[01x08] December 31st, 2016 [Namibia Special, Part 2]

[01x08] December 31st, 2016 [Namibia Special, Part 2]


  • Total voters
    95
While I generally liked the two episodes, I'm in agreement with everyone who thought that there just wasn't "a point" to the whole thing. And very little sense that they had actually traveled as far as they did. Kind of like biting into some snack you really like, only to find that it's got a big, empty hole in the middle. Overall, I found plenty to like, and quite a bit that didn't quite make the grade. Definitely not up there with the best of the Top Gear epic road trips, but still a fun time with the guys.
 
I think you certainly could have cut some of the filler out and made a 1hr 15min extended episode. It rambled on a bit and some of the parts (poacher hunting/shooting Hammond, hiring the butler, cable car etc) were pretty lame and not at all necessary. So while not perfect I still very much enjoyed the rest of it and it felt like the closest thing, so far, to classic Top Gear road trips. Some of the cinematography was simply outstanding.

I would take this any day and want them to just ditch the whole tent bits...those just slow everything down. Just have a show where you have road trips and challenges. Keep it simple, cut the fat.

8.5/10 for both episodes
 
Last edited:
Dildo tennis aside this was an utter snoozefest parts 1 and 2.

It also achieved the impossible - it actually made me eager for the new season of Top Gear.
 
What annoyed me the most is how they just ... drove somewhere.

I can remember watching some American TG episodes and being really pissed about how they called it a special, whereas in TG UK that would've been a normal episode or a normal driving part of a special.

But the Namibia special here felt like that ... not an especially tough way to go, they just made it tough for themselves without any reason. Everything felt just so unnecessary. These (nearly) two hours wouldn't even have been 30 minutes in TG UK methinks ...

I am getting old and grumpy
 
Actually quite accurate how I feel on commenting the TGT episodes. Not sure if I am too picky or not. :)
 
Dildo tennis aside this was an utter snoozefest parts 1 and 2.

It also achieved the impossible - it actually made me eager for the new season of Top Gear.

Careful, you'll start sounding like me a couple of years ago... ;)
 
Well if I had paid for Prime just to see TGT then that would be two hours of my life and just over ?13 I would never get back and I would be pretty hacked off about it.
 
I bought Prime just for TGT ...
 
It's no longer a car show. Now its just another useless reality show like TGUSA, and we all know where that went....
 
No A-Team music anymore :(
Ok, I liked the shopping
Ha, Anglia
Wow, that fucking launch was cool
Ugh, fuck sake. Hammond's getting comedy shot isn't he?
This is such shite
Fuck me, I nailed it... sadly.
Slow mo is cool
Dildo throw :lol:
Fucking fire, hilarious...<_<
Hammond not making it... I did not see this happening. :mad:

It wasn't terrible, but fuck me it was boring.
 
Last edited:
It definitely wasn't their best epic road trip and got a little boring in parts, some of the comedy was too predictable and you saw it coming a mile off, Hammond getting shot etc. The ending was a real waste of time for all the good it did, they may as well have just walked to the beach and ended it there.

As a special I would give it a 7 although the lack of Brain Crash, The American and the too long tent segments mean I'll give it an 8 just for that. The series also needed some variety and a special like this couldn?t come soon enough, even though it wasn't the best.
 
Anyone else noticed this guy. I just noticed it and I had a chuckle, I don't know why. Crew member running out of shot? Running from someone?

246v2at.jpg


21kfgbq.jpg


2i6i7fq.jpg
 
Not bad, but more than a bit predictable. Definitely 1 1/4 hour or so stretched with filler to 2 episodes.

More about the buggies themselves (e.g. how getting a V8 into Jezza's was sussed out) would have made it better for me. It is still a car show after all. At least I hope so.
 
I mostly liked it. Felt pretty natural to me; no stupid gifts for example, or making the cars worse for no reason (ok, some things like Hammond getting shot was stupid). Could have been a 1 hour show though, would make the pacing better. The first part was a bit pointless, since the driving the wrong way thing was of course scripted from the start. Who knows if they really took three days of random driving there, or just made it look that way.

There was a clear, if simple, goal: get from Conception Bay to Epupa Falls; which is a pretty long drive. If I'd ever take a trip in Namibia, this would be a great tour. Sea, dunes, desert, city, hills, natives, falls, it has everything. I wouldn't say it's random driving (apart from the start).

I guess these specials are created by a team of researchers preparing the whole thing and Jezza creating the final version of the script and giving input along the way.
 
Last edited:
I still stand with what I said that after these 3 seasons that Amazon contracted them; Amazon will cancel the show. And Jeremy, Richard and James will go back to the BBC for one last if not two seasons of Top Gear. That is of course if they're not too old by then. Because we already know the BBC wants them back, especially after the disaster of last season of Top Gear.

Sorry, but this is *not* going to stand.

CHM may come back to the BBC for the occasional one-off (individually) or panel show appearance, but they *won't* go back to Top Gear. Too many middle-management types of the Danny Cohen variety would try to put their fingers in, especially the Health&Safety nuts, and kill the freewheeling spirit that was TGUK at its best.

The smart thing to do, if people want a CHM-helmed Top Gear, would be to wait until new TG season 2 airs and see if they can improve it. If they can't, then Amazon can (if they like) negotiate with the BBC to take charge of the TG brand, either subcontracting to produce some Sherlock-type specials under the tentative name "Top Gear: The Grand Tour" or buying the property (including star segment, Stig, Cool Wall, etc) outright.
 
Actually those are among my favorite episodes

You know, with some of the critics here I get the feeling you could give them a gold bar and they would say: "The color sucks".

10/10 from me because it was easily as good as the Botswana Special.

Yeah, and I could give you a lump of shit with The Grand Tour painted on it and you'd give it 10/10.
 
Last edited:
Top