The Stig is the name given to Top Gear’s anonymous racing driver. In the show he is cast as a mysterious “untame racing driver” whose identity is unknown, and who never speaks or removes his helmet on camera. Nonetheless he is fully credited as a presenter, albeit as “The Stig”, alongside Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

The Stig’s primary functions on the show are to post lap times in various cars around the Top Gear Test Track in Dunsfold Park, and to train each week’s guest in setting a lap time in the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car feature on the show. In addition the Stig carries out other driving duties when the need arises.

The Stig has also appeared on some of Jeremy Clarkson’s motoring specials, such as Heaven and Hell and Thriller.

Origins

The Stig’s name derives from presenter Jeremy Clarkson’s days at Repton School; where, according to Clarkson, new students were always called “Stig”. A proposed name for the Stig was originally “The Gimp” until protests from Perry McCarthy put a stop to the idea. There have been two official Stigs on the show, while various other Stigs have made cameo appearances for particular episodes.

Black Stig (Series 1 & 2)

The first Stig wore black overalls and helmet. It was introduced in the first episode of the current format by Jeremy Clarkson as the resident test driver, as the presenters could not consistently post fast times themselves. Clarkson noted that “we don’t know its name, we really don’t know its name, nobody knows its name, and we don’t wanna know, cause it’s a racing driver.” Clarkson then described The Stig as having a very small brain, who had worthless opinions, and a disorder described by Clarkson as “Mansell Syndrome”. Its job description was to “just go out there and drive fast”.

Black Stig posted a lap time of 1:46 for the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment. This Stig was used for the first two series of the show. It was then “killed off” at the start of the third series when he was shown driving a modified Jaguar XJ-S off the flight deck of HMS Invincible during a stunt and landing in the sea.

White Stig

After the Black Stig was “killed off”, a new “White Stig” was introduced, wearing white overalls and helmet. White Stig has been featured in the show beyond just the Power Lap segment. His work has included driving cars in other segments of the show, and racing against the hosts and recruited to undertake tests. White Stig has also appeared outside Top Gear in some of Clarkson’s motoring specials, such as 2005′s Heaven and Hell, 2006′s The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, 2007′s Supercar Showdown, and 2008′s Thriller.

The Stig also collected Top Gear’s third award for Best factual programme at the 2008 British National Television Awards. The Stig did not speak, but supplied an acceptance letter from the rest of the crew, read out by Griff Rhys Jones.

White Stig posted the fastest lap time of 1:44.4 around the Top Gear test track for the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment.

Other Stigs

There have been various cameo appearances by other Stigs on Top Gear.

Series 9 Episode 3 was set in the United States, with the presenters purchasing American cars and driving them across four states whilst on holiday. One of the challenges set for the presenters was for the cars to set a lap time around a racetrack, for which “the Stig’s American cousin” was introduced. This Stig was nicknamed “Big Stig” by the presenters due to his obese appearance and was noted by Clarkson to have a “very relaxed driving style”.

Series 10 Episode 4 featured the presenters driving across Botswana. To test the performance of the three cars used by the presenters around a dirt rally track, Clarkson introduced “The Stig’s African cousin”. This incarnation of The Stig was black, wore only Puma shoes, a loincloth and the iconic white helmet. He set lap times for two of the cars, but walked away from the track when Clarkson’s Lancia Beta failed to start. The others joked that African Stig was “in a hurry”, and decided “not to take your [Jeremy's] car”.

Series 12 Episode 1 featured Stig’s lorry driving cousin (“Rig Stig,” as identified via Jeremy’s narration), who was set as a stereotypical lorry driver, with the right hand sleeve of his jump suit tanned brown and an obese appearance. He demonstrated to Clarkson, May and Hammond that it was possible to powerslide a lorry cab.