Un-official GTPlanet BBC Topgear UK ThreadTV 

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"Good news everyone, the Dacia Duster will be available in the UK." I hope Dacia got permission from Chrysler to use that name, though. :P

Great episode, though. the Reliant segment was funny and it was good to see them continuing the same jokes and themes of the series. :P
 
I guess we weren't supposed to notice that he rolled the car to the right, but it was rolling to the left as it went into the water?
 
Saw it online. Good episode, especially The Stigs "lap" and the new SIARPC. It was a bit dull at times, but you could tell they were somewhat trying to be more serious. I like this approach, as all the staged stunts, while funny, got very old very quickly.
 
Great season opener. My roommates and I about died when the Reliant first rolled.
 
Easily one of my favorite season openers.

Lovely to see Ol' "Manny-Moo" (sorry, I mean "Angelina") driving the new reasonably priced Kia.




;)
 
So how will this series shape out to be in comparison to the others? I'm using series 10 as the benchmark. As far as series openers goes, Series 10 was better. But this was was very good too! The series might turn out to be as good as 10. Only time will tell.
 
wfooshee
I guess we weren't supposed to notice that he rolled the car to the right, but it was rolling to the left as it went into the water?
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I was too busy laughing about the constant rolling over to even notice that.

Sage
Great season opener. My roommates and I about died when the Reliant first rolled.
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Agreed, it was a really good show with all the freshness and enthusiasm of previous series. My ribs are still aching and, like a school boy with a naughty picture, I keep watching it over :lol:.
 
Well Top Gear continues to slump to new lows. Ever since they decided to cater for a different market 3-4 years back it's been one of the worst programmes on telly ever.
 
Duffers917K
Well Top Gear continues to slump to new lows. Ever since they decided to cater for a different market 3-4 years back it's been one of the worst programmes on telly ever.
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Over exaggerating much?

I can think of loads of programmes I'd rather not watch than TopGear, to name a few; Big Brother, X Factor, Britains Got Talent, Antiques Roadshow, and of course half the other rubbish on Sky. Whilst I can appreciate you don't like the current direction TopGear is heading, it is far from the worst show on TV.

I think people need to understand that in a way TopGear actually can't go back to the way it used to be 6 or 7 years ago, it's gained a lot of fans since then which like the new format. TopGear hasn't really been a car show for the past couple of years more of a entertainment show with cars. But it is popular in that format, if you don't like it then watch Fifth Gear's new series. Fifth Gear has gone back to its roots (seeming as though it never got popular) and fills the slot of 'serious motoring programme'.

Just my two pence.
 
Speedster502
Over exaggerating much?

I can think of loads of programmes I'd rather not watch than TopGear, to name a few; Big Brother, X Factor, Britains Got Talent, Antiques Roadshow, and of course half the other rubbish on Sky. Whilst I can appreciate you don't like the current direction TopGear is heading, it is far from the worst show on TV.
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OI, you leave the Roadshow out of this!

And if anyone's interested, the worst show on the BBC is in fact The Life of Riley. At least until the Andrew Lloyd Webber enterprise ones start up again.
 
Well I was obviously exaggerating but this programme doesn't have a candle on Fifth Gear for me. Top Gear in the early days of the downfall at least used to have some occasional good car moments and it would have one funny thing every blue moon. I used to still enjoy it then.

The show on Sunday was unwatchable though, the Robin thing was predictable, and even if it wasn't it would've funny once. I enjoyed James Way volcano thing, mind but that was completely un-Top Gear, it was more like a documentary and James May for the most part is bearable on TG (His Non-TG stuff is good).
 
Oh wow, I thought you were joking at first. Personally, I think it's one of the best programs on the tele. It's humorous larking around, incredible photography, great guests and expensive cars. I'm not and have never worked in the automotive industry. I don't care so much for the statistical side of the motor industry either. Even if I did, on a Sunday night I can't think of a better program to relax to than three guys mucking around doing things that are funny, imaginative and thought provoking. I don't want to know if a golf gti is quicker around a track than a focus st. I want to see a tongue-in-cheek mini-documentary about peoples experiences and stereotypical thoughts exploited.

