BBC Top Gear Thread 2021/2022

[warch]

Doofus said:

SydneyBridge said:

There used to be a ton of merchandising as well, now there seems to hardly anything

A sandwich box with Chris Harris' fizzog on it is never going to high on my wish list...

Sticking with the Richard Hammond one instead then?

[rjg48]

98elise said:

3.3m

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Top_Gear_e...

The last season with the new lineup was higher than the MLB days, but the figures seem to be dropping off again.

The new season opener will be more telling though. All seasons seem to start on a high then tail off.

I'd be interested to know how all of the post CHM episodes have sold abroad. It was a big revenue generator for the BBC so could justify the big budget. It's now way down in the domestic ratings alone so you have to wonder how long it can justify a big budget?

3.3 million who weren't expecting the Xmas Special to be a shart as it was.

[Doofus]

warch said:

Sticking with the Richard Hammond one instead then?

It serves me well. Cheese strings, Peperami a Club biscuit and an apple. What can Harris offer me that Hammond can't already accommodate?

[S1KRR]

98elise said:

3.3m

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Top_Gear_e...

The last season with the new lineup was higher than the MLB days, but the figures seem to be dropping off again.

Cant speak for others. But I REALLY struggled to like the last FHM series. (Few Harris tests aside)

My order

1) TG with CHM was always the best. Even when they had a poor episode, they could generally pull it back the next one.
2)LeBlanc/Reid/Harris was pretty good. Starting to really gel towards the end and of course the BBC decide to overhaul it/copy TGT when MLB decides to stop. They just needed 1 new presenter to slot in
3) Then Grand Tour. It could be great, but it could also be seriously cack
And now
4) FHM which has, as above, stopped even making the cars relevant to the st comedy travel show

My TiVO box has picked up the Nepal special. But I haven't felt the need to watch it. Which I have to say in 16 yrs of TG/TGT hasn't happened before.

I might watch the new series of TG, but if it hasn't changed dramatically (and theres nothing to suggest it has) I don't know how much longer I'll bother.

[Emeye]

I was bored so decided to watch it, but fell asleep half way through and woke up near the end.

Wasn’t worth rewinding, but one thing I took from it is that I could never work out why they chose Flintoss. When they started talking about the local love of cricket, I guess the BBC hoped he would be a big draw in some of the international markets that previously loved the original Top Gear team.

[Lordbenny]

Wow....Top Gear in its ‘special’ guise IS a travel/comedy show....that’s what it’s meant to be. Lots of people getting very irate about it which is laughable.

You want cars? You’ve got YouTube and the BEEB know this....I’m sure when the new series comes out they’ll be plenty more for you to moan about!

[S1KRR]

Lordbenny said:

Wow....Top Gear in its ‘special’ guise IS a travel/comedy show....that’s what it’s meant to be. Lots of people getting very irate about it which is laughable.

You want cars? You’ve got YouTube and the BEEB know this....I’m sure when the new series comes out they’ll be plenty more for you to moan about!

No, that's frankly, bks!


TG specials ALWAYS involved the cars in some way. Sure there was obvious set up scenarios. Some of the gags were a bit laboured. But the cars, and the natural chemistry and humour the 3 of them had was ALWAYS the main thrust of the show.


It has NONE of those things in the current line up!

[C70R]

S1KRR said:

Lordbenny said:

Wow....Top Gear in its ‘special’ guise IS a travel/comedy show....that’s what it’s meant to be. Lots of people getting very irate about it which is laughable.

You want cars? You’ve got YouTube and the BEEB know this....I’m sure when the new series comes out they’ll be plenty more for you to moan about!

No, that's frankly, bks!


TG specials ALWAYS involved the cars in some way. Sure there was obvious set up scenarios. Some of the gags were a bit laboured. But the cars, and the natural chemistry and humour the 3 of them had was ALWAYS the main thrust of the show.


It has NONE of those things in the current line up!

Erm... There were cars in the show I watched.

I think you may have recorded Countryfile by accident.

[WarrenB]

C70R said:

S1KRR said:

Lordbenny said:

Wow....Top Gear in its ‘special’ guise IS a travel/comedy show....that’s what it’s meant to be. Lots of people getting very irate about it which is laughable.

You want cars? You’ve got YouTube and the BEEB know this....I’m sure when the new series comes out they’ll be plenty more for you to moan about!

No, that's frankly, bks!


