BBC Top Gear 2018 Thread

[andburg]

Shame, with Rory and Chris they had the basis for a new show to take top gear forwards and do more interesting things.
They've signed to pay 2 big bills to known characters who we know what we will get from.

Clarkson / Hammond and May all came from journalism they knew about cars and genuinely bonded, they didn't have their star names before top gear which gave them freedom.

This will be more of the same, forced comedy and smiles with 3 people that probably wont have the chemistry.

Personally i'd have got Chris or Rory to bring a friend along.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

confused_buyer said:

It's a shame they didn't give Roy Lanchester an opportunity. Just as long as they stocked up on spare trousers he'd have been fine.

And they could get Troy Queef in too.

[bloomen]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

That's the key.

And it's forever toast. I can well see them throwing st at the wall for another 10 series hoping that something sticks. And it won't.

I thought the latest series was just starting to go places. And I like Rory Reid too.

[kenny.R400]

I'd like to see them raid Quest and maybe give Wayne Carini, Drew Pritchard or Ed China a run out.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

andburg said:

This will be more of the same, forced comedy and smiles with 3 people that probably wont have the chemistry.

Perhaps, but to be honest the forced banter amongst people who can't act (and I include Matt LeBlanc in that) was cringeworthy. At least with people who are used to being in front of the camera, then there might be a better chance that they can at least act the banter convincingly, even if it is scripted.

Chris Harris, bless him, is as wooden as a wooden thing in the studio segments, although comes across so much better in the filmed segments.

[Toyoda]

Harris and Le Blanc ended up doing some really good pieces last time. Proper 'mates together' having a laugh type of stuff, but both true petrolheads which was key to it. Reid was always the third wheel.

Glad to see Harris staying but FFS Flintoff and McGuiness! BBC trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator?! Council Gear as someone's already said. I thought Evans was bad but at least he was pretty intelligent and could be termed a proper petrolhead. These 2 buffons bring nothing to the table. Paddy's always the 2nd funniest on any comedy show he's been involved in, his stand up career was short lived cos he was st, just riding on Peter Kay's coat tails. Flinttoff's just your typical sports jock, all deep voice, uneducated and in your face. Poor Harris.

[thegreenhell]

Any news on when the second half of the 2018 series will be shown? They have 6 more MLB episodes sat on the shelf doing nothing.

[Durzel]

Alex said:

Nothing against them, but the BBC seems to forget that Hammond, Clarkson and May were all motoring journalists (I think Hammond was on the radio). The BBC is trying to mimic what they became, rather than where they began. Wrong choice, I think.

A salient point you make there.

There is definitely a whiff of put the genie back in the bottle about the decision making with hosts. I guess the Beeb's problem is that the original TG with CHM took a long time to bed in, more than most fans will probably acknowledge. The three of them didn't have that chemistry overnight, and the show was nowhere near as refined as it became. Towards the end the show pretty much wrote itself as there was so much established rapport, etc.

I can't see the same fans, or indeed the Beeb, giving the show the necessary time to find its feet. A reasonable proportion of "fans" actively want it to fail.

[Ahonen]

When I saw the headline on the BBC "McGuinness and Flintoff join Top Gear" I thought 'Well Freddie Flintoff might be a bit too much of a novelty, but John McGuinness is such a legend and could be a brilliant breath of fresh air'.

Then I clicked on the story and saw it was Paddy McGuinness... Oh.

[Shaw Tarse]

Alex said:

Nothing against them, but the BBC seems to forget that Hammond, Clarkson and May were all motoring journalists (I think Hammond was on the radio). The BBC is trying to mimic what they became, rather than where they began. Wrong choice, I think.

Top Gear had script editors (e.g. Richard Porter), but you could tell that Hammond, Clarkson and May mostly wrote their own pieces, as does Harris. I can't see Flintoff and McGuinness doing that, so they will have to rely on scriptwriters, which will also affect how they deliver to camera.

Didn't Hammond appear on Men & Motors?