In sixteen years of driving, I have never bought or been persuaded to buy a car based upon a automotive review on the tv.
 
It would be reasonable if it wasn't all scripted.
 
Top Gear is still one of the best, most entertaining programmes on TV, IMO, but it is getting a bit tired, and it is in serious danger of becoming a parody of itself. A bit like Monty Python, it has lost it's capacity to produce anything original - the celebrity launch of the new Reasonably Priced Car is a case in point. Fortunately, they are sticking to avoiding what killed the original Top Gear in the first place - a lack of exciting supercars, and being just a po-faced car review programme with all the humour and personality of a gym teacher.
 
It's a good point; the entertainment/originality issue was recycled for the new 'reasonably priced car' article but, to say they re-used one script in four or so years is not so bad.

I think they still have plenty of mileage yet and, considering the economic climate, to bring out a new series now is a credit to the industry which they support, loosely.
 
Im a little late here but that Reliant Robin bit made me laugh my a** off... :lol: Havent laughed that hard with Top Gear in a long time.. .👍
 
Two pennies coming your way.

I agree with Duffers and TM to an extent, but also with the rest of you. I suppose I'm not passionate about Top Gear to either love it or hate it with any real vigour, but I do find it a very entertaining program and as a car lover, you take what you can get with automotive-themed programmes.

The last few series have been pretty poor at times - I think my personal turning point was the episode in which Clarkson destroyed that Renaultsport Twingo - it crossed the line from being a bit of humourous destruction with a vague purpose à la car football/the indestructable Hilux etc, to brainless violence to appeal to an increasingly brainless audience. Other features they did since have also been pretty thin in terms of humour, and something that should have been great like the electric car they created was pretty cringe-worthy to watch at some points.

Still, if you picture the average video-commenter on Youtube, it seems to go down pretty well with them, so what do I know?...

What I do know is that the entertainment format is what thoroughly ruined Top Gear Magazine, which used to be one of my favourite car mags in the late 90s and is now probably one of the worst you can buy.

As for Fifth Gear (which is on tonight at half 7, people) I like the simplified format of the latest series. They finally have the right mix of presenters, and the mixture of reviews and features is just right. The only thing I'm not keen on is the 30-minute format, which seems too short after watching Top Gear.

Fifth Gear is significantly the better car programme (despite what the aforementioned Youtube people will claim), Top Gear the better entertainment show.

I miss Driven though... anyone remember that one? Jason Barlow, Mike Brewer, Penny Mallory. No bells and whistles, just solid, entertaining road tests.

Oh, and the only other thing I'm not keen about with the latest episode of TG is how many people will now go out and buy Reliant Robins specifically to destroy them. Comedy car or not they're a piece of British motoring history, it'd be nice for them all be rolled by morons.
 
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I understand where youre coming from and I hope you dont think Im one of those brainless people that laugh at everything. I just found the Reliant Robin bit humurous even though it was predictable. I just watch that show to get entertained and see an exotic car get thrashed around the Top Gear test track... I also like Fifth Gear, but I watch that if I really want to know about a car and hear good reviews. Both have their appeals and by no means am I saying Top Gear is the best... but I do value its high entertainment threshold.
 
homeforsummer
Oh, and the only other thing I'm not keen about with the latest episode of TG is how many people will now go out and buy Reliant Robins specifically to destroy them. Comedy car or not they're a piece of British motoring history, it'd be nice for them all be rolled by morons.
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I guess you didn't mean to put that, unless you really hate Reliant Robins :lol:

I pretty much agree with your post, apart from the TG magazine bit, although it has gone down hill I don't really have that much time to read them so it's nice and easy for me to just flick through it and read what interests me. So I guess it's aimed more at the casual reader. Although I have heard Evo is quite good, I'm tempted to get a couple of issues to see if its better. But I've been collecting TopGear since issue 120 so it would feel weird to stop :lol:
 
EVO mag is immeasurably better than Top Gear mag although maybe that’s because I’m an old git ;)

HFS – you’re post pretty much sums it up about TG really but I do think they’ve taken the criticism onboard as the first episode of this season was pretty good and I the Reliant Robin film was funny without being too lowbrow, these bits are meant to be a bit of tongue in cheek entertainment after all.

