[21x01] February 2nd, 2014

[21x01] February 2nd, 2014

  • Total voters
    384
I passed my driving test in a Nova SR, and the first brand new car I owned was a Fiesta XR2i.

Still does not redeem the utterly stupid 'supermarket sweep'.

How good was Hugh Bonneville though? I want to see him do a dry lap!

4/10
 
What scares me the most is that none of the segments they started off teasing with was something I am looking forward to.. But TG hasn?t been the same for years, I?m glad it?s back tho..
 
I gave it an 8. It was all good until the police chase segment, that was just dumb.
 
Question to Nova owners: That hazard light switch upside down trick: Can you really do that? o_O
 
Red Falcon said:
Question to Nova owners: That hazard light switch upside down trick: Can you really do that? o_O
Click to expand...

You think anyone on FG would own one? I'd like to find one in a scrapyard just to try it. :lol:

Some silly moments but I still enjoyed it. I want to start up a business giving people the chance to have a 'police' chase of their own, what an amazing group activity that would be. Much better than go-karting or paintballing. :D
 
It just felt like a regular meh season opener to me, not offensively awful but a bit lacking. Hot hatches was just a big missed opportunity but there were still a few laughs to be had.

Surprised at the mass of the typical 'who' comments aimed at Bonneville, seeing that Downton is pretty damn popular stateside. I thought he was a good SIARPC.


Matt2000 said:
I want to start up a business giving people the chance to have a 'police' chase of their own, what an amazing group activity that would be. Much better than go-karting or paintballing. :D
Click to expand...

Love the sound of this!
 
Last edited:
A solid 8.

The show is evolving, which it has too, if it hadn't changed from the early series we wouldn't really have had the cheap car challenges or the Specials which we all love. But ultimately they've done a *ton* of cheap car challenges, there are only so many times they can do it (and they've done it alot) before people start moaning about it "just being the same". So they're scripting stuff and I don't care, so long as it's scripted well.

Textbook example, the bit where hammonds car crosses the finish line on its side, I didn't see it coming, it was obviously scripted but I don't care because it was very funny.

The last segment went a bit too far for my tastes, but ultimately I can live with it, still the best show on tv.
 
Tiffnie_Dell said:
They should move the program from BBC2 to the children's channel where it belongs.
Click to expand...

They can't put creepy old men on CBBC there would be outrage. :p

Also, apparently it's true! This video is from 2007:

[video=youtube;g-JB7n5CaGc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-JB7n5CaGc[/video]
 
Last edited:
Red Falcon said:
Question to Nova owners: That hazard light switch upside down trick: Can you really do that? o_O
Click to expand...

In a word - yes! A friend of mine had one stolen using this exact method - car was taken for a joyride and recovered (after it had run out of fuel) by police with the door lock bust and the hazard warning switch inverted!

I'd also forgotten that later VX Novas (and the early Corsa B that replaced it) came with garishly bright coloured parts such as switches, heater controls and gearknobs.

Yech!
 
Parts were funny but pretty meh for the most part.
 
The hot hatch thing just dragged on and on. At one point I was thinking about other things I wanted to do instead. The long wait for a new season feels like a let down after a weak episode like that. 5.
 
I've watched it again and actually I enjoyed it a bit more the second time around, the only bits I didn't like is the stuff I've never really like which is when they blow up the car with "the presenters still inside" If I know it's just a comedy routine I can enjoy it as a comedy routine but if I think it's a competition and suddenly it's really a comedy routine it can be disappointing.
 
I think it ranks up there with a lot of the first episodes... Not the best, but still funny.
 
Dreadful.

I really liked the idea of the challenge, but as soon as Jeremy deliberately crashed into the supermarket isle, I knew it would be a cringeworthy mess.

I can't believe how much better TGUS is at the moment, even if they were really bad at first.
 
headcrash said:
Dreadful.

I really liked the idea of the challenge, but as soon as Jeremy deliberately crashed into the supermarket isle, I knew it would be a cringeworthy mess.

I can't believe how much better TGUS is at the moment, even if they were really bad at first.
Click to expand...

Never mind TGUS, /Drive is actually the new Top Gear!
 
_HighVoltage_ said:
Never mind TGUS, /Drive is actually the new Top Gear!
Click to expand...

I'll give you Chris Harris on Cars and perhaps Tuned and Big Muscle, but the other shows are droll snoozefests. I'd rather stick a reciprocating saw in my ear than listen to Leo Parente butcher his queue cards.
 
Overly-scripted and silly.

It's not that I particularly hate the scripted stuff, but it really rankles when they play it seriously and go into acting mode. Take Hammond's crash, for instance, when he decides to race back down the hill. He takes a corner and then out of shot we hear his car supposedly rolling over. Now, OK, doing it this way saves time and money (no stuntman needed, no mods to the car needed, no tricky choreographing of the 'crash') but please don't try and convince me it happened like you're making out.

For me, Top Gear is at it's best when the three of them are allowed to be themselves - the banter (I hate that word) and moments of genuine, unscripted humour and incidents - rather than the set pieces and acting.

Also, I don't know if this was just me who got this vibe, but their hearts didn't really seem in this opener.

Early days... Early days.
 
Last edited:
_HighVoltage_ said:
Never mind TGUS, /Drive is actually the new Top Gear!
Click to expand...

Not for me, no. I like /DRIVE for my regular automotive fix, but what I liked about TG was the fooling around and the spontaneous comedy.

Among all the automotive Youtube networks (EVOTV, /DRIVE, Smoking Tire, Autocar, Motor Trend), the only thing that comes close (or even eclipses it) is Roadkill on MotorTrend. Such an enjoyable show.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top