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Toyoda said:

Harris and Le Blanc ended up doing some really good pieces last time. Proper 'mates together' having a laugh type of stuff, but both true petrolheads which was key to it. Reid was always the third wheel.

In fairness, Reid was marginalised into a third wheel role. I thought his pieces were actually very good, especially his Japan trip. I think he was showing a lot of potential and I'm sad to see him go.

[r11co]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

In fairness, Reid was marginalised into a third wheel role. I thought his pieces were actually very good, especially his Japan trip. I think he was showing a lot of potential and I'm sad to see him go.

+1

[Zetec-S]

r11co said:

Clockwork Cupcake said:

In fairness, Reid was marginalised into a third wheel role. I thought his pieces were actually very good, especially his Japan trip. I think he was showing a lot of potential and I'm sad to see him go.

+1

[HustleRussell]

Will watch. Might work.

To those saying bring back C,H&M- please no. The definition of a retrograde step. Haven't felt the urge to renew my Amazon Prime subscription.

[Toyoda]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

In fairness, Reid was marginalised into a third wheel role. I thought his pieces were actually very good, especially his Japan trip. I think he was showing a lot of potential and I'm sad to see him go.

Each to their own. Maybe he'd have fitted in with other presenters from the "urban" or "yoof" cultures, but Harris and Le Blanc definitely had chemistry so it's no wonder the producers made Reid fly solo.

[Fermit and Sarah]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Toyoda said:

Harris and Le Blanc ended up doing some really good pieces last time. Proper 'mates together' having a laugh type of stuff, but both true petrolheads which was key to it. Reid was always the third wheel.

In fairness, Reid was marginalised into a third wheel role. I thought his pieces were actually very good, especially his Japan trip. I think he was showing a lot of potential and I'm sad to see him go.

I'm not too sad, but I agree he was beginning to create his role.

I did anticipate the majority on here wouldn't like the announcement. I too was a bit 'WTF?' when I read it this morning. Will they make it work or won't they, who knows until they get in to it?

I really rated LeBlanc, and I'm sad to see him go, but think, his first airing on TG was sitting in a Reliant on the back of a truck, which was about as entertaining as a Monday morning sales meeting. What I'm trying to say is that one episode alone wont be enough to judge if it's going to sink or swim.

I do find Paddy irritating, so I just hope he can present without grating me.

I'll still watch it, and I bet 99% of you who say you are done with it (etc) will too.

Oh, and please dump Sabine and Eddie whilst you're at it!

Edited by Fermit and Sarah on Monday 22 October 11:45

[r11co]

Toyoda said:

Each to their own. Maybe he'd have fitted in with other presenters from the "urban" or "yoof" cultures, but Harris and Le Blanc definitely had chemistry so it's no wonder the producers made Reid fly solo.

There was loads of potential there for the three of them to still bounce off each other. The Harris/LeBlanc bromance could be flipped into the journos versus the luvvie actor if necessary (and was on occasion).

Too much change in too short a period of time - smacks of desperation IMO. Keeping Rory and Harris and putting McGuinness in on his own (without the crickitist) would have been the closest thing to continuity.

[MrVert]

Slightly oddball choices, I'll still watch it as Chris Harris is on it..one of the best car drivers / reviewers around IMO. Proper car nut.

[anonymous-user]

The nice thing about Clarkson & Co is that despite their shenanigans over the later years, and whatever you thought of them personally, underpinning the whole programme remained a great deal of credibility. Regardless of their comedy antics, the original three really did know their stuff and cared a great deal about cars and driving.

Fast forward to the new generation and it's clear from the BBC that 'celebrity' comes first. I am sure that Flintoff and McGuiness do have an interest in cars in terms of 'they like to own and be seen in a nice car', but proper petrol heads with a serious interest in all cars, whether fancy or the more mundane stuff, old and new? I'm not convinced!

More likely that they just thought it was a good gig to be part of, fun for a couple of years, advance the career sort of thing. Either that or eating worms on I'm a celebrity beckoned I guess?

[Johnnytheboy]

They should do some kind of 'round the world' race and see if Flintoff's head explodes.