This seasons Fifth Gear is pretty decent so far and each episode seems to be crammed with good features but then it can’t afford any filler with only 30 minutes. It really should be an hour but I guess we should be grateful it’s on at all as it was pretty much axed at one point. The GT3 RS section could have been a lot longer last night!

I remember Driven too, no nonsense Mike Brewer giving cars the patented elbow bash quality test!
 
EvilNeal
I remember Driven too, no nonsense Mike Brewer giving cars the patented elbow bash quality test!
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Was that show any good? The only thing I know that Mike Brewer has been in is Wheeler Dealers, which is a show that I love!
 
astrosdude91
Was that show any good? The only thing I know that Mike Brewer has been in is Wheeler Dealers, which is a show that I love!
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It was alright but definitely more sensible and serious than fun and games.
 
Yeah, it was a bit of a mixture but leaning towards the serious stuff. I do remember they had some good tests - safety ones where they drove a car towards a soaking wet corner at a test track three-up to see if it could get around safely when you stamped the brakes, overtaking tests, that sort of thing. Was good.

Blitz187
I understand where youre coming from and I hope you dont think Im one of those brainless people that laugh at everything. I just found the Reliant Robin bit humurous even though it was predictable. I just watch that show to get entertained and see an exotic car get thrashed around the Top Gear test track... I also like Fifth Gear, but I watch that if I really want to know about a car and hear good reviews. Both have their appeals and by no means am I saying Top Gear is the best... but I do value its high entertainment threshold.
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Don't worry, I wasn't referring to anyone on GTP with my comment. Was more the Youtube thing of "OMG why do 5th gear even bother, it's rubbish, TG is the best programme EVARRRR" sort of thing.

I enjoyed the Reliant segment, it made me laugh.

Speedster502
I guess you didn't mean to put that, unless you really hate Reliant Robins :lol:
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Err, yeah, that was alcohol influenced. I meant to type "it'd be nice not to see them all rolled by morons"...

I pretty much agree with your post, apart from the TG magazine bit, although it has gone down hill I don't really have that much time to read them so it's nice and easy for me to just flick through it and read what interests me. So I guess it's aimed more at the casual reader. Although I have heard Evo is quite good, I'm tempted to get a couple of issues to see if its better. But I've been collecting TopGear since issue 120 so it would feel weird to stop :lol:
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EVO is very, very good. Streets ahead of TG. I started collecting TG around issue 33 and stopped at about 120 when I'd fully had enough of it. It's not even slightly as good as it used to be.
 
Now that was better, far more interesting than last week. I liked the main piece as well, not to mention James doing the review is always a highlight as it just feels like something fresh and interesting. Although, I'll comment a bit more once I've watched it again tommorrow, but first impressions are good.

9/10
 
I like the magazine but lately there have been lots of little mistakes that annoy me, the photography in the main articles can be rather good but in the drives section I think they don't even bother taking pictures of what there testing, I have been collecting since 169 I think where they took the Jag. XKR across America.
 
May stole the show in this episode! :lol: From the review of the Porsche's, to him being stuck in that little 3 wheeler in that garage (thanks to Jeremy & Richard!) to the challenge.......this was May's time to shine, and well deserved too. 👍
 
Thought it was a great episode. May was definitely a highlight for it as well from his Porsche tests to his little dance. :lol:
 

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