Winter Olympics Top Gear

Chong

There is a Top Gear special on the winter Olympics on at the mo. Just to let everyone know.

fletch

Why are they showin a repeat of Hammond and James May racing down a bob sled track! very annoyin

zuutroy

Wasn't great really was it? Top Gear is really going downhill the last couple of years. I expected the mini on the ski-jump to be better.

Chong

Very true zuutroy , but I suppose it was just a bit of filler entertainment.

qz

Not that good at all, but a million times better than this Petrol Heads shíte that's on now. (BBC2)

zuutroy

Yeah....I cant see this lasting long. 'Have I got news for cars' is all it is.

dceire

I disagree, I think Top Gear is great and has got even better over recent series. While this winter Olympics episode wasn’t fantastic I did enjoy the Swift ice hockey match & the mini was great, long live Top Gear!

zuutroy

dceire wrote:

I disagree, I think Top Gear is great and has got even better over recent series. QUOTE]

You're kidding! It's just descended to lowest common denominator entertainment, with boorish, laddish presenting gone mad. All this explicitly stating 'screw the environment, WE LIKE PETROL' nonsense doesnt help.

They take up half of every show with these utterly pointless, completely staged races (see the one in Verbier)....I mean what's the point in racing a Clio and a cyclist on two different tracks, and pitting a Veyron against a Cessna; It tells you nothing really. It's just chewing gum TV.
Still, any car programme is at least something, and I still watch it to see the actual cars, while trying to ignore the twits and their silly synonyms.

BFassassin

i missed this episode any idea if its going to be repeated?

mike65

Oh dear! TG is an entertainment for those who are up for it, those not up for it should stick to more down to earth stuff as shown on Men and Motors or Discovery Real Time.

Mike.

zuutroy

BBC2 Next Saturday at 10:15pm

zuutroy

mike65 wrote:

Oh dear! TG is an entertainment for those who are up for it, those not up for it should stick to more down to earth stuff as shown on Men and Motors or Discovery Real Time.

Mike.

Maybe, but for my money it was a lot better two or three years ago, while still using the same format. Repeats on daily @5pm on some digital channel. Infinitely more watchable.

mike65

Its on UKTV G2 every day/night. BTW if you want to learn about how vehicles tick then "A XXXX is Born" with Mark Evans on Discovery Real Time is great viewing. But if it was shown on BBC2 it would get 500,000 curious viewers at most.

Mike.

Lord Nikon

Remember the episode that they played football with the Toyota Ayga

Big Balls

zuutroy wrote:

laddish presenting gone mad.

I've watched TG since I was a small kid (I'm 24 now) and I've never had more women tell me they watch TG then now.

Last night wasn't great, I switched over to Stardust but I think the current format produces some very good and some average shows.

Merrick

OK, so it's a bit staged, but I still like TG and I thought the ice hockey match and the ski jump were hilarious.

jesus_thats_gre

I thought the car hockey was hilarious!!

AlanD

Did anyone notice that all the names in the credits were changed to "Bjorn"? Bjorn Carter, Bjorn Clarkson....etc.....thought it was a nice touch.

Funny program, totally staged, but it's fun to watch and light hearted. Take it seriously at your peril.

Alun

I agree, you should take the current incarnation of Top Gear for what it is, a bit of light-hearted fun, although I have to say Clarkson gets on my tits sometimes with his anti-ecological digs and racist remarks.

The thing is, though, there isn't really a program on the box at the moment that has anything for people who want to know about 'real' cars, that you and I can actually afford and own. TG used to be like that in the old days when it was on on Thursday evening, and to an extent 5th Gear (is that still being made, or is it just repeats on cable/satellite?) was too, so there's a gap in the market as far as I can see for a more serious car program. What do you think?

coolcon

I liked it. you have to take a less serious look though. It dosnt matter that its staged because its great entertainment and we still get to see the cars in action. I was falling off my seat at the end of the race between may and clarkson at the start ( the one with the shooting ) even though i know it was