Tech Talk

There's a bit of escapism in store for petrolheads who've been missing the open road in lockdown with the return of Paddy McGuinness, Freddie Flintoff, and Chris Harris. Read on to find out how to watch Top Gear UK Season 30 and stream the new series online from anywhere in the world.

Despite the pandemic-related challenges of filming, the show is back for some more adrenaline-packed automotive adventures and reviews, albeit in a shorter form.

This new series of the long-running show has been condensed down to just four episodes and won't feature a studio audience, while most of the features have been restricted to being shot in the UK.

Despite those roadblocks, there's plenty for Top Gear fans to get excited by, with the promise of supercar testing in Italy, and what is being described as the show's most dangerous ever stunt which sees the boys pulled along a runway with titanium plates strapped to their feet

The opening episode, meanwhile, sees the trio head to the Lake District in the north of England for an emotional reunion with their own dads' old cars, while Chris heads out on track to test Lamborghini's most powerful car ever, the hybrid Sian.

Read on to find out how to watch a Top Gear UK stream, no matter where you are in the world.

Top Gear UK: Where and when?

New episodes of Top Gear season 30 will be broadcast every Sunday at 8pm GMT (4pm ET, 1pm PT) on BBC1 in the UK. You can also catch it on BBC America, albeit a few weeks behind, every Sunday at 8pm in both ET and PT from April 25.

TV licence fee payers in the U.S. can catch it live or on catch-up using iPlayer — all you need is a speedy BBC iPlayer VPN and you can watch for free just like you would at home. Read on to find out how.

How to stream Top Gear UK live in the UK

As you'd expect, it's pretty straightforward to stream the latest antics of Harris, Flintoff, and McGuiness in the UK. Just fire up BBC iPlayer, where you can get a live BBC1 stream and watch new episodes of Top Gear season 30 episodes online at 8pm every Sunday.

Provided you've got a valid UK TV license, it's totally free to watch Top Gear online with the BBC.

Watch Top Gear UK online from outside of the UK

The BBC and its streaming platform BBC iPlayer are the only places to watch the new season of Top Gear UK as they are broadcast and they are only, technically, available to viewers in the UK. If you're intent on watching the Top Gear UK from abroad, then you'll likely run into problems when trying to stream online as it will be geo-blocked.

That's where a VPN will come in handy. Using one allows you to virtually change the IP address of your laptop, tablet, or mobile to one that's in the UK, letting you watch as if you were there.

VPNs are incredibly easy to use and have the added benefit of giving you a further layer of security when surfing the web. There are lots of options, and we recommend ExpressVPN as our #1 pick due to its speed, security, and ease of use. It can be used on a vast array of operating systems and devices (e.g. iOS, Android, Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, Roku, games consoles, etc). Sign up for ExpressVPN now now and enjoy a 49% discount and 3 months FREE with an annual subscription. Or give it a try with its 30-day money-back guarantee. Looking for other options? Here are some of the best VPN deals right now.

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No matter where in the world you may be, a VPN is the way to go in order to watch Top Gear from outside of the UK.

It's worth noting that accessing BBC iPlayer in this way is against the service's terms of use, so you do so at your own risk.

How to watch Top Gear UK online in the U.S.

If you don't mind avoiding spoilers for the next few weeks, then you can watch the new season of Top Gear UK in the U.S. without using a VPN via BBC America.

Set to air at 8pm ET/PT every Sunday on BBC America from April 25, if you don't have a cable package with BBC America included, signing up to an OTT provider like FuboTV or Sling will be your best bet.