narf
Sgt. Maj. Buzzkill
Are the mkv versions of the 1080i rips any better than the 1080i TS rips? Probably not, I'm assuming, but the sound quality of the TS files could be better.
No, same video and audio, just different container.
The EU standard is 50FPS while in NA it's 60FPS. The previous Top Gear seasons were aired in 60FPS but they weren't HD programming.
TG (and pretty much everything else on tv in the united states of europeland) is shot at 25 frames per second, so airing it at 60 frames per second, HD or not, would be pointless.