[01x01] November 18th, 2016

[01x01] November 18th, 2016

  • 10

    Votes: 9 9.2%
  • 9

    Votes: 24 24.5%
  • 8

    Votes: 35 35.7%
  • 7

    Votes: 20 20.4%
  • 6

    Votes: 6 6.1%
  • 5

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 4

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • 3

    Votes: 3 3.1%
  • 2

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 1

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    98
I'm another one who had a bit of moisture in his eye when Jeremy saw his mates in his mirrors.

Loved it overall, my mates are back. Beautiful filming, of course. Not perfect though- a lot of the studio stuff fell flat for me and 'The American' is going to get old very quickly. Still- early days.

Thank God they are back.
 
Never have I laughed so much while watching TG, err..I mean TGT. The 3 of them back together is just so joyful. I actually liked the American and his commentary. Everything was spot on for this episode.

10/10
 
I disagree here. There are two slow corner sections (circled in yellow) and with the dips and bumps along the way this track is perfectly suited for this in my opinion. I mean, it has; a long straight, tight corners, a sweeper (sort of), and some good uneven road surfaces so one would think this is a good track to show how sorted a car is but I just wish it wasn't a bit plain on most of it. Also, they need to sort out the camera positions because it didn't flow as well as I suspect it could. I almost wish they would film some of the lap times with a drone or two.

View attachment 17849

I don't know if you know what a circle is, but those are squares!
 
Overall, it is everything I wanted the Grand Tour to be. The same old show I love, just with a new coat of paint. 8/10.

Well I wanted a different show.

It looked good and it's good that they poked a bit of fun at the old way, and have hopefully realised the celeb bit (SIARPC, whatever you wanna call it) was always the most skippable bit of the old show. But I was hoping for a bit of a change to the whole format unless the trio, Andy Wilman and Richard Porter (yep, even the old TG script editor made it across) really are one trick ponies.

Also, hi all! Long time no see :)

 
While the new show has some obvious kinks to iron out, as all new shows do until they find their footing, all in all I'd say its a triumphant return of "The Boys".

While I was enjoying the episode I couldn't help but wonder just how many stuffed shirted jackholes at the BBC were also watching and grinding their teeth at the new show's production quality, as it blew their poncy little attempt at a revised Top Gear right out of the water. I have to say it looks like net produced shows are the future and dinosaur establishments such as the BBC had better prepare to either change with the times or kiss their ass goodbye.
 
This was the best Top Gear in years, including the last seasons CHM did for the BBC.

That said, I still can't rate it higher than 6/10. It would have been a 8.5, but beeping and pixelating over swearwords just took that high mark away (0.5 off for each instance).
 
Perhaps they do different versions for different countries and I found the wrong one.
 
Well I wanted a different show.
It did feel like they were transitioning to a different show in fairness.

Not hugely different, but slightly different.

In the end of the day, there's only so many ways you can cock about with cars, while adding in a bit of travel and history info.
 
If you ignore the studio segments, the celebrity, the American. There's only about 12 minutes of cars.
 
Perhaps they do different versions for different countries and I found the wrong one.

The (apparently US-specific) version I got was not pixelated or beeped out at any point.

Since apparently there is a USDM version and an export version (or a 'family friendly' one at least) one wonders if the music will have been the same between them.
 
When I saw the first exterior shot of the big, green tent I thought of the TV series, MASH. Which in turn makes me think of the Baron Knights' parody version of the MASH theme:

"They took a day to x-ray me
Now I'm lying in Ward 3
I received a broken knee
An ambulance ran over me

National Health is painless
They guarantee you'll pay less
But I am going private, if you please"
 
Last edited:
If you ignore the studio segments, the celebrity, the American. There's only about 12 minutes of cars.

Some of the CHM TG shows had even less by that metric. And don't get me started on LAUGH AT MY JOKES OR I WILL EMBARRASS YOU ON INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION boy's version.
 
The (apparently US-specific) version I got was not pixelated or beeped out at any point.

Since apparently there is a USDM version and an export version (or a 'family friendly' one at least) one wonders if the music will have been the same between them.

I watched the USDM version, they did bleep and pixelate Hammond at least at one point (I believe during the P1 testing).

Edit: At 18:00

 
Last edited:
I disagree here. There are two slow corner sections (circled in yellow) and with the dips and bumps along the way this track is perfectly suited for this in my opinion. I mean, it has; a long straight, tight corners, a sweeper (sort of), and some good uneven road surfaces so one would think this is a good track to show how sorted a car is but I just wish it wasn't a bit plain on most of it. Also, they need to sort out the camera positions because it didn't flow as well as I suspect it could. I almost wish they would film some of the lap times with a drone or two.

View attachment 17849
I suppose the most problematic aspect for the new track is the lack of open space. Old one allowed to set up cameras practically wherever one wanted so you can get spectacular panoramic shots in the Hammerhead or the Follow-through (or Gambon... well, you get the drift). The only place for nice shots in the new one is the Your-name-here, not exactly a fast corner. But the overall configuration seems pretty reasonable (did Lotus help them again?)
The M2 test was very solid, reminded me (predictably) of the M1 test when Clarkson told that the coxter is now obsolete. And it's nice to see car that someone actually can buy in the episode all about million-pound monsters.
Opening sequence just awesome, that's the end of it.
Ferrari vs McLaren vs Porsche seems to be the dream of car maniac, but I hoped for something more in terms of that episode with Zonda, Ford GT and Ferrari in France in TG season 6 (boy it was really funny and spectacular). Still the lack of road adventures seems to be Ferrari's fault, so can't blame the guys. From every technical aspect the feature was perfect.
Studio segments could be more edgy, seems that CHM decided to play it safe for now and don't speak about people who offer you cheese. Most jokes were a bit feigned and based on UK vs USA so everybody gets them, but the JM's ticket discussion was hilarious. Star in the reasonably priced car - good riddance.
Very much looking to "how hard can it be"-challenges (are they still entitled to say that?) and history features like the (more or less) recent ones on SAAB, Lancia, Land Rover and Peugeot.
 
Top