[12x05] November 30th, 2008

[Viper007Bond]

http://www.finalgear.com/shows/topgear/12/5/

[Mytola]

This simply was a perfect episode. Great IS-F review. A bit of cocking about with the bus racing. Excellent studio segments. The SIARPC actually talked about cars, and the race was epic. I laughed and gasped pretty much all the time. Not a single low-point.

10/10, definately.

[Aston Martin]

"We have no idea what he's saying, I'm sure the internet will tell us."
James was dying.
You need balls for bus racing... the bendy didn't snap.
"Who married their wife, because she was easy to wipe down?"
"What the hell accent is that?"
James' shoes.

What a beautiful boat.

Jame's face when he saw that wave just after Dicky got pulled.

[Speedtouch]

The super-saloon tests seemed perfect except for the fact that perhaps they were a little too short. Adding a third car would have elongated it sufficiently I think. However it featured enough detail, enough powersliding and enough brilliant filming. The IS-F surprised me in the powerlap, because I wasn't expecting such a supposedly fast car to be so slow. The M3 was as expected.

The news however was way too short. Not enough, er, news. Good stuff as it was, there wasn't enough of it. And what happened to the V8 stairlift?
The SIARPC won't have necessarily been recognised by many non-Brits (as usual - however next week will be a good one), but I found it very good. I love Grand Designs (McCloud's show), and his presenting. And it was very interesting to find out that he is a huge car nut - and a huge fan of V8s, like me! An excellently unexpected time too. Pushing Cowell down another notch!
And wonderful to see the return of the cool wall! The Scirocco - DEFINITELY super cool. And I sort of do agree with Jeremy on the Volvo. The V70 (and the one on the picture which was the R-design, or even an R) is a very nice car. And it is very understated too, which is cool. I wouldn't have put it so far up though. Only verging on sub-zero. However, I disagree completely with the Alfa. It is hideous. Horrible looking thing - you cannot possibly look cool in it. And the comment; 'Would you sleep with him?' 'I have to' really cracked us all up so much.

The bus segment was much more on the money. Great way to do it by starting it off seriously (like the other new forms of motorsport), then continuing to piss about causing hilarious consequences. Watching the bendy-buses swing about was truly excellent. However a worthy winner the single-decker was.

Finishing off with the Rivera race was a decent ending. Very funny to see them both pulled by the police, but what a car. Irrelevant that it lost, I would still have the car, for the simple reason you can show it to all your mates, go to school/work in it, and be very cool everywhere. Whereas to show the boat to your mates, you have to go on a day-trip down to the harbor, and look like a rich twat. Beautiful car, too high tech boat. But if you're looking for a huge boat, then that is the one to get.

Overall, a very funny show, with plenty of variation and surprises throughout. 9/10.

[vyllu]

I was so hoping that James would have to use the carbon-fibre toilet on the rough seas!

Nice ep 8/10

[Crash Biker]

Didn't mind, but not thrilled by, the bus racing. IS-F vs M3 was good but steady-as-she-goes stuff.

Loved the in studio, news, cool wall etc, loved SIARPC, completely charmed by Portofino and the Daytona.

Really nice balance, pleasure to watch. Gets a 9 from me.

Crash
--
<<< Officially a Cock now

[Frederic]

Classic Top Gear, absolutely loved it, 10 out of 10!
Well done mr Wilman

[soupdragon]

I don't want to post a full on review or comment on the episode with so few posts on this forum, just to say that the little mini-bus in the bus racing thing used to be on the local routes in my town!! Made me smile a lot when I saw it!

[Mytola]

Originally Posted by Speedtouch

The SIARPC won't have necessarily been recognised by many non-Brits (as usual - however next week will be a good one), but I found it very good. I love Grand Designs (McCloud's show), and his presenting. And it was very interesting to find out that he is a huge car nut - and a huge fan of V8s, like me! An excellently unexpected time too. Pushing Cowell down another notch!

You're right. I had no idea who he was. BUT, and here is the thing. They talked about cars. No plugging a book or a film or talking about random stuff. That's what's important, IMO. Having a petrolhead for a guest is much more entertaining than a random celebrity.

And that lap... He was a natural talent. I'm not sure I believe that he hadn't done any kind of racing before.

[Cobol74]

Lovely show. ... I like Kevin McCloud a lot and I had no idea that he was a car nut - plus...

T H E C O O L W A L L.

9/10

[Wyvern]

Excellent.

