Top Gear criticised for airing Chris Harris gun control joke after Orlando shooting

Overall the third episode with new host Chris Evans received a much warmer response from fans

Top Gear has been criticised for airing a “badly-timed”, albeit pre-recorded, joke about gun control in the wake of the tragic Orlando shooting.

The car show’s post-Clarkson era might slowly be winning viewers over, but some were left unimpressed by a gag made by motoring journalist Chris Harris just hours after a gunman killed 50 people and left another 53 injured at gay club Pulse.

Harris was discussing the Ferrari F12 TDF with Matt LeBlanc when he said: “It’s scarier. It looks angry. It sounds angry. Everything about it is angry. I can’t believe you need a licence to buy a gun but you can just walk in and buy one of these.”

Fans soon began airing their surprise and disappointment that the line had not been edited out.

Elsewhere in the episode, new host Chris Evans was ridiculed for being sick after a spin around the Top Gear track by racing driver Sabine Schmitz, boxer Anthony Joshua and comedian Kevin Hart shared their favourite cars and LeBlanc was taken for a rip-roaring ride around London by rally driver Ken Block.

The controversial scene in which Block performed “gravely disrespectful” stunts in front of the cenotaph had been cut, despite reportedly costing £100,000 to film.

Overall, the third episode received a much warmer response from viewers, with many tweeting that it is “getting better and better” as the chemistry between the hosts becomes more natural.

“Best show of the new series so far,” fans wrote on Twitter, while others branded it “better than the old […] Clarkson, Hammond and May were getting stale and boring.”

Clarkson is set to return for a new series with Richard Hammond and James May, recently named The Grand Tour, on Amazon Prime this autumn.

Representatives for Top Gear are yet to respond to our request for comment.