BBC Top Gear 2018 Thread

[Doofus]

Gameface said:

Weird reply.

Sports cars don't excel on roads. Right...

As for the McLaren or Hennessy not being faster than the Jaguar. Give over.

Read the post to which I replied. Then read my reply.

[Mr. White]

RushDom said:

15 minutes in and Rory is still so obviously the weak link of the whole show. So forced, wooden and artificial. He's kids TV material at best.

Harris is so much better than him it's almost embarrassing.

Indeed. He's pure "Blue Peter".

It can't be difficult to find a replacement for him.

Or is he loved by a certain demographic of which I'm not part?

Edited by Mr. White on Monday 26th February 13:55

[Zammy]

I quite enjoyed Extra Gear more so for having John Hennessey as guest. He came across as a very likeable chap who obviously knows his stuff too.

[Clockwork Cupcake]

Gameface said:

Weird reply.

Sports cars don't excel on roads. Right...

As for the McLaren or Hennessy not being faster than the Jaguar. Give over.

I think you have totally missed the points being made.

Sports cars these days don't excel on public roads. Not if you want to keep your license for more than a few minutes anyway. They excel on private racetracks, runways, and closed roads.

So Rory's point that the Jag utterly trounced the McLaren and Mustang up to 90 mph in the drag race has proper real world significance.

[Ari]

marcosgt said:

Harris needs to realise he can't act and just be himself.

He does at least seem to have toned down the toe curlingly cringeworthy Pantomime Villain a little.

The problem is that if he stops acting altogether, there might not be much left.

[davek_964]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

Gameface said:

Weird reply.

Sports cars don't excel on roads. Right...

As for the McLaren or Hennessy not being faster than the Jaguar. Give over.

I think you have totally missed the points being made.

Sports cars these days don't excel on public roads. Not if you want to keep your license for more than a few minutes anyway. They excel on private racetracks, runways, and closed roads.

So Rory's point that the Jag utterly trounced the McLaren and Mustang up to 90 mph in the drag race has proper real world significance.

I'm not sure that's entirely true. You don't have to be doing license losing speeds for a Ferrari / McLaren / Lambo to feel magical on a dry twisty road - although you might have to get up early to avoid grandad doing 37mph in his Fiesta.
However, as previously mentioned by somebody else - perhaps that doesn't make good TV for the majority of viewers.

[Escort3500]

Mezzanine said:

marcosgt said:

I can honestly say, I never once thought "This would be so much better with the old team", although I did think "Oh, for God's sake" a couple of times!

Perfectly sums up my view!

The V8 piece went on far too long, and featured 0% driving through long tunnels...opportunity missed.

Matt certainly seems more relaxed into the role this time but I still cannot warm to Rory.

My feelings too. MLB comes across as a genuine petrolhead and achieves the right balance of humour and knowledgeable commentary. CH should stop trying to be funny and do what he does best - driving well and providing incisive observations. Rory is dreadful; inane comments and forced enthusiasm. He really is the weak link.

[AppleJuice]

nicanary said:

Bring back Chris Goffey I say! Well, not necessarily him, but I too am bored with supercars being driven at full chat. Last night was just one item apart from the Brydon piece. One item an hour long - I would much rather see some stuff about cars we can afford. It needn't be boring if it's presented well. Surely it's not supposed to be an entertainment show, rather a magazine programme about cars?

Chris Goffey's review of the E36 318i was educational, informative and entertaining, and featured a car that everyone can afford (well it's modern-day equivalent on a PCP, naturally). Simple segue from on-the-road to a track test, too.

[AndrewEH1]

Anyone been watching Top Gear's YouTube channel?

Jack Rix for the past few years or so has been churning out some decent behind-the-scenes, car reviews and car walk around (also working away being the deputy editor of the Top Gear Mag)

The video on the McLaren Senna was really quite good, he's natural and informative in front of the camera. No sure on his driving abilities but must be someway okay.

He could be a perfect replacement for poor Rory, plus maybe even increase magazine sales

[thetapeworm]

Mr. White said:

RushDom said:

15 minutes in and Rory is still so obviously the weak link of the whole show. So forced, wooden and artificial. He's kids TV material at best.

Harris is so much better than him it's almost embarrassing.

Indeed. He's pure "Blue Peter".

It can't be difficult to find a replacement for him.

Or is he loved by a certain demographic of which I'm not part?

That's not fair to Blue Peter, he's sub-CBeebies, he makes the presenters on Ali-A's Superchargers look like Attenborough.

[Quickmoose]

thetapeworm said:

Mr. White said:

RushDom said:

15 minutes in and Rory is still so obviously the weak link of the whole show. So forced, wooden and artificial. He's kids TV material at best.

Harris is so much better than him it's almost embarrassing.

Indeed. He's pure "Blue Peter".

It can't be difficult to find a replacement for him.

Or is he loved by a certain demographic of which I'm not part?

That's not fair to Blue Peter, he's sub-CBeebies, he makes the presenters on Ali-A's Superchargers look like Attenborough.

To be fair he and Hammond are pretty interchangeable in the kids presenting style stakes...

[thetapeworm]

Quickmoose said:

To be fair he and Hammond are pretty interchangeable in the kids presenting style stakes...

Ever since seeing Hammond in Total Wipeout guise his Top Gear character has seemed quite normal.

[The Surveyor]

I watched it last night with fairly low expectations, I actually enjoyed it.

As an entertainment show about cars and motoring, it was entertaining.

