Un-official GTPlanet BBC Topgear UK ThreadTV 

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Maybe the new series might actually be worth watching now. Still pretty sceptical.
 
...I noticed that the Extra Gear is also being filmed as well. I wondered what's going to happen to that since the announcement of Harris and Reid becoming the main presenters. Will there be a need for another extra thirty (ish) minutes of so-called "previously unseen" content?

After all, I always felt that Extra Geat was only there to school the two boys who were, let's face it, pretty new to the broadcasting game. Get the general audience to familiarize with the two and all that stuff.

Whatever, I'm very much looking forward to this one. It's only the trailers, but I got the sense that the trio is having fun in the brief footage shown. To me, the chemistry between the presenters is important - one of the big reason why the old trio was so effective - and so far, based on a couple minutes, it looks rather promising.
 
JKgo
...I noticed that the Extra Gear is also being filmed as well. I wondered what's going to happen to that since the announcement of Harris and Reid becoming the main presenters. Will there be a need for another extra thirty (ish) minutes of so-called "previously unseen" content?
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https://www.carthrottle.com/post/ro...arkson-and-arm-wrestling-exclusive-interview/

Extra Gear is coming back next season, I won’t be hosting it and neither will Chris - we have a new host. The guy’s name is George Lewis, he’s a very funny comedian, and Chris and myself will be alongside George, revealing behind-the-scenes content. Chris will take a closer look at the cars featured in the main show with a hot lap like he did before, and there’ll be some specially shot films that are exclusive to Extra Gear.
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JKgo
After all, I always felt that Extra Geat was only there to school the two boys who were, let's face it, pretty new to the broadcasting game.
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Chris Harris is on NBC Sports with the rest of /Drive. He'e still making shows with them too.
 
I think we've established that Le Blanc is Clarkson, Harris is Hammond and Reid is May.

That was painful in places, every Top Gear cliche imaginable. Them trying desperately to be the others reminds me of what was, which makes me furious.
 
Decided to watch the first episode. It was okay for what it was. I think I can see Matt, Chris and Rory having a decent chemistry.

However, I still have this nagging feeling that it just doesn't feel the same as the Clarkson/Hammond/May era.
 
The cinematography has certainly upped a notch from last time, everything looked very slick and very HDR. The set looks polished but it's too bright and lifeless like an airport waiting area. The dialogue did feel forced and at times it was pretty cringe. All in all it's better than the last series but not exactly a hard thing, it's watchable.

As for the content I felt bad those cars had survived that hard a life only to be trashed in 5 mins. That Volvo was in good nick but it did sound pretty cool with a busted air box. Everything else was pretty forgetful, no car news, no interesting chat etc.
 
I quite enjoyed last night's episode, I was a bit disappointed that none of them picked an old Lexus for the challenge though. On a more positive note the final shot with the rocket was really a sight to behold.
 
....I chuckled quite a lot during the episode - which was a pleasant surprise. Not sure if the chemistry is there yet, as there's just teensy, wee bit too many giggles and back-slaps for my liking and some of the lines are just too forced, not sounding natural at all.

As for the new Star in a X car bit, I can foresee that with a wrong guest in the hot seat, it's going to be very painful to watch. Even with the very game McAvoy, it was.... pretty awkward in places, really.

Oh, I was also pleasantly surprised to hear Bring Me the Horizon's Run playing as the BGM over the first half of the FXXK segment - I bloody love that song, to be honest. Hell, I love the whole album that song comes from - so maybe my impression of the episode might have been positively influenced by that. :P

Overall, I liked it. It's not the best, like, ever - but I'm feeling rather optimistic about its chances. Good job, BBC.
 
Not a bad episode. I liked FXX K segment the most.

But there were a lot of moments that instantly felt forgettable, and forced. It's much better with Chris Evans leaving, but it'll take some time for the three to gain a chemistry.
 
I really liked the first episode, I didnt feel that it was scripted as much as The Grand Tour and there was some truly amazing shots. That FXXK segment was awesome and I'm a fan of road trip so that episode was right on my alley.

For me that episode alone was better than all of the Grand Tour episode I've seen. Sure I still like the 3 old imbeciles better than the top gear trio but Matt made me laugh a couple of time and Chris and Rory are pretty cool dudes too. Sure it can't beat the 22 season I've spend with the other trio but they are growing on me. I was suprised that there was no Toyota for a reliability run.

Contrary to Techy I didnt feel that much were forced, TGT felt much more scripted and unatural to me.

I think it's a good idea to have put a GT86, will sort out the driver from the casual.

Extra Gear was pretty ****** imo.
 
I'll give them credit, they've certainly listened to the criticisms about trying to carry on what CHM started. The new studio set up, intro and a slightly rejigged SIARPC mean that they are trying to set themselves apart in some ways...

...but in others, they're not. You can tell each of the presenters are now trying to mould themselves into the personas we know. LeBlanc = brash with very ambitious ideas (Clarkson), Reid = excitable, if a bit dimwitted (Hammond) and Harris = knowledgeable but boring (May).

You can even tell when their ideas are gonna go wrong, just like old new TG. I even told my dad "I bet the taxi falls off its jack stands and drives off". And sure enough, that exactly happened.

It's definitely far, far better than the past series, and I reckon it'll come good after a few series', but yeah.
 
