that was broadcast worldwide – and the cars certainly weren’t the attraction.

He was always very anti-BBC – he spoke his mind, and didn’t care who didn’t like it.

It’s that mischievous streak that made Top Gear so popular. The question was always; what are they going to do next?

Seeing Evans coming out and begging for forgiveness, while admirable, is not very Top Gear. It points very much to a host who, in a first for the show, is being told what to do by the BBC.

It may have impeccable morals and be impartial beyond reason, but regulation doesn’t bode well for a show that’s USP was to shock and astound.

I hope I am proved wrong. I would love to see two thoroughly entertaining motoring shows going against each other. And with the money being thrown at it, I fully expect Clarkson’s new venture with Amazon to be up to that challenge.

But I fear that the new-look Top Gear will not only be different, it will be boring.

It’s not like they have a killer line up of hosts to fall back on. I mean, Eddie Jordan? Seriously?