[19x06] March 3rd, 2013 [Africa Special, Part 1]

[19x06] March 3rd, 2013 [Africa Special, Part 1]


  • Total voters
    356
So far it's brilliant, definitely up there with the best ones imo. Can't wait for Part 2. 10/10
 
You could see him use it several times as well, i thought it was brilliant.

It's just in keeping with the "lets get Richard something comically large, that he won't be able to transport properly." As far as furniture goes...it's pretty hideous! Would hate to sit in it after the first rain, though...

Also...was that a "fapping" joke when they were parked, around all of the bug lights? :p was Richard's car a-rockin'? I had to watch it on my phone, so I couldn't quite tell.
 
Last edited:
Toward the end of the mocking of the camera men's inability to shoot animals, Hammond said he saw an elephant which Clarkson couldn't see. This prompted a reference to another show that Richard was on or hosted, but they didn't name it. Does anyone know what it was?
 
Toward the end of the mocking of the camera men's inability to shoot animals, Hammond said he saw an elephant which Clarkson couldn't see. This prompted a reference to another show that Richard was on or hosted, but they didn't name it. Does anyone know what it was?

It was referring to Hammond's 'Planet Earth: Live'. The program was criticised for having little live action.
 
It's just in keeping with the "lets get Richard something comically large, that he won't be able to transport properly."

I'm aware of that.. but just because it's a reference to another TG-special, it's not automatically funny.

S.
 
I laughed like an idiot again; when Jeremy shouts MAY as he figures out where he got the metal. :lol: And the burning sock, I love how they just took 3 seconds to show it and then move on. As though they're making fun of their own usual antics. :D Really good.
 
I laughed like an idiot again; when Jeremy shouts MAY as he figures out where he got the metal. :lol: And the burning sock, I love how they just took 3 seconds to show it and then move on. As though they're making fun of their own usual antics. :D Really good.

Totally agree. It was like a set of TG in-jokes. It is nice though that they realise past mistakes and are able to take the piss out of themselves.
 
about the car-choices... As far as I remember cheap car challenges have never had reasonable cars in them (excluding Bolivia) so the only criticism I've got is that they all brought pretty much the same car - a sporty wagon instead of going for some variety ie. big and slow, fast and not-offroadish-at-all etc.

btw. how do they carry fuel with them ? Volvo with automatic has at very best range of ~500km, I would expect bimmer to do similiar not to mention the impreza. Of course, 500km of normal, road driving.
 
Last edited:
Okay, my very first review here. On this episode I cannot really go objective, I was just too stunned.

When this episode was first introduced back some months ago as a Christmas Special I was excited. Why? Africa. And three estates.
I absolutely adore the African continent. And they showed some pictures. I never expected to see an 850 aswell as an E39 on Top Gear. Both absolute lovely cars I truly like as daily's.

I swore to myself to watch it all in one - but then again, what's a week without having watched a new episode.

A bit more on the cars:
Why was it clear that May should pick a Volvo? Sounded so suspicious. And why haven't they taken a Legacy 4x4? More room - but no WRC history though.
The E39 looks beautiful aswell as the swedish brick, but the Impreza always looked a bit awful. No wonder they made the connection between Hamster and his car.
And somehow they just had to take these - to proof swedish steel is still one of the best while beeing abused, that german engineering is tough enough for every situation - and, since there are some 4x4 estates on the market, a wisely chosen Subaru. They just had to take one. An old E30 x-model? No two cars from the same manufacturer. Audi? The 90s and 80s versions were probably to ugly bearing the contrast of the African landscape in mind.

It started quite quickly, they haven't really introduced the country (countries) they we're going through. Probably because they didn't really now either at that point, seemed not scripted as one could see farther in the episode.
Hammond's hair dying joke probably the successor of his white teeth.
They did not really bother that much on their cars, I like that. Mostly it was staged anyway in previous specials and episodes. Do they even choose their cars or do they have to take them from the producer's script book?

Seeing the "hotel" they stayed in, it was pretty much predictably they were going to take their estates as bedrooms.
But modifying them that much was too far in my perspective. Seemed too 'toy-ish', but hey, that's Top Gear. And probably my love towards these stock cars is too big.