Ratings for the episode were 2.8 million, down from 6.4 million for the previous series' first episode (although I'm sure many were tuning in to see what is was like). The average for last series was 3.8 with the final episode being 2.6.

Basically, not looking great but hopefully the numbers will pick up next week as word gets around that it's not too bad.
 
I thought they spent far too long on the road trip segment and overall the programme felt 10 to 15 minutes too long - I also used to feel that about the old top gear with Clarkson whenever they did a road trip / challenge.

The Ferrari test was good, but the segment with Chris Harris shouting instructions at the celebrity was embarrassing. Chris Harris is a nice guy who I have followed for years and him pretending to be nasty to the celeb just didn't work.

Changing from a FWD to a RWD car (GT86) probably sounded like a good idea at the time, but it wasn't.

I hope the numbers build because I think these three guys are good presenters and it can develop into a good show - the old top gear had got very stale and both Clarkson and the show had gone well past their sell by date. I haven't seen much of the Grand Tour yet because I fell asleep during the Mustang test (no offence to Mustangs - honest!).

I think some elements of the format are tired - the quarry race for example was just boring and a waste of time. I would like to see more about cars in the show e.g. more car news, more car tests, some features on motorsport - perhaps a short segment each week on lesser known, but often fascinating branches of motorsport which are full of interesting and slightly eccentric, but very talented drivers and engineers. Overall - great presenters, but some of the segments are too long - less copying of old top gear which was already boring the third time Clarkson did it - more punch, more crispness, more excitement, more cars and with the current three excellent presenters and the welcome loss of Chris Evans the show could have a great future.
 
The first thing they talked about in Extra Gear was Harris hitting Leblanc and how that wasn't planned. I think they really should stop scripting stuff and let things happen naturally.
 
Loved that episode, my main gripe is Rory he is good but I feel Harris and Le Blanc are a significant step above. Harris in particular is incredible, loved him not giving a 🤬 that Mcavoy is a celeb. The chemistry still isn't there, not yet anyway.

Also I love the idea of the RPC being the GT-86, how the insurance approved that is beyond me. I love Chris Harris/10
 
The scriptedness & forced chemistry, to me, is just how all TV programmes are. The choice of segments & the way they were put together was ok & I found the programme reasonably entertaining.
 
sems4arsenal
Loved that episode, my main gripe is Rory he is good but I feel Harris and Le Blanc are a significant step above. Harris in particular is incredible, loved him not giving a 🤬 that Mcavoy is a celeb. The chemistry still isn't there, not yet anyway.

Also I love the idea of the RPC being the GT-86, how the insurance approved that is beyond me. I love Chris Harris/10
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I'm with you on all of that. I'm really not a fan of Rory, but it's tons better than having Evans. Chris Harris giving Mcavoy a hard time was fun to watch and I hope Harris is able to gauge future guests based on their personality. Really, I just hope he isn't the moron American stig from TGT is in every one of the fastest laps segments.

Mike Rotch
Both LeB and Harris seemed genuinely pissed off at the collision. :lol:
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LeBlanc definitely wasn't having it. He didn't speak up which shows he was reserving his feelings in those moments to not let anything out that would have led to a noticeable camera cut. I think Harris should have given him a hug when you look back at it. That entire race between them Harris was pushing him, only for it to end that way.

With that being said, I adore Harris. And that Ferrari segment was pretty cool. It's just that in those situations they NEED to have a lap captured like it were any other track day (with the cool footage per usual).


Edit - I had to vent

This Top Gear looks like it's already set to be 100 times the entertainment The Grand Tour produced. TGT finale was the only full episode with some semblance to the entertaining car show the old Top Gear was. All the other episodes had glimmers of hope but were sorely lacking with no bang for the buck.


Echoing Steve Coogan when the old farts' antics shown through as lacking class, his statement about their behavior is as applicable as it has ever been:
"Big viewing figures don't give you impunity – they carry responsibility. Start showing some, tuck your shirts in, be a bit funnier and we'll pretend it all never happened."


That tired formula those three have become used one of the largest budgets allotted for a TV series to breathe skunk piss through speakers worldwide. They spent a segment on a bat in an attic and another for that sorry excuse of a Monty Python and the Holy Grail witch and duck scene recreation.
 
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I quite enjoyed the episode and looking forward to the rest of the season, as well as the future for them. It makes me hope that it'll be like the Top Gear US hosts. TG US eventually grew into it's own and you could tell the hosts were generally just having a fun time. Also, I see Chris Harris as more of the Tanner Foust of Top Gear UK. The other hosts will complain that he's a better driver. :lol:
 
A decent episode overall,but Chris Harris is a bit of a pretentious twit,the way he was talking to McAvoy...
Matt Le Blanc's dry sense of humour is the only bit that's funny. Rory Reid's seems enthusiastic and I liked his reviews from last series.
 
stiggygonzalez
A decent episode overall,but Chris Harris is a bit of a pretentious twit,the way he was talking to McAvoy...
Matt Le Blanc's dry sense of humour is the only bit that's funny. Rory Reid's seems enthusiastic and I liked his reviews from last series.
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I dont know who this McAvoy guy his and I dont really care but that part was an acting part from Harris, you can see he's a good guy, I really doubt he would talk to someone invited to the show like that if it wasnt part of his role.
 

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