Tiff Needell to become temporary Stig for Top Gear

The year 2010 is coming to a close in a few weeks and we are still hearing news about Top Gear’s Stig. Yeah, talk about a story dragging longer than any of us expected.

The latest twist in the ongoing drama involves a certain former member of Top Gear who now plies his craft on a competing show, but will be returning to Top Gear on a temporary basis to serve as the show’s Stig. We’ve gotten word that Fifth Gear’s affable old-timer, Tiff Needell, will be returning to Top Gear as the Stig after a nine-year absence.

For those who didn’t follow the show back in its pre-Clarkson days, Needell was a co-presenter on the show from 1987 up to 2001 when the show was canceled. Since the show returned it has become a worldwide phenomenon, but the whole controversial ‘StigGate,’ has left them struggling to recover. This is why they have reached out to an old friend to fill in some of the voids left behind by the Stig catastrophe. Needell’s task was to teach and train Danny Boyle, the director of the award-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, how to drive the Top Gear test track for his appearance on Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car.

Danny said: “The Stig has gone of course so they have this other guy Tiff Needell who used to front the original Top Gear. He was a terrific teacher, no nonsense. It was good.”

According to a Top Gear spokesman, Tiff will not be donning the white tracksuit and helmet permanently, but will only be around until Top Gear finds a permanent Stig through its "Stig Farm".