Cinematography was astonishing in this one. Somebody earlier commented on one of the first episodes that it was rubbish and yeah - somehow it was sort of rubbish.
Seeing three cars plunging through waist-high grasses - epic. Seeing the cars being driven into the sunset - epic. Seeing Jezza's Bimmer being driven away in the background and then focussing on a child in the background was also truly great. The still don't like to film animals though, which is a shame. The pictures would make this roadtrip even more better with strengthening the connection between the man, their machines and the wild nature. And they took one of the most beautiful sides of it.

Another part that's making me Africa love even more are the helpful people. Probably no one in this country would even think about making their hands dirty just to get their cars out of the mud. Okay, you can call assistance here and, as they apparently were soliders, they sort of had to. But hey, still nice to look at.


Am I happy it's in two parts? Yes.
Were the cars right? Yes - encourages my perception of buying one in the near future even more.
Do I want to see Clarkson's nipple again? No.
Is two hours long enough? No. Could've gone one and a half per episode. Or even two. With that quality nobody would really mind I guess.

What will be the presents for Clarkson and May? Who will win the "race" towards the source? Hopefully it's not too much staged. Haven't seen Clarkson that enthusiastic since his War Stories.


Makes me want to watch part two right now.
 
Last edited:
about the car-choices... As far as I remember cheap car challenges have never had reasonable cars in them (excluding Bolivia) so the only criticism I've got is that they all brought pretty much the same car - a sporty wagon instead of going for some variety ie. big and slow, fast and not-offroadish-at-all etc.

btw. how do they carry fuel with them ? Volvo with automatic has at very best range of ~500km, I would expect bimmer to do similiar not to mention the impreza. Of course, 500km of normal, road driving.

Film crew carries all the extra stuff they need in the support cars.
 
Brilliant stuff!!! I couldn't understand one thing though:

What was Jezza saying about the source being on the the other side of the lake? Can anyone explain how he concluded that?

As far as I understood it, Jeremy concluded that by the fact that the river(s) east of Lake Victoria are futher away from Gibraltar, which can be seen as the real river ending.
Not sure if this is a scientific fact - don't think so.
 
I would be embarassed if I was an american teenager on Final Gear.
 
Boy, did they manage to score some stunning scenery shots, or what? I haven't seen the continent look so gorgeous in a while.

It's funny, though, when Clarkson said that "this is one of the toughest ones they've done on TG" (along those lines) - I didn't really agree. Somehow the whole episode seemed much more "effortless" and actually not so eventful as the Bolivia and Vietnam trips, I don't why. Kind of "straight forward".


Clarkson reads / is aware of Final Gear? *shocked* (fyi: not a teenager)

May's car choice was for obvious comical purposes, preetty lame from the get go.

Same here.. when the camera zoomed in on the pot, I literally went "oh no.. please don't go there". And then ... they didn't.

This was actually ingenious. A real meta joke. As someone stated earlier in the thread, I fear for the Subaru's demise in a fireball in part deux, though.

The car modification I can really do without. I get the need for beds, but all the woodwork just pisses me off.

Me too... Clarkson's "boutique hotel" bed looked awesome. But the libraries, toolsheds, Hammond's teacups flying away...ugh.

* * *
 
Bloody good show that one, did start a bit slow but got going. Anyone see the calendar in Mays volvo? Searched for one but cant find one anywhere
 
i was hoping for brilliant stuff as tg specials usually are but it wasn't.
It was ok ... nothing that i will remember in the future unlike vietnam, original africa special etc...
7
 
Very good!

Amusing to see the BMW and the Volvo struggle there, too bad they had no idea what sort of conditions awaited them. The Impreza looks as awful as usual...

If I were a presenter, I guess I'd always go for some bullet-proof roomy AWD vehicle no matter what the challenge. Just to be on the safe side. Heh, kind of like my car, just without the bullet-proof. Or roomy either, actually.

EDIT:
The whole map-scene I was waiting for someone to point out that the Impreza is on fire.
 
Last edited:
Top