BBC Top Gear [It's back!]

[Ryzza5]

Glad to see them update the intro, the studio, the RWD car (good call), and bring back the main track. Glad they didn't waste time on multiple celebrity laps.

 

Agree that the monkey was a bit bossy but Matt's ability to grin and laugh helped a lot to offset that... certainly much better than that other 'Amellican'

 

The POV footage at the end of the FXXK clip was fantastic, hope they release the entire lap somewhere.

 

The change to the guest format is far less skip-worthy than before which is nice to see as well. Overall I'd give the episode a solid 8.

[Ozzmcom]

Top gear still has the better cinematographer imo. GT is just bland.

[TIMELESS]

Enjoyed it. It was much better than last season, and if every episode is like the first one then I'd rate Top Gear higher than The Grand Tour for sure.

[TIMELESS]

Okay... Top Gear seems to be consistently good. I mean I'd still like less scripting (I love how [spoil]David Tennant[/spoil] pulled them off-script) and more challenges like the good old £10k supercar challenge, Polar challenge, or 24 hours of Silverstone, but overall it's been better to watch than TGT in my opinion. Amazing what a difference it makes to not have Chris Evans... :lol:

[CarMadMike]

Yeah it was a good episode, the Alfa drift thing went on for way too long and it would have been a good opportunity to throw some other saloons around the track and put them on the board at the same time as the M3 (without showing the actual lap to save time), as I doubt they'll have many cars of that genre in the next 5 episodes.

 

The Porsche - Lambo thing was what I expect of TG, I just wish they'd finally stop scripting parts that really don't need to be scripted, challenges should be genuine rather than faked (added drama thrown in just to even things out).

 

- LeBlanc seems to have finally realised that after almost 15 years of trying his hardest to put Joey behind him, that that's all we want from him and you could see that from this episode, and it worked.

- Reid hasn't really had the chance to shine yet, still haven't warmed to him.

- Harris is being portrayed as quite a negative naggy bossy kinda guy which does work well on 15 min youtube videos, but from what I've heard he isn't that bad in person and can be a good laugh, they need to show all three of them having a laugh and bonding in less of a forced environment which is what CHM excelled at.

 

I agree with you scott, something like a 24H of silverstone race, some endurance racing will show them all in a less forced/scripted environment that is out of their control to some extent and might show them bonding and getting along, it's exactly what they need tbh.

[Ryzza5]

Agreed, was a good watch. For me it's somewhat on part with watching recent Top Gear USA episodes (note - I do enjoy TG USA).

The guest involvement was good but some parts went on a bit lon to hold my attention, got close to skipping forward.

[CarMadMike]

:yawn: TG just showed a Golf GTI clubsport overtaking a 911 turbo on a straight on the 'ring and expects us to think that actually happened.

 

Corners? Maybe. But that segment was pure BS. It's ruined the episode for me.

[TimBud]

Man alive that was so painfully scripted.

 

It started off well enough with Matt in the DB11 but as soon as Harris turned up it was awful... Every time that guy is on I just keep telling him to eff off.

Matt's segments do seem pretty genuine and he's a good enough actor that the script isn't forced.

Tamsin Greig was a good guest I thought

[Ryzza5]

Well at least Jeremy would've liked it (he likes the Mk7 GTI and dislikes the 911)

[TIMELESS]

This episode was definitely the weakest so far. The DB11 segment ran on too long, the Nurburgring segment was just stupid and a bit cringey (calm down there Rory), and as Tim says really scripted and forced. The cinematography was good though.

 

Saying that, I am looking forward to next week and I still place it above TGT.

[TimBud]

Ha yes, the Nurburgring bit was a shocker. Although I have to say that Sabine did look like she was having a great time... even with Rory's stoney acting

[Eudemon]

This was definitely the weakest episode so far and quite a drop down from the previous two that came before. The DB11 segment was well done I thought, I didn't think it went too long either, except for the overly lengthy final 10 seconds with the police and helicopter which should have been half the time it was given imo. The news and guest were seriously forgettable, that interview was so bad and I was close to turning it over every time it came back to her. And the whole Harris yells at celeb bits is just making him look like a tool.

 

The Golf piece was going so well until they started wanting us to believe a pocket rocket could pull those speeds on the fast sections of the track. The studio and early pieces are geared to car fans and it's incredible to think that they believe these same fans won't know this is all crap. Really pulled down the episode that part for me. What would have made a better bit was having the super Golf chase down its siblings or something.