TG specials ALWAYS involved the cars in some way. Sure there was obvious set up scenarios. Some of the gags were a bit laboured. But the cars, and the natural chemistry and humour the 3 of them had was ALWAYS the main thrust of the show.


It has NONE of those things in the current line up!

Erm... There were cars in the show I watched.

I think you may have recorded Countryfile by accident.

I get what S1KRR is saying. The difference with the new line-up compared to CHM on their road trips, is that the cars were just tools to get to the end destination. Trashing a rare-ish 106 Rallye hardly seemed worth it, like I've said before they may as well have used a bog standard 106.

With CHM the cars actually become part of the journey, they bond with them and they're actually somewhat sympathetic with them. They wouldn't needlessly trash a car just for the sake of it. Yes they have ruined a few, and they do tend to admit it when they do (Bolivia, India).

Trashing clean cars just for the sake of it isn't really that appealing.

[LuS1fer]

Odd as the last 5 years of CMH TG was always obscured by the "Use by 5 years ago" label.

[Shakermaker]

WarrenB said:

I get what S1KRR is saying. The difference with the new line-up compared to CHM on their road trips, is that the cars were just tools to get to the end destination. Trashing a rare-ish 106 Rallye hardly seemed worth it, like I've said before they may as well have used a bog standard 106.

With CHM the cars actually become part of the journey, they bond with them and they're actually somewhat sympathetic with them. They wouldn't needlessly trash a car just for the sake of it. Yes they have ruined a few, and they do tend to admit it when they do (Bolivia, India).

Trashing clean cars just for the sake of it isn't really that appealing.

But it wasn't a "clean" car, was it, as we've discussed here. It had 160k miles on and was nearing the end of its life. You're only upset because they did it on TV, whereas the reason they are rare is because most people cut them up, scrapped them or crashed them already, but you don't direct your ire towards them?

[Adam B]

More upset by the Renault 4 being trashed than the 106, that looked mint.

upset in the way that I would not want to buy it, own it or drive it so just for PH purposes

Edited by Adam B on Saturday 18th January 21:37

[WarrenB]

Adam B said:

More upset by the Renault 4 being trashed than the 106, that looked mint.

• upset in the way that I would want to buy it, own it or drive it so just for PH purposes

Chris Harris is bringing it back to the UK.

I think he was the only one that got attached to his car, and was visibly upset after it rolled. They just didn't really focus on that side of things though.

[DSC OFF]

I’m still not 100% sold on the new trio but I enjoyed their first series and the special, even if it wasn’t a classic it still beat the India and Middle East specials, and it was better than Seamen. CHM were lightning in a bottle but they had 6/7 seasons under their belt before they went on the first special, and several seasons before they did the mondeo money supercars, but even they were stale before the big fall out

Watching any TG special is my favourite Sunday morning telly, I’m just glad we have two shows going for it now, even if they won’t reach past highs

In a perfect world TG would have gone off in its own direction again, making the cars a focus but I think the exodus of viewers would have been even worse. I have friends who moan about the new TG, yet they haven’t even watched it, and flatly refuse to. in PistonHead land TG should be anchored by Jenson Button, with Guy Martin (or catchpole) and Harris. The studio/track would move to Anglesey circuit and they’d use the RAF base next door for the drag races. But top gear is a car show for people who don’t like cars

[C70R]

WarrenB said:

Chris Harris is bringing it back to the UK.

I think he was the only one that got attached to his car, and was visibly upset after it rolled. They just didn't really focus on that side of things though.

Hint: He was acting. It's all acting. It's the TV.

Just like they didn't really dump the car in Nepal because it was broken.

[thegreenhell]

AlexRS2782 said:

I don't think the new series is due until the Masters snooker has been broadcast, otherwise it would clash with the final, so probably Sunday 26th.

Correct.

Series 28 Episode 1 of 6
Sun 26 Jan 2020
20:00
BBC TWO

Paddy, Freddie and Chris head on a British summer holiday in super-cheap second-hand convertibles. Chris tests the new Ariel Atom on track, and Freddie attempts to bungee-jump an old Rover off a dam.

[Dr Interceptor]

[Cupramax]

I’m sure the helmet would have saved him if that went pear shaped

[thegreenhell]

New trailer for the new series... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILxXn6AWqO4

[S1KRR]

thegreenhell said:

New trailer for the new series... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILxXn6AWqO4

No knobheads fking around. "Trying" to be funny!

ALL about the cars!

It'll be less than 1/4 of the whole series!

Has no one at TG ever considered why car review channels do so well?