The bus segment didn't quite do it for me, though it was entertaining, but overall a very enjoyable and balanced show. Was impressed with how on-form the boys were, given that they were all dying of lurgy. Cracking road test, LOVED the race, and I get the feeling the running gags are being reigned in - the punchline to the "clothes bet" was wonderful, given James's entirely unlikely footwear

Great to see the Cool Wall back, even if some of the material had come up at TG Live (I don't see a problem with that - with viewers measured in millions, most of them won't have seen the live show, and given the time constraints, I actually think it was a wise move; the material is current and relevant, after all, so why not give it a wider audience?). The audience banter was spot-on.

And tonight's 'surprise and delight' feature? SIARPC. I needed a wee, and I also wanted to make a cuppa, but I ended up crossing my legs and going thirsty till the end of the show because although I have absolutely no idea who that bloke was (I have never seen Grand Designs) I found it very refreshing to have a proper petrolhead with nothing to plug in the chair and that lap was impressive. More people like this if you can find them, please Mr Wilman!

TG doesn't need to rely on too much scripting, forced banter and gimmicks to make great television. For me, at least, that's what this was.

So a solid 9/10 from me.

[Ironlord]

Ye gods. We're only on page one, and even though it's 69 minutes after the end of the episode (and I spent 60 of those minutes watching Louis "Where's Waldo?" Theroux almost get shot in Philadelphia), everything that needs to be said already has been.

Or has it?

"Stiggie still listening to Morse, no idea what it's saying, but I'm sure the internet will tell us!"

Right you are, Mr Clarkson.

Number one: TOO MANY GEARS

Number two: I LIKE MR SULU

...no, seriously, it is. Can anyone shed any light on who this Mr Sulu is? Have I missed something in the news or on Strictly Come Sequins recently?

[Cobol74]

^ Sulu from Star Trek is in the Jungle with the vague celebs.

[originalkk]

Originally Posted by Ironlord

Ye gods. We're only on page one, and even though it's 69 minutes after the end of the episode (and I spent 60 of those minutes watching Louis "Where's Waldo?" Theroux almost get shot in Philadelphia), everything that needs to be said already has been.

Or has it?

"Stiggie still listening to Morse, no idea what it's saying, but I'm sure the internet will tell us!"

Right you are, Mr Clarkson.

Number one: TOO MANY GEARS

Number two: I LIKE MR SULU

...no, seriously, it is. Can anyone shed any light on who this Mr Sulu is? Have I missed something in the news or on Strictly Come Sequins recently?

[originalkk]

I believe Mr Sulu aka George Takei, is in the ITV masterpiece "I'm a Celebrity etc"

[Cobol74]

Sorry, did I not just say that?

[Breznikov]

I found this weeks good, but surely not the best in the series, a 7/10 for me.

The IS-F vs M3 review was brilliant. Only I wished a third car, like the C63 AMG would join in, but it didn't.
Then the news, when I saw the scale model cars on the table I thought the uncut news from last week would be in it again, but luckily it didn't. Other then that I can't really comment on the news because I was off to get my coffee.
I quite liked the SIARPC bit, although I'd never heard of the guy. Mostly when such a thing occurs I'm off to get something to drink, but this time I wanted to see it (or it was because I already had my coffee...).
Bus racing was good fun, although I liked the Caravan-race more. Still, it was a good laugh
The Cool Wall was fun too, except they could have shortened the Volvo V70 bit, it was too long in my opinion. They could have cut that out and could've added another news segment (assuming they would have one).
Finally, the Daytona vs. Boat race. For some reason I didn't found it that exciting. Nice car, nice boat, great camerawork, but I felt something was missing. Maybe a large guy with curly hair, I don't know...

[GraemeH]

The studio segments like the cool wall were very good, it all seemed very natural and the recurring jokes are starting to work a bit better.

But that Ferrari, it just looks like a Rover SD. It's a horrible piece of junk.

[pimpinero]

Another great episode. The Cool Wall segment was very funny, the Ferrari vs Boat race was great fun to watch. Solid 9/10. Can't wait for the next episode though...

[ahpadt]

- M3 v IS-F review was TOTALLY overgarnished by effects. Almost made me sick. Atleast it contained a few facts.
- The M3 being quickest was to be expected tbh. And oh: "I'm sure the Internet will tell us" <- about morse code
- News was quite cool. Jeremy had a good theory for once.
- Bus thing was zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
- I had never heard of the guest before, but good thing that he was a car nut.
- Cool wall \ooo/ second best bit about the entire episode. And the Scirocco.. ehm.. *clears throat* SUB ZERO YEA
- Last film. Truely epic. Magnificent. 10/10.