BBC Top Gear Thread 2021/2022

[thegreenhell]

EDLT said:

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

RE the guests. I've said it before (probably many dozen pages back) my logic is that this is a necessary something to chop when the episodes get sold to Dave. When you watch on the BBC it's maybe 10 minutes of fluff, when a few years later you re-watch on Dave it's 20 seconds then, 'right, your lap' - to allow ad time (it still is broadcast over an hour)

Someone correct me if I guessed wrong.

I always assumed they removed the entire segment for overseas broadcasts - where Top Gear is (or was) a huge money spinner for the BBC.

I would guess that for overseas they just remove the whole segment, as they'd have even less of a clue who most of the guests are then we do. On Dave they mostly just seem to edit out the chat about whatever new film/album/book they're promoting, as by then it's old news and even less relevant.

[Shakermaker]

Truckosaurus said:

Isn't the whole point of The Stig that there are multiple drivers playing the role. Even if your Main Stig gets the hump then there's plenty of jobbing pro-drivers who could step in at a moment's notice.

Well I assumed, rightly or wrongly, that certainly Ben Collins was for a long time The Stig who did the power laps and driver training piece for SIARPC, to be a constant in the testing that they did.

But if for example they were on-location and just wanted a visual gag of The Stig, they could perhaps have any jobsworth actor wearing the overalls who just stood still or walked like a robot etc, if they didn't have to do any driving.

[J4CKO]

200Plus Club said:

Supra looks the part but dog slow for £50k. Tuners will be itching to get the first tune up kits out.

Dog slow, not watched it yet but thought that was one of its strong point, i.e. its performance out of the box, just watched the lap on YT and it wasnt very dramatic but it did a decent time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Top_Gear_tes...

1.23.1 looks pretty good, not sure what else for that price is faster to be honest ?

[MX6]

J4CKO said:

200Plus Club said:

Supra looks the part but dog slow for £50k. Tuners will be itching to get the first tune up kits out.

Dog slow, not watched it yet but thought that was one of its strong point, i.e. its performance out of the box, just watched the lap on YT and it wasnt very dramatic but it did a decent time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Top_Gear_tes...

1.23.1 looks pretty good, not sure what else for that price is faster to be honest ?

Yeah, seems a quick motor for the money to me, and certainly tunable. These Supra's have been dyno'ed with impressive figures from the factory with no mod's, I saw on youtube a euro-spec car doing over 370bhp at the wheels, not too shabby.

Edited by MX6 on Monday 15th July 17:04

[Wills2]

J4CKO said:

200Plus Club said:

Supra looks the part but dog slow for £50k. Tuners will be itching to get the first tune up kits out.

Dog slow, not watched it yet but thought that was one of its strong point, i.e. its performance out of the box, just watched the lap on YT and it wasnt very dramatic but it did a decent time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Top_Gear_tes...

1.23.1 looks pretty good, not sure what else for that price is faster to be honest ?

Agreed it's simply not dog slow, carwow had a 12sec dead 1/4 mile out of it, same as a new RS4 and M3 CS (those are not dog slow cars)

[ReaperCushions]

Shakermaker said:

Truckosaurus said:

Isn't the whole point of The Stig that there are multiple drivers playing the role. Even if your Main Stig gets the hump then there's plenty of jobbing pro-drivers who could step in at a moment's notice.

Well I assumed, rightly or wrongly, that certainly Ben Collins was for a long time The Stig who did the power laps and driver training piece for SIARPC, to be a constant in the testing that they did.

But if for example they were on-location and just wanted a visual gag of The Stig, they could perhaps have any jobsworth actor wearing the overalls who just stood still or walked like a robot etc, if they didn't have to do any driving.

Both are exactly true. Anyone of vaguely the same body shape/size can be the stig in the right outfit.

Infact, put 'Stig for Hire' into google and you'll see just how many people have bought a suit and now do kids parties.

[Ray-zq1r6]

I used to enjoy the old Top Gear with Jeremy and chums. They knew little about cars but were very entertaining with great chemistry. That combined with excellent production values made for a great 'car sitcom'.

We have seen various people try to make it work since then and fail.
Now there is forced humour from three more people who laugh a lot - at nothing. There is NO chemistry between them. The presenters have nothing going for them. All that is left is the photography.

This is the worst yet, I gave it a chance and it failed completely, now it is just embarrassing!

I don't know how anyone can watch this rubbish.

Please BBC - put it out of it's misery

[LuS1fer]

Ray-zq1r6 said:

I used to enjoy the old Top Gear with Jeremy and chums. They knew little about cars but were very entertaining with great chemistry. That combined with excellent production values made for a great 'car sitcom'.

We have seen various people try to make it work since then and fail.
Now there is forced humour from three more people who laugh a lot - at nothing. There is NO chemistry between them. The presenters have nothing going for them. All that is left is the photography.

This is the worst yet, I gave it a chance and it failed completely, now it is just embarrassing!

I don't know how anyone can watch this rubbish.

Please BBC - put it out of it's misery

I expected very little and antcipated crushing disappointment. Quite the contrary was true. I actually liked it.
I can't say the same for the later years of CHM which were generally crap, formulaic, unnecessarily destructive and had resorted to stuff like CGI fires in tents and Transit hovercrafts soaking "innocent" bystanders. It was utterly cringeworthy for the most part and I like them.

The first two series of TGT were equally bad, IMHO and only in the 3rd series did they finally come good - but I'm still more entertained by TG because watching CHM going through the same motions, pulling the same faces to camera and using recycled jokes they had done before made it still formulaic and, being expected, not funny.