 

All powerful farm equipment is a thing that either works or doesn't and I don't mind them shoehorning these bits in and it was kind of cool to see those super slo-mo shots of stuff being destroyed. :)

 

Finished off well enough with the FIAT and I liked the conclusion that was reached. Someone needs to tell him to stop using US English to describe the cars though. Then again, maybe that's going to be his bit.

[Ryzza5]

Obviously the Golf isn't as fast on the straight, but I did have to think that if I were a rich but not necessarily talented driver there and I saw a 'cheap' car barrelling towards me with a corner approaching my main goal might be to not let this lunatic (not knowing it's Sabine) crash into me. But then again maybe the whole thing was scripted, seeing that we didn't see any cheap cars there at all.

[Ryzza5]

Another good episode...

 

Matt's wandering start to the race was a bit odd to follow but I guess

they had to keep it close

 

[Eudemon]

That Bugatti Chiron feature was excellent. Watching Harris thrashing the nuts off of it and being taken aback at the speed, coupled with the outstanding cinematography, made for a very enjoyable segment. The versus race was fun too, I expected a different end result but then I guess that [spoil]border stop in Oman[/spoil] did seem to be quite lengthy. The Twingo piece was brilliantly executed too. Loved the graphics they were using for it and again the way it was filmed made it exciting to follow.

 

I cannot stand Tinie so won't delve into the interview at all.

 

Another good episode though for the most part.

[TIMELESS]

Yeah I agree, really good episode and much better than last week's. The Chiron segment was one of the best review segments in years, it was like Chris Harris On Cars on steroids (this is a good thing).

 

Normally I roll my eyes at those kinds of races but this wasn't bad if I'm being honest. I do wish they'd stop doing [fast car] vs [boat/train/airplane] races though. I'd much rather they dropped Chris and Matt into the center of Dubai with their choice of vehicles.

 

The Twingo was awesome, good work by Rory, they should have him with Chris and Matt more often. My only disappointment with the Twingo film was that they didn't use a Renault 5 Turbo in it! (turbocharged, rear-engined, rear-wheel-drive hatch, sound familiar?!)

 

And yeah the interview segment is still the weakest, always was, probably always will be. But at least Top Gear seems to have found its footing unlike The Grand Tour.

[TimBud]

Is it just me or is Rory Reid getting more annoying with each episode... wasn't his Cuban car choice almost exactly the same as Clarksons from the infamous USA special from S9

[Ryzza5]

I was about to ask if there was some snooker tournament on as I hadn't seen anything popup since the Ford GT episode a few weeks back. The only disappointing thing with a Cuban episode is that

has already done it, and

recently did it as well.

[Eudemon]

Rory does seem a bit of a third wheel in the show and he doesn't seem to be on the same wavelength at times as the others meaning it goes quite flat at the times he shows up. That episode was not really that good imo as a whole. The monster Merc-AMG was brilliant and I did like the way Matt commentated it over to us, the viewers, but after that except for the two Cuba sections, it just felt like a whole load of filler. Even the usual good for a quick laugh heavy machinery segment went on faaaarrrr tooo loooong to be enjoyable.

 

They cannot all be golden, but they need to make sure to keep it interesting otherwise people will jump off.

 

One more left to go of this series right?

[Ryzza5]

I'll listen to Rory any day over that Extra Gear host they picked up from who knows where.

[Eudemon]

I haven't watched any of the new Extra Gear's yet but it does sound like I maybe don't want to anyway.

[TimBud]

Ha yes, as soon as I saw the guy talking about it at the end of ht show I never even bothered to tune it.

 

The Cuban trip could have been good, but nothing actually happen except Rory making a twerp of himself and his "Maro".

[CarMadMike]

My main issue with the episode was that I was hoping the second Cuba segment to include them modifying their cars to try and beat the Cuban cars in a straight line, that would be what the Old TopGear trio would have done in that situation imo and I think it would have made better TV.

 

It whole idea seemed a bit half arsed, they should have made it an hour long special, involved LeBlanc and had him choose a car, and give them challenges which show them bonding with their cars and then modifying them.

 

Hammond still owns Oliver, his Opel Kadett from the Botswana special, it would be nice to see such a bond being developed by the new trio and their cars.