Ditto. Just watchng it fir the third time on the iPlayer and I too enjoy it even more. Combined with the American special it's been a very good Christmas Special. The staged one regarding TopGear was clear when they mentioned it and in my opinion that made it even better, I still had to laugh about it. The boys are back! Quite a nice article in the January edition if the magazine about the trip.
Clearly this show is scripted. I know that... I just thought it was funny they didn't even try to cover their tracks. The incident where Jeremy fell and hit his head was supposed to be in Syria where they were trying to avoid being detected by Israel from ever being in the country... yet the vehicle that takes Jeremy to the hospital is from Israel. Look at the license plate written in Hebrew:
I'd go all the way to eleven if I could. I'd love to know the logistical nightmares the production team had to overcome to make this happen.
I was horrified when James got hurt, but that was mitigated slightly by knowing there'd been no blaring headline about a TG presenter getting wounded in the Middle East, and he seemed just fine in the ep that aired before this one.
The premise is great--I'd love to know how they didn't get intimidated right out of it when looking at the paperwork and permissions involved. And...the bit about two passports, to hide having been in Syria...
And finally, in support of the esteemed csammy directly above: The below is what Israeli license plates look like (with Hebrew). The one above is definitely using (REAL) Arabic numerals, and is not Israeli at all.
I'm really curious: What does the red x on the side of the car mean? Jeremy said it was because Hammond had the plague, but at 55:51 a black SUV drives past with a red x on it, also.
I'm really curious: What does the red x on the side of the car mean? Jeremy said it was because Hammond had the plague, but at 55:51 a black SUV drives past with a red x on it, also.
Good episode.. The Z3 desert was awesome, and the final part in the mountain was perfect.
I didn't really like the beginning with too much of the scary irak part but in the end it was a good "special episode"
The May accident was so much predictable with him just standing in front of the rope.... but he was hurt quite badly (too much risky)...
I'm actually viewing this episode now, thanks Netflix!, but of course have seen it before and love it. Botswana and Bolivia are certainly class of the crop, but this is hugely entertaining and interesting to see. As an American, we are not traditionally shown the peaceful bits of the mid east...but I digress...
What in holy moly was on Jezza's dash? Is that an iPod dock?
I LOVE James's car! I would love to do that to a Zed 3...
I am posting this here because I was killing time watching youtube and saw where they tell a little tale on each other about the filming of this episode.