Edited by LuS1fer on Monday 15th July 18:35

[FiF]

CHM not knowing much about cars...

Hmmm, not sure if serious.

[robemcdonald]

Ray-zq1r6 said:

I used to enjoy the old Top Gear with Jeremy and chums. They knew little about cars but were very entertaining with great chemistry. That combined with excellent production values made for a great 'car sitcom'.

We have seen various people try to make it work since then and fail.
Now there is forced humour from three more people who laugh a lot - at nothing. There is NO chemistry between them. The presenters have nothing going for them. All that is left is the photography.

This is the worst yet, I gave it a chance and it failed completely, now it is just embarrassing!

I don't know how anyone can watch this rubbish.

Please BBC - put it out of it's misery

Rory Reid joins Pistonheads

[LuS1fer]

FiF said:

CHM not knowing much about cars...

Hmmm, not sure if serious.

Clarkson often dropped clangers. I remember him prodding the back of a C6 in a "comedy" way and telling us about the 5.7 litre V8 (it's 6.0) and he seemed more intent on trying to break cars than gaining any deep insight. Only to be expected of course when you probably have to digest tons of press packs.

[YTee]

May knows about cars, surely I'm not in the minority thinking that?

Clarkson doesn't know about anything and has made an extremely successful career out of it... fair play.

Hammond I reckon can probably drive a bit, he tries at least, hence the accidents

Compare that to a cricketer and a presenter, neither of whom can drive, plonked into the middle of a 'car show' in an attempt to amuse casual viewers while Chris Harris attempts to rescue his dignity by being the only one on the show trying to talk any sense. I watch TG for Harris' insights alone. For entertainment, I watch TGT.

[E65Ross]

YTee said:

Clarkson doesn't know about anything and has made an extremely successful career out of it... fair play.

Doesn't know anything? I suspect he really does, although some times he chooses not to show it.

[Meridius]

Clarkson, Hammond and May all know way more about cars than they let on, Top Gear was their characters, they built careers on hyperbole.

Anyway, for the TG 2019, I am actually enjoying this series way more than I thought I would. There was nothing I particularly liked about Flintoff and McGuiness and I imagined it was going to be a train wreck, while still OTT at times they've managed to make a pretty good car show that includes things I wouldnt have expected to see on modern Top Gear at all (tuned Supras etc) and they still let Harris get nerdy and technical about things.

[E65Ross]

I'll add that of the post CHM era this is the most enjoyable for me. I still prefer CHM, mind, and the 3rd series of TGT was, in my opinion, much, much better.

[gregs656]

YTee said:

Compare that to a cricketer and a presenter, neither of whom can drive, plonked into the middle of a 'car show' in an attempt to amuse casual viewers while Chris Harris attempts to rescue his dignity by being the only one on the show trying to talk any sense. I watch TG for Harris' insights alone. For entertainment, I watch TGT.

To be fair to the cricketer he was having a proper go in Iceland and I honestly don't think that segment would have been improved by Clarkson and Hammond for example.

One of the best things they have done for ages.

I thought Paddy's review of the Supra was a bit light weight but there have been much worse things committed to film.

I get the feeling that the three of them are really looking to go a long way as a team, not something I have felt with previous line ups. I expect Paddy and Freddie will both put in the effort to improve.

[FiF]

E65Ross said:

YTee said:

Clarkson doesn't know about anything and has made an extremely successful career out of it... fair play.

Doesn't know anything? I suspect he really does, although some times he chooses not to show it.

Yep, it's part of the comedy act, just a change of a single word alters it from serious to acting a bit thick, one example being use of the word 'torques.'

[DonkeyApple]

S100HP said:

Personally I think it has been excellent. A really enjoyable watch.

I do however skip the "star" bit religiously.

The star bit is an advert and the purpose of adverts is to give us time to go and get a beer without missing any of the actual show. The BBC even position it at pretty much the right time. It’s a well thought out and useful feature.

[Randy Winkman]

gregs656 said:

YTee said:

Compare that to a cricketer and a presenter, neither of whom can drive, plonked into the middle of a 'car show' in an attempt to amuse casual viewers while Chris Harris attempts to rescue his dignity by being the only one on the show trying to talk any sense. I watch TG for Harris' insights alone. For entertainment, I watch TGT.

To be fair to the cricketer he was having a proper go in Iceland and I honestly don't think that segment would have been improved by Clarkson and Hammond for example.

One of the best things they have done for ages.

I thought Paddy's review of the Supra was a bit light weight but there have been much worse things committed to film.

I get the feeling that the three of them are really looking to go a long way as a team, not something I have felt with previous line ups. I expect Paddy and Freddie will both put in the effort to improve.

I agree. Even though I've moaned about Freddie I hope all 3 are still in it next time.

[DanielSan]

gregs656 said:

To be fair to the cricketer he was having a proper go in Iceland and I honestly don't think that segment would have been improved by Clarkson and Hammond for example.

One of the best things they have done for ages.

I thought Paddy's review of the Supra was a bit light weight but there have been much worse things committed to film.

I get the feeling that the three of them are really looking to go a long way as a team, not something I have felt with previous line ups. I expect Paddy and Freddie will both put in the effort to improve.

If you haven't already give the podcast him and Robbie Savage do for the BBC a listen, it does seem like whatever he puts his mind to do he works as hard as he can to get better and learn from his mistakes. When they announced him as a presenter for TG it's the one thing he's really wanted to do since he retired from Cricket so I'd be amazed if him and Paddy Mcguiness aren't already taking the good and bad feedback on board.