Meh. Pretty standard episode, neither great nor terrible IMO.

Although watching the three GT cars travel across Oz was visually lovely, did anyone really expect any of them to break down?

Yeah those were also my thoughts exactly.

Back on topic I really enjoyed the episode, though I always enjoy Top Gear even when others are slating it so I'm probably not the best judge.

The BMW launch control on that car is shit. It's a known fact. The other stuff just shows how easy or not easy it is to launch a car / to get to the figures posted by the manufacturers.

So you could very well have this situation in real life. I was rather susprised they did actual valid stuff with the cars.

Even if I think every episode that doesn't have them running something really exotic round the race track drifting, smoking, playing and noise-ing around has something missing.

yeah it's all staged but that last episode had me in fits of laughter!

Yep, back to their best!

Go Daniel!! Brilliant lap!

Watched yesterday purely to see Dan Ricciardo. That segment was ok, the rest reminded me why I never, ever watch any more.
The best bit was the three good old chaps joshing about James having an out-of-date Ferrari. That we f**king paid for.

Lazy rubbish.

Compare with Guy Martin's humble and genuinely interested trip to India.

James May has a job, buys a car - SHOCK!!

I think licence fee payers pay for a lot of the BBC employees purchases. Just like with ALL businesses, customers buy a product and that generates revenue to pay the workers.
I'd rather watch Top Gear than the nonsense crime and costume dramas that seep from ITV and the Beeb.

Top Gear v Downton
Top Gear v The Fall

After last nights Top Gear garbage, I'd watch Downton and The Fall every day of the week!

I tried to watch Top Gear last night but turned off the TV when James May rolled up in a hearse.

Lazy rubbish is a very accurate description for TG these days. They just trot out the same, biased stuff year in year out. Ok as background TV but trashing every 100k plus car about a boring looking track has long lost its attraction.

The road trips are often nice to see, the BBC filming is excellent even if the content is questionable.

I long got tired of the two-facedness of the presenters. I caught a repeat of the piece they did on SAAB and both May and Clarkson "were so sad" that SAAB is no more. However, these same journalist have spent the last 30 years telling everybody to buy BMWs or one of the other Germans. Promoting the notion that nothing else is worth having has greatly limited the variety that we see on our roads and created a two-tier market where non-premium (non-German?) products can only be sold at almost unsustainable margins.



However, I think they earn their keep:

"Top Gear is watched in 214 countries and makes more revenue for the BBC than any other programme."

Broadly speaking I still enjoy TG, even though it's mostly little more than 3 blokes mucking around. Last night was dull for me as we've seen the military style training zone stuff too many times already. Oh and why the obsession with willy jokes??? Christmas specials were also pretty dull IMO. I'd like to see TG continue but hard to see how unless there's a change in direction.
Watched Channel 5's 'The Classic Car Show' yesterday (on demand) and enjoyed it far more, despite not being a big Quentin Wilson fan.

Yes it was all very schoolboy silly and a bit of a repeat of what's gone before, but it did still make me laugh out aloud.
Congratulations to Riccardo in grabbing the latest RPC driving honours.

Just to be clear, I have no objections to James May having a Ferrari; I also know that Top Gear earns the BBC squillions from worldwide sales. The only bit I mind about is the 3 goons phoning in yet another fake banter-and-bonhomie-laced show, pretending to be ordinary punters, when in fact their tired and lazy antics mean can afford their own supercars.

Dull, dull, dull...

Couldn't resist?

^ Touché.

Yeah, the fascinating horror like watching a slow motion car crash.

Could it really be as dire as I remembered? It could and was.

They don't carry that off at all - they come across as spoilt brats!

However, what I really object to is their flippant dismissal of 70% of the products on the market. Sadly, a huge proportion of the public take what celebrities say as gospel

Sad world!

Being a child at heart, even at 50 something, i still enjoy top gear and thought parts of last nights show was very funny. It has become a show for the masses rather than for the TR6 owners who trundle their cars out once a year , ridding their cars of covers and forcing them out of their heated garages. If you dont find it amusing, don't watch it....pretty simple really , i love it and always have and i dont begrudge Mr May with his ferrari otherwise footballers and other highly paid entertainers would have to come under the spotlight too .

I watched it, and although half of it was completely pathetic I still proper laughed out loud to some bits.

I don't care much for the celebrities driving round the track but the ex/current F1 drivers are worth watching. They make it look so easy!

I also enjoy TG, but it is getting progressively samey. Entertainment is well paid, no question and no problem. TG is more comedy than motoring which is actually why I expect we all watch it. Cars are just the main subject of that comedy. However, these people have a responsibility to stay fair when putting products down or make it absolutely clear that it is a joke. It will be a sad day when the world only has premium product out of Germany and a few super cars for the well to do. The rest of us will have to drive whatever is produced cheaply in China. We should not write-off just about every other manufacturer as rubbish and then wonder why they disappear.

Jesus christ.
It's just grown men blasting round in supercars....

So what! Where else on TV do we see it? Those period dramas and fake cop shows bore the hell out of me. But I don't watch them anymore and hence don't post on here that Downton f'in abby is back on ruining my evenings.

Presenting top gear would be an awesome job,jetting round the world driving cars most can only dream of and will probably never even see. Much respect (kudos) to Clarkson for building the brand and making it what it is.

I don't watch it for reviews I watch it to see how many times I can laugh out loud or cringe.

I did used to love the half hour on a Thursday evening, but theres only so much diesel hackery you can put up with too. Can you imagine an hour of comparing a diesel leon to a golf to an octavia to an a3....

Not sure why you opted to pick on us TR6 owners. I do recall James May waxed lyrical over the TR6. The blokiest blokes car. Back in the days when they didn't talk total bollocks for most of the show.

But... the irony...

It may be a tired format, yet the debate over whether TG is crap or not is the most active thread on this forum.

They are doing something right by generating such praise and vitriol in equal measures.

I agree it is crap in the same way a dodgy B-movie is, but it is entertaining, and hugely successful.

Just my 2p.

2p is enough to spend a penny twice ?

It's obvious from this thread that a favourable opinion is largely dependent on your liking the TG team. Right or wrong, I do (and very much enjoyed TG live in Glasgow recently). Neil_r sums it up perfectly - the show is 'progressively samey'. Yes they're funny and yes there are vehicles involved but the comedy side is fading somewhat and originality is edging towards its deathbed.
An episode finishes and you're left accutely aware the last 60 minutes contained little or no car content.

I love Top Gear. Always have, always will

I also like Downton Abbey

And on that bombshell...

Ahhhhhh so you didn't watch Sunday's episode?

I'm sure it's available on the iPlayer



** There are other period dramas available.

I'm still a fan of TG but I thought Sunday's episode was dross.

Bugger, I should have used a caveat that stated;

Most of the time. Sometimes they buy an "x" to be used as a "y" as it would be better because of "a,b & c" but not for "insert presenters name who is the target for losing this series". There is also potential to find a "hot hatch" review.

.....Some say his trousers are made of kryptonite and that his mother makes him porridge every morning.

All we know is that he's called ........

...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