[Polar Challenge Special] July 25th, 2007

[jeke]

What an incredible episode. The cinematography was great as always, and especially the shots of the Hilux bounding through the snow were spectacular. The G&T and the toilet seat cracked me up, and Hammond's parts were seriously intense. Overall, great television, masterfully produced and directed. And now no one can say that Top Gear race results are all just pre-scripted!

Just a couple gripes: too bad they couldn't have mentioned that it was the magnetic pole, not the real one, and not even the real magnetic pole - the Polar Challenge people that organized this trek use the 1996 magnetic pole, which is about 300 miles away from the current magnetic pole and almost 800 miles south of the true geographic pole. It was still an amazing journey, and I guess it makes for better TV if they pretend it was the real thing, but it grated. That and Clarkson's need to bring global warming into everything by making stupid inflammatory comments - the fact that he personally found some ice at 78 degrees north does not mean that decades of researchers and explorers in planes, ships, and submarines are wrong when they say polar ice is, overall, melting. But that's just something you have to learn to put up with when you love Top Gear.

God, now this episode has whet my appetite. I had spent a nice few months forgetting that Top Gear existed, and now the wait until season 10 starts is gonna be just unbearable.

[edkwon]

It was definitely cool seeing Sir Ranulph Fiennes again and the return of the 'bumper dumper' shown on a previous ep.

[eldiaoble]

i loved the part where may and clarkson were sleeping and the car was bouncing on the ice. thought it was hillarious

overall GREAT episode

[intoxicatedpete]

Everyone already used all the good adjectives in describing the episode. It was spectacular. I enjoyed every minute of it. Music selection was absolutely spot-on as well. I cant wait till the new season starts.

[zyrex]

Aah yes.. I waited for so long, got it a bit earlier because of my contacts (downloaded that is), and man was it great! It makes up for my tiredness today at work.. *yawn*

I really laughed my ass off when Jeremy froze that bolt on his lip.. Stupid dolt, what do you expect when you're in such temperatures? But then again, I found this even more funnier, since we have these kind of temperatures and amounts of snow and ice here in norway too, made it very entertaining to see how they would cope with it. And they did an incredible job... One of the best episodes ever!
All respect to J, J and R.

Oh and yeah, the sleeping in the car while driving and bumping everywhere - I almost fell to the floor. Lolol. Music was spot-on, I felt it so well.. touching.

[FrostedCold]

Great episode loved watching it...just one thing is bothering the mickey out of me: It's one thing getting to the North-Pole BUT how did they get back?!

[Mopar Man]

That is the greatest thing I've ever watched.

[iboss429]

Fantastic episode! Can't wait for the start of the new season.

[mazdaddy]

that was staggeringly good....my god, if the whole of Season 10 is like that, Top Gear will just go up and up and up...Did the ratings get released for it soon? It would be up there with 09x06 surely...

[dutch_designer]

That....was....bloody....brilliant... I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole time.. it's as if they had the Planet Earth crew riding along with them, awesome footage!
Toyota should be proud and I'm sure they can hear the cash flowing because if that won't sell more Hilux'es, nothing will.
Amazing work, cheers to everyone involved, thanks for creating the best tv I've seen in a long time!

[Demon_X]

i just finished watching it

cant wait for the new season

loved it when hammond got nailed by that skier lol

[Frederic]

I wonder how they got back (with an empty tank of fuel)?

[toady]

I was crying with laughter at the preparation shenanigans too. the attempts to ski, to put up the tent,and when the guy with the pixellated face shoved Clarkson in the water- I thought Clarkson was going to go for him...

[TJP]

Enjoyed the "hi-def" version; and what an excellent hour it was. Beautifully shot, very funny in places & the whole episode was very engrossing.

I also enjoyed the way Clarkson started off being very dismissive of what the trip would entail & by the end was extremely humble.

The stars of the episode for me were the dogs. The Toyota was a great showcase for modern engineering, but the dogs were simply amazing.

[Hidden_Hunter]

That was excellent, hopefully we get it on HDTV here in aus (so I can get a nice high quality rip instead of massive download)

[bahamut]

amazing episode. Too bad they didn't fit in The Stig in some way

And....that dogs.... I love them.

[ttyrants911]

anyone seen this?

Apologies if repeated elsewhere. I am in process of moving house so not able to plough through all the threads as much as I'd like to.

[kaBOOMn]

I still have tears in my eyes......oh God that was funny....it really was.

But the real star was Richard.....after that crash and everything that has happened......maximum respect!

[robybobey]

Originally Posted by ttyrants911

anyone seen this?

Apologies if repeated elsewhere. I am in process of moving house so not able to plough through all the threads as much as I'd like to.

WOOO Andy Wilman has acknowledged us!!!!! Now all we need him to do is register, become part of our community, and share his views

[zyrex]

Aah, great article by Andy..

And yeah, I really believe him when saying it was a bitch to make.. That's some of the worst conditions to film in. And yah, editing those 180 hours down to 1 hour, haha - that must've sucked. Though I'd be happy with a 2 hour special too, if that had made it easier for them Can't have enough Top Gear!