The BBC producer behind 'Top Gear' has said the programme has gone too far with stunts and its presenters have become "cartoon characters".
The show is now in its fourteenth series and is still riding high in the ratings but is down from its peak audience in 2007 of eight million. It is fronted by Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond.
Andy Wilman, writing on the 'Top Gear' website, reacted to some recent criticism of the programme by some of its regular viewers.
He said "There is a grumble and a rumble in the air from some of our regulars that we have lost the plot, we've disappeared up our a***, we're scripting everything and we're predictable. The main complaint seems to be that there is too much cocking about for the car lovers and that we are trying too hard on camera... "
He continued "I do believe we have got the three presenters playing their cartoon characters a bit too much - Jezza the walking nuclear bomb, Richard the daft Norman Wisdom and James the bumbling professor.
"I like those characters but I too would like to see more of them as they were - I miss those three mates who mooch along."
Wilman commented that Clarkson and May were keen for the show to return to its more traditional format.
Wilman added "It is fair to say this incarnation of Top Gear is nearer the end than the beginning, and out job is to land this plane with its dignity still in tact. That does mean trying new things to the last, even if they screw up, because it means you never stopped trying."
A BBC spokeswoman has said the show will not be axed.
