The sixteenth series of Top Gear aired during 2011 on BBC Two and consisted of 6 episodes, beginning on 23 January and concluding on 27 February. The series was preceded by two specials in December 2010, the first of which was aired on 21 December and entitled "East Coast Road Trip", with the special being an exception to others in that it had more studio segments and a "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment within the episode; the second special was a full-length special edition entitled "", which aired five days later on 26 December. Following Ben Collins' departure, a new Stig was introduced.
Following the broadcast of the second episode of Series 16, controversy arose from the episode's News segment and the discussion between the presenters about Mexico's first supercar. During the discussion, two of the hosts described Mexicans as being lazy and that no-one would complain because they were all too busy sleeping, provoking the Mexican ambassador, Eduardo Medina Mora, to accuse the presenters of resorting to "outrageous, vulgar and inexcusable insults to stir bigoted feelings against the Mexican people", while stating that the remarks were offensive, xenophobic and humiliating and reinforced negative stereotypes of Mexican people. While the BBC defended the presenters anti-Mexican jokes, it apologised about some of the remarks made. Comedian Steve Coogan, however, criticised the programme for its pitiful apology following the broadcast, suggesting that the usual defence of "a bit of a laugh", or "harmless fun" was no longer appropriate, that the insults had gone too far, and described the comments as being "as funny as a cold sweat followed by shooting pains down the left arm". However, Mastretta appeared to have brushed off the insults, with general director Carlos Mastretta clarifying that the car was simply used as a pretext for the jokes, and that the controversy has increased interest in the MXT. The Mexican comments were cut when the episode was broadcast in the United States.
After the third episode of Series 16 was aired, the BBC received several complaints in regards to the road trip film, in which the presenters were finding a car suitable for the "Albanian Mafia". A number of complaints were directed to a segment of the film in which the presenters 'murdered' a fat Albanian and attempted to find out which of three car boots he would fit into the best, while the stereotypical views that Albania was a nest for mafia car thieves, were also criticised.
Inspiration for episode location
After the airing of earlier episode of the trio touring the US, which included upsetting people in the US due to politically incorrect phrases painted on their vehicles designed to cause controversy, a viewer in the Southeastern US posted on the show's forum suggesting, as presenter Jeremy Clarkson would often describe scenic roads they visit, that North Carolina's Blue Ridge Parkway was among the more scenic roads in the world. They took the commenter's suggestion to heart and eventually this episode's premise was developed.
