Episode 5 – I’m doing my best to like the new Top Gear, I really am but they don’t make it easy. The Xenon whizzing around the track was sort of interesting but so what? All super lightweight cars go fast, they’re uncomfortable, impractical & fairly pricey. In a general sense I didn’t learn anything I didn’t already know & I wasn’t entertained either. I would have liked to see a comparison between other super lightweights. The piece Hammond (in a Morgan 3-wheeler), May (Caterham) & Clarkson (can’t remember what he was driving) did with different tests & getting soaked on the drive back to Top Gear HQ was infinitely better by comparison.
Chris Harris’ BMW vs Audi comparison was excellent in terms of comparing the two cars until he put on that silly headpiece. Then it tanked.
The transition from super small car to really big car looked promising but Matt in the Rolls Royce Dawn was a cure for insomnia. Surely there must have been something he didn’t like about the car except that it was hard to park. Well, at 17 feet it would, wouldn’t it? The trip to Ireland & comparison between an old & new RR was boring. They’re two entirely different cars & you either like golden oldies or you don’t. The visit to the factory was OK but I thought the leather came from cows that hadn’t given birth because pregnancy left stretch marks. I could be wrong though.
Rory Reid didn’t fare much better either. The race to Geneva in the Jag consisted of manufactured excitement in spite of Rory’s enthusiasm for the job. We all knew he’d make it in time. Dragging out the ancient former Jag driver was patronizing & made him look somewhat foolish.
The guest piece was interminably long as usual although kudos to someone who spends their only 2 grand on an Alpha. I changed channels & watched Icemen defeat England which was much more interesting.
The Coulthard & Riccardo race was totally out of place including the obsequous Evans saying, “We’re not supposed to do this. Shhh. Not a word to anyone.” It added nothing to the show except for the fact that now we know DC’s hair is a lot greyer. The race was superfluous & had no relationship to anything that came before it.
The producers seem to be cobbling different bits together in an effort to create a cohesive, car-driven (no pun intended) show but there’s no real continuity & interesting segments appear sporadically. Everything seems forced. Which is not to say the show won’t ultimately make money for the BBC. It might very well but if it does it won’t be about cars that’s for sure.
The news that the BBC cancelled the US version came as no surprise. It was a pale imitation of the old UK show. I watched it a couple of times. It was pretty bad.