[AppleJuice]

Quickmoose said:

thetapeworm said:

Mr. White said:

RushDom said:

15 minutes in and Rory is still so obviously the weak link of the whole show. So forced, wooden and artificial. He's kids TV material at best.

Harris is so much better than him it's almost embarrassing.

Indeed. He's pure "Blue Peter".

It can't be difficult to find a replacement for him.

Or is he loved by a certain demographic of which I'm not part?

That's not fair to Blue Peter, he's sub-CBeebies, he makes the presenters on Ali-A's Superchargers look like Attenborough.

To be fair he and Hammond are pretty interchangeable in the kids presenting style stakes...

Hammond's worse. His review of the B5 A4 Avant was toe-curlingly childish (underwear analogies - FFS! "Trying-hard-to-be-cool" camera angles don't help either) and he hasn't got any better 20+ years on.

[anonymous-user]

Quickmoose said:

thetapeworm said:

Mr. White said:

RushDom said:

15 minutes in and Rory is still so obviously the weak link of the whole show. So forced, wooden and artificial. He's kids TV material at best.

Harris is so much better than him it's almost embarrassing.

Indeed. He's pure "Blue Peter".

It can't be difficult to find a replacement for him.

Or is he loved by a certain demographic of which I'm not part?

That's not fair to Blue Peter, he's sub-CBeebies, he makes the presenters on Ali-A's Superchargers look like Attenborough.

To be fair he and Hammond are pretty interchangeable in the kids presenting style stakes...

I've been in the audience twice this series, once for the first show and again for the last (filmed on Saturday just gone). Rory doesn't even make it as far as the sofas and the number of lines he has in the studio could be counted on two fingers. He is so sidelined it's untrue, I feel sorry for the guy.

They even manage to edge him out in the filmed segment of the last show. Perhaps he makes a decent cup of tea? I'm struggling to think what else he contributes to the show.

I'm sure he's a nice guy and all that but they need someone stronger. Hammond was immensely annoying but at least he registered on your conscious whereas Rory doesn't really have any presence whatsoever.

[Europa1]

DrSteveBrule said:

I've been in the audience twice this series, once for the first show and again for the last (filmed on Saturday just gone). Rory doesn't even make it as far as the sofas and the number of lines he has in the studio could be counted on two fingers. He is so sidelined it's untrue, I feel sorry for the guy.

They even manage to edge him out in the filmed segment of the last show. Perhaps he makes a decent cup of tea? I'm struggling to think what else he contributes to the show.

I'm sure he's a nice guy and all that but they need someone stronger. Hammond was immensely annoying but at least he registered on your conscious whereas Rory doesn't really have any presence whatsoever.

I was there for the filming of the first show, and he spent most of the afternoon watching proceedings from a gantry overlooking the set (basically behind the big circular platform that the red cars are displayed on). I felt quite sorry for the guy as well.

[AppleJuice]

A format revamp is a must. Trying use an old platform that doesn't meet current audience expectations isn't going to help.

AppleJuice 5-Series analogy alert
The format of what I call the 'E39' generation of Top Gear (2002-2015) was of its time and up to 2007/2008 it worked pretty well but from 2009 onwards it fell flat on its arse trying to remain 'current'. Social media changed the way the younger end of its audience (bar under-13s) interacted with and discussed telly and 'E39' TG just carried on in its furrow becoming more and more dated.
The 'E60' (2015-present) generation of Top Gear is using the 'E39' platform and with new presenters it doesn't work. Trying to mould new presenters into an existing and dated format and expecting it to match the levels of performance of the previous incarnation of the programme is pretty much setting it up to fail. The presenters, from platforms that didn't exist when 'E39' TG started, were chosen because of who they were and what they do - not who they could copy (unless I'm being naive). It is the perfect opportunity to revamp the format for a new generation. CE's shouting just kept things tied back to the 2002-2015 format.

Car example | BMW would have had problems trying to keep the E39 up-to-date (ICE, crash performance, fuel efficiency, legislation) without major re-engineering. The LCI can only go so far. The E60 brought things up to date with updated (M54/M57) and new (N62) engines, new gearboxes (S6-53/6HP26), iDrive and (after a tweak) crash performance.

Sorry if it comes across as a bit of a ramble.

E12 = Wheelbase (genesis)
E28 = first-gen Top Gear (sensible, more features allowing it to reach a wider audience (car example: eco and diesel (M21) models, M5, 4HP22)) | Pebble Mill | Angela Rippon, Sue Barker, Chris Goffey, Noel Edmonds (we all have our problems) etc
E34 = second-gen Top Gear (less strait-laced, wider audience (car example: V8-powered Fives)) | Quentin Willson, Tiff Needell, Jeremy Clarkson, James May
E39 = third-gen Top Gear (even wider audience, more high-powered content, people go on an on about it to the point where it's quite a put-off (car example: M62 engines, M5 (people go on and on and on - it becomes rather off-putting!)) | Jeremy Clarkson, Jason Dawe, James May, Richard Hammond, Stig
E60 = fourth-gen Top Gear (new format, takes everyone aback but people enjoy the powertrain options (car example: styling, S85)) | Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris, Rory Reid, Sabine Schmitz, Stig etc.

Edited by AppleJuice on Monday 26th February 17:03

[p1stonhead]

Reasonably enjoyable other than the celeb bit as normal. Probably on par with some of the better Grand Tour episodes.

[anonymous-user]

Rory won't ever get binned. Ever.

[Vocal Minority]

I thought it was a diverting hour's tele.


Sorry....am I meant to be more invested than that?