Quite. I think a lot of people have rose tinted glasses on in relation to how old top gear was both at the start and where it ended up.

oh was it, thanks for pointing that out.

so is Friends, Alan Partridge , Blackadder, Saturday Kitchen, the Mille Miglia docu, and everything else every other presenter has done.....

....my point being Clarkson is great when he has full control and is out of depth pretty much everywhere else so perhaps lets not put him on a pedestal or judge others than haven't even had a chance beforehand.

What's this...points makes prizes.....

Different show.

Not sure Brucie would be up for it either.

How many different shows do you need.....

I don't NEED any of them.

My hook,line,sinker & my rod have gone...
My remarks are very firmly placed in my cheek & aimed at the humorous end of the scale...

Incidentally, "points make prizes" was never a show, it was one of Brucie's many,many catch phrases....

Oh you got me. You got me good!

P.S. Anyone want to buy a fishing rod?

Hey I get where you're coming from, we are all basically singing from the same hymn sheet but it's whoever irritates you the most or style that just does your head in. I'm glad we are all different, in my book having an opinion is essential, it's the don't knows or the silent ones who lurk round the perimeter & say nothing are the ones to watch.

Thats the thing. At the end the old lot were as annoying to me as the new ones. Same jokes repeatly trotted out. Nothing much had changed and it was starting to become a caricature of itself.

Not that the new programme is perfect either. The rally cross thing doesn't work for me and the guests have been variable. It seems they tried to change things for the sake of making it appear different yet its not AND now it doesn't work.

I don't know what the answer is ( there probably isnt one) but prejudging everything is the downfall of TG as much ans anything else.

Bottom line as I said in an earlier thread, the old Top Gear is dead.The little lady & I as a pair of oldies would watch together.This worked for others in similar circumstances & it worked world wide. These threads become a bit repetitive & go round & round.

Life will still tick over & the Beeb will still try & squeeze out as much money from once was cash cows the likes of this.

Chef, Paul Hollywood (recently a guest on TG), I think would be a good presenter.

He seems to know his car stuff and a pretty good driver

He did a documentary about Aston Martin, in which I thought he came over as a bit of a c0ck. It turned into "me and my Aston-loving mates".
He's fairly inoffensive otherwise, I suppose.

I'd vote for the hairy bikers.

If they liked cars.

"So, Si, would you buy one?"
"Not sure, Dave. I'll make a Yorkshire Pudding while I think about it..."

Another new series starts tomorrow night , Sunday BBC2 8pm. Crept up on me from nowhere - note to self - watch more tv.

The line up is Matt le Bonc, Chris Arris and Rory Reid.

Ferrari FXXK features, then there's a three car race across Kazakhstan in high mileage cars.

Super job

Well that was ok. On a par with the last 3 series with Clarkson et al. Not that it was a particularly high bar.....

Absolute rubbish . Can blame Chris Evens anymore

Absolutely ZERO chemistry between the presenters. Lame, lame, lame. The only good things were the cars.....

Lets hope for some improvement.

Anyone else start looking for a Volvo V70 after that? I assumed by the sound of it that it was the 5 cylinder unit.

I'll probably still watch it next week though. Glutton for punishment.

It's a car program, so I like it.
I think the presenters were allowed to be themselves tonight rather than upstage the Evans in the last series.
The gogglebox is a better place for the show.
And a gt86 for the stars to hoon in? Good idea.

It just feels so contrived...you know when you are at school and you and your mates have to do a show in drama....that was how they looked...but worse

I liked it. Back to the basics to then build it into the show it should be. Not trying to be different for the sake of it but also not a direct copy.

I would watch that again but I can't say the same for any of the last series of grand tour. Once was definitely enough for that thank you.

Glad they got rid of the rally cross circuit and are back with the proper track. The gt86 is a great shout for the car.

Its interesting to see such different opinions, chemistry is something that has to be developed over time I think its a solid start and over all I found this far more entertaining than any GT and far far better than the last two seasons of TG.

There were some funny moments, great cars and it felt very much like they were trying to make it there own rather than carry on, or upscale. I still dislike the star in a car segment, but I always have.

Overall, loved it, and It actually puts a real downer on the GT for me, the GT is TG taken far to far.

I didn't totally hate the last TG but it did have some really terrible moments, especially the presenters trying too hard to be funny and failing terribly. But I then saw the grand tour and that element was painfully pushed beyond all previous limits. It was truly horrible to watch! Clearly money does not buy quality or good ideas.

So bring on the new series of top gear. Much improved and totally watchable. Humour seemed far more spontaneous and honest, and far less scripted than the last TG and especially the GT.

Much improved but could do better would be my assessment.

Crikey. I hadn't realised that the GT was so bad. I'll hold off getting Amazon Prime then !!

I'm hopeful for TG to improve. Bring it on.

I thought Grand Tour was OK, with the exception of the American (who I could quite easily shoot.. think they missed the mark big time with that one) and also the recycled dead celebrity joke every week. Anyone who liked the banter side of Clarkson/Hammond/May era TG will like it.

Latest episode of Top Gear I thought was an improvement over the Chris Evans series, but the presenters really just do not work well together. I think Chris Harris is great but could quite easily lose the other two.

As said though.. it's about cars, so I enjoyed it.

Ach these shows are what they are, I keep saying this, & we keep going round in circles Fine if you like, & fine if you don't like.

Less people watched the show than when Chris Evans was the main presenter .http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/top-gear-2017-ratings-episode-1-matt-leblanc_uk_58bd372ee4b0b99894188577

To be honest, its not a surprise it was watched less, that has nothing to do with the quality it is now, more a case of how it was trashed by the last season. Its going to take time to recover.

I didn't even know it had started until I started to see stuff about Harris being "hated"