I'm hooked! I love it! Started to watch random clips from You Tube, then I ended up downloading the ENTIRE programme (14 seasons, around 6-12 episodes each). What can I say? This programme is just exquisite! I love the dry british humor, the cinematography is simply superb, the presenters have this really nice chemistry and the music is tastefully selected as well. You have to watch it and see the how it all blends in and see for yourself! And they also give supercars a good thrashing for people who can't afford them (us (or some of us at least))! BTW, I'm not generally a TV person, but I have to make an exception for this. Its THAT good!
I'm also a fan. The cinematography of the car reviews is definitely well done. But for me the car reviews aren't the best part. The best part of the shows for me are the 3 presenters and how they interact with each other (especially on the show's challenges). A good example of this is the Polar & Vietnam Specials. It wasn't really about the cars, but about the 3 of them. Also, you might want to try looking for the Specials that weren't broadcast with the regular series. Examples of this are the aforementioned Polar Special, the Winter Oympics Special, and the two charity specials that they did for Sport/Comic Relief (Top Gear of the Pops & Top Ground Gear Force). And I highly recommend watching Top Ground Gear Force. No cars. They "resurrected" the Brit gardening show Ground Force where they tried to build a garden for a British Olympic rower, with rather hilarious results. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Ground_Gear_Force http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Top_Gear_episodes
me! have watched every single episode, every single season! those chaps are definitely the funniest bunch of people in television today! used to watch it over cable at bbc1 but started missing it because of schedule changes and now i believe its not shown at bbc on local cable today. have downloaded every episode since. though now im fraught that the number of episodes seems to be less and less lately and their recently concluded season 14 is not as spectacular or mesmerizing as it used to be. there are funny moments sure but i feel something has changed. i dunno if its just me. but never the less i will be a forever fan of jeremy, richard, james and the Stig! ooh guys! try to play the game on the official site where u have to fly a rocket as high as you could then safely land it. its addicting! have spent hours perfecting it! its also one of my favorite episode when james and richard with a bunch of rocket science people tried to send a car flying ala nasa. the best really! will try to find it on youtube and post a link so ull see . and i agree with rafael, the cinematography is amazing. the camera angles are to die for. and the camaraderie that the hosts share is really the secret of the shows success. looking forward the next season. hope they have another special. ooh and hope they comeback to asia. am sad i missed their hongkong visit.
dcph172: From what I've read, the reason why Top Gear's episode is decreasing is because they haven't got the funding they used to have from BBC due to the recession. They didn't want to ruin the quality of the episodes, so they resorted to limiting their numbers instead. Has anyone watched S13 E7? I mean, the final episode of series 13? Well I think that the review of the V12 Vantage is very much moving!
@dcph172: Yes! That's the episode that I saw on BBC2 that started it all for me! Series 9, Episode 4's Reliant Robin-Space Shuttle Challenge. Most powerful non-commercial rocket launch in Europe. I think with Series 13 (not 14), the BBC cut their budget due to the financial crisis, so they had to do the same with less. But I think they started well with the 1st episode's Race to the North. @supreme_being: Agreed, it was very moving and the camera work and editing was top notch. Heheh, unfortunately a lot of people took Jezza's statement as him saying he wouldn't return; which he quickly denied in his column. From the Top Gear website, the next Series (14) will be out in November with all three of them back.
ooh so that's the reason they've cut back on episodes. tsktsk. well the world economy seems to be on the upturn, good news for topgear fans then haha. wow didnt know that the space shuttle challenge is a european rocket launch holder. really wished they successfully landed it though it would have been an even more great episode. for me, what really started topgear was their toyota aigo soccer car challenge. it was so funny! they didnt have to penny pinch that time ha! wrecked a lot of aigo then. the artic challenge really proves how tough those toyota pickups are made. remember when they first tried to kill the hilux. or the second time they tried to kill it again. haha really incredible.
I love this show too! The way they review cars and their (hosts) chemistry! I always dreamed of someday a Phil car show will be brave enough to say negative reviews about a car. The closest thing we have is Counterflow where they can give fearless reviews of a car, too bad its only in radio.
i have to chime in with my vote! I love the series and yes, it is about the chemistry of the 3 hosts! I feel like its a "havin a few beers with the boys" night whenever i watch an episode. it's juvenile, not politically correct and slightly ribald and i love every minute of it! but it wouldn't work if not for the genuine friendship each host has for the other... I remember the accident the "hamster" had with the jet car, you really felt how their world stopped when he was in a coma for a few days... and how happy they all were when he came back to the show and did the very same things that got him in trouble to begin with... just juvenile, just wonderful... And!.... some say that he eats 24 "baluts" before each test drive... all we know is... He's called, "THE STIG"...
@dcph172: If you liked the Aigo Soccer car challenge, check out the Winter Olympics Special. They had a Suzuki Swift-Ice Hockey Challenge along the same lines. @ice: Top Gear is produced by the BBC. And for domestic (UK) programming, they don't have commercials. It's funded by the Television License (kind of a tax per TV). So they don't have to care about upsetting potential car sponsors since they're publicly funded. This is part of the reason plans for a US version of Top Gear never got off the ground; they couldn't be as open & honest as the UK version.
I love this show, particularly the specials. I've watched lots of it and the sarcasm and humour or Jeremy Clarkson keeps things interesting. The chemistry of the trio is really good. Australia launched their own version of top gear if not early this year, t'was late last year but its just not as good.
I'm a big fan as well. I've watched every single episodes. The humor, the entertainment, the editing, the stig, and most especially the cinematography are all superb! This is not your good 'ol car review boring tv shows. I cant wait for them to be back on November!
I agree. the australian franchise of top gear sucks. there's no chemistry between the host. its not as funny. and the track sucks! bigtime! ot: Top Gear introduced me to another bbc program. Dr. Who! am on the second season now. You guys should check it out. the story line and premise really blows my mind. British humor and great imaginative plot per episode.
Found some pics from the Top Ground Gear Force Special: Hammond drives a backhoe into the trench he was digging: Attacking Hammond with spades: Hammond ignites the shed May's constructed when using a grill with a V-1 rocket engine as the burner: @dcph172: Haha, I'm also a Doctor Who Fan. Watching G.I. Joe was weird, what with having the 9th Doctor portraying Destro. And with all the DW references & guests on Top Gear, it would seem they are fans as well. Billie Piper's lap/interview was fun to watch.
Another fan here as well. The banter among those three really is amusing especially during "The News" segment. One of my favourites was in Series Ten. The one where they tried to modify their vehicles to try and cross the English Channel and into France. At first, thought it was impossible. I still can't beieve Clarkson's Nissan made it. Last series' lorry race was also amusing with James' "gay and indian" lorry making me literally rofl and the stig's slightly heavier cousin making an appearance. @Rafael- Top Gear Ground Force was really funny in a "train-wreck" kind of way. You knew they were going to mess up but you still have to watch. I loved it, especially the bit where James' shed was always being knocked over.
@REDcrazy: "Great news!" "What?" "The Dacia Sandero..." "I went on the internet this week and found this..."
I have all the series as well... i started on season 9 till the 11th, then while waiting for the 12th, i started collecting the earlier seasons... very entertaining show!!! their race challenges are the best, especially the African and American (utah) episodes. i started watching fifth gear... i dont find it as entertaining.
I loved the Bonneville Salt Flats epsiode as well. btw, a bit of a treat for all you Top Gear fans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr6_erJ3tfk&fmt=18
Anyone here see the episode with the worlds fastest man? If I remember right, he ended up 3rd at the track.
