Dare I mention....Top Gear....?

[Mr Lobster]

Once again, glad I didn't watch it then!

[garethj]

I find it wierd that in these days of eco , enviro , global warming , you would be allowed to drive a car into the sea laden with petrol , oil , and other such Amoco Cadiz inducing catastrophy causing polution , I would have thought all this stuff would need draining , lets face it my local scrappys not allowed to drip oil on his land now

Driving a car from a great height into water is a bit dangerous, generally the shell is stripped of the engine, gearbox, fuel tank and most other things and there's a big pillar strapped inside. Then it's fired from an air cannon.It's how they did it in Grand Prix back in the '60s, firing racing cars into the drink

[morris_ital_lover]

TBH this series and the next (assuming there is a next one) will just be there to nail the lid on the coffin for topgear which is staring being cut down the face, most people that I know that are topgear heads not petrol heads just find it lame, weak etc and I think many can see the end in sight. Did anyone notice the lack of advertísing this year compared to last, most of them topgearheads themselves were shocked when I told them on sunday that there was a new series out and I think points to the bbcs running down of topgear to what it used to be or nothing at all!m0rris

[UglyAmerican]

I just got to watch this past week's ep. What a snore. Hammond with airport trucks was especially painful. I couldn't possibly have cared less. Then it was just Clarkson and more Clarkson. Thought the Twingo review was neither funny nor creative. Long way from the 100 pound car challenge.

[trigger]

According to the sun today even the Executive producer is starting to cast doubt to it's future as "we've disappeared up our a****s and we're predictable."

 

He's seems to be echoing what many other people are saying.

 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sh ... pyard.html

[RedSparrow]

At least the producer is concious that its getting tired.

[dollywobbler]

Yet again, it's a great way for them to get free publicity. 5.5 million viewers is still pretty healthy.

[Pete-M]

They get 5.5 million viewers in the UK alone...I wish they'd drop a lot more pianos on Marinas. I want to see more supercars - stuff like the Veyron truffle run and the Daytona across the South of France. I want more stuff like the Romanian episode.The pointless demolition derby stuff bores me senseless, but the cross europe challenges just make me want to move to mainland Europe even sooner.Also, the fact TG winds up a billion trillion boring old sods amuses me no end. :)Lot may it continue.

[pompei]

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/arts ... 912232333/

[55bloke]

Did anyone watch the South America challenge the other day? I've just seen it on iplayer, and there were some genuinely scary looking moments. Are we convinced, or is it all staged? Good telly either way!

[trigger]

I enjoyed it, Clarkson passing that Landcruiser on the Death road had me on the edge of my seat, I wonder how many people have moaned about them cutting down the rainforest though?!

[Station]

I can't stand the little one anymore and haven't watched it for years. I miss the original version, but understand this version does attract a load of viewers, but it's just tired, scripted, contrived shit. Most of it is 'WOW LOOK AT THAT SCENERY. HOW MUCH WOULD THAT HAVE COST' etc etcThey should rerun the originals on BBC4. I think JC is a 'love to hate' thing.

[morris_ital_lover]

Did anyone watch the South America challenge the other day? I've just seen it on iplayer, and there were some genuinely scary looking moments. Are we convinced, or is it all staged? Good telly either way!

I reckon it was all real apart from when they killed the land cruiser, which probably wasn't safe enough to take down that slope! But it was incredibly good.m0rris

[michiel]

Some nice panoramas, some moments of genuine fear I guess and May looking like a nerdy relative of Rambo... not too bad. I lolled a few times but I've already forgotten when and why.

[Milford Cubicle]

I really enjoyed it, Top Gear at its best. It's just fun to see 3 middle aged men mucking about with unreliable, rubbish old cars on the TV, even more astonishing is that it's a high budget programme on at a primetime slot on a major channel.Maybe they should just wind Top Gear down to these yearly specials.

[michiel]

I'd love to see the 'behind the scenes' stuff though - how many vehicles, comfy camper vans and helicopters are involved?

[Pete-M]

I enjoyed it.The whole car-ramming thing is tiresome, but otherwise superb.Clarkson looked genuinely scared on the Road of Death...

[FredTransit]

I'd love to see the 'behind the scenes' stuff though - how many vehicles, comfy camper vans and helicopters are involved?

If it's anything like Top Gear in the UK, sod all! When I did it catering was Sainsbury's sandwiches in Sainsbury's car park. In the back of me van....

[55bloke]

I enjoyed it.The whole car-ramming thing is tiresome, but otherwise superb.Clarkson looked genuinely scared on the Road of Death...

Who wouldn't!! I was sat watching it and asking myself, "how much would they have to pay me to get me to do that?" Haven't come up with a big enough figure yet! Wonder what the insurance situation is with getting TV presenters to do such potentially lethal things in the name of entertainment?

[Pillock]

Good "special" I thought, as always a bit of it was written and rewritten and carefully crafted to get laughs, but there was a lot of honest adventure in there. The running low on oxygen for example, it was just too real to be acted.And they did point out that they only chopped through about 20 yards of rainforest, since Clarkson walked back to get his phone!Like a lot of you, I think I prefer a special every so often to the usual fare of unaffordable supercar/breaking something 'crap'/We Love Fast BMWs. I don't think I even watched the last actual regular TG and I didn't miss it.....

[Pete-M]

I love it when they destroy Marinas etc.I also love the supercars - I don't understand why people get so fuckin' uptight about supercars "I'll never driver one" etc. Bollocks to that, I've driven Ferraris and I've had a couple of Porsche 911s, ok, I've had to make silly sacrifices to have 'em but I've done it and I've enjoyed the cars.It is all to do with your priorities in life. I adore fast cars, love 'em to bits, so when I had the option of getting married or buying a Sierra Cosworth I bought the Cosworth... As it happens, the car lasted longer than the relationship, so I didn't do too badly!

[HillmanImp]

Clarkson looked genuinely scared on the Road of Death...

Ah, but look at all the camera angles. I thought he was not driving the car and it was staged. There was a couple of long distance shots of him 'driving' (or parked) in the car hanging off (or sitting near to) the edge but there were a lot of clever angles to make it look good, and none close up with him and the car. If it was near the edge i bet someone else was in it. Suspect it was the same with the sand dune at the end. As 55 bloke says i think the insurers would put a stop to it if there was anything actually properly dangerous going on. Sorry for being a pedant, was getting on one there. Did enjoy it in its own right. Was thinking 'How do i get a job like that', travelling round the world just doing cool stuff. Wonder if next time they do it they might need some advice on the way round about their pensions? I could do that.These sort of episodes always result in a bunch of people wanting to imitate it though. My mates father in law is driving to the North Pole or whatever next year in a Land Rover a la Top gear. Hope he falls through the ice. That will teach him to come up with his own ideas in future.Although i really want to go to Vietnam to make a bike into a boat....

[dollywobbler]

Do want Range Rover! An early eighties once would be lovely.

[Hudsonpie]

....'kin "road of death" Ive driven fifty ton dumptrucks on quarry roads like that....hmmmmph Top Gear trio should try it twelve hours a day seven days a week on wet clay thats worse than ice.....pooofsOn a lighter note was a bit miffed they wrecked the Land cruiser, but it did ignite a desire for a rangy though.

[Waderider]

I thought it was all scripted. Dishwater.I noticed during the decent to the sea - where the Landcruiser got finally trashed - that the slope angle was being exaggerated by having the camera over at an angle. You can use the cloud base as a visual reference.Time for something new......and I've been watching it since day one.

[AXrescuer]

Clarkson looked genuinely scared on the Road of Death...

Ah, but look at all the camera angles. I thought he was not driving the car and it was staged. There was a couple of long distance shots of him 'driving' (or parked) in the car hanging off (or sitting near to) the edge but there were a lot of clever angles to make it look good, and none close up with him and the car. If it was near the edge i bet someone else was in it. Suspect it was the same with the sand dune at the end. As 55 bloke says i think the insurers would put a stop to it if there was anything actually properly dangerous going on. Sorry for being a pedant, was getting on one there. Did enjoy it in its own right. Was thinking 'How do i get a job like that', travelling round the world just doing cool stuff. Wonder if next time they do it they might need some advice on the way round about their pensions? I could do that.These sort of episodes always result in a bunch of people wanting to imitate it though. My mates father in law is driving to the North Pole or whatever next year in a Land Rover a la Top gear. Hope he falls through the ice. That will teach him to come up with his own ideas in future.

They actually never got near the North Pole. I read in a blog somewhere that they were about 300 miles shy of it!

[Volksy]

FFS it's ENTERTAINMENT!I was entertained, it was far better than watching bloody Victoria Wood repeats.

[dollywobbler]

FFS it's ENTERTAINMENT!I was entertained, it was far better than watching bloody Victoria Wood repeats.

Actually, you're wrong. I really enjoyed the Victoria Wood stuff over Christmas. I wanted to enjoy Top Gear, but it's hard to believe anything they do these days. Why can't they go back to the good old days of almost killing Hammond? Remember the Carlton in the water tank test? Brilliant telly.

[Pete-M]

I suspect that if you're determined to pick holes in it, you're always going to find fault. Same as with anything.It's like Life on Mars. I loved the series, but every time I went anywhere near an old car forum there would be a load of beards typing disgruntled messages about how the Mk3 Cortina was an E instead of a GXL etc. Eventually it started to piss me off and I ended up spotting things that just don't fuckin' matter, a Series 3 Allegro in 1973 type stuff. It actually took the shine off the series for me for a while, watching it looking for things that weren't right instead of enjoying it as entertainment. I suspect there are a lot of people on car forums doing the same with Top Gear - trying to be 'Armchair Clarksons' by looking for faults and things to slag TG off about instead of enjoying an hour of entertaining car based telly.With TG I don't give a fornicating flying fish if Clarkson says something that isn't strictly true, the programme isn't there to sell cars, it's there so that people know about cars that are out there. TG will tell you if its quick, if its fun, if there's anything drastically wrong with it and if they like it. It's up to you to make your own mind up after that.

[CIH]

I liked it but it was predictable as usual. having said that Hammond running down the hill after the 'cruiser shouting "my donkey!" raised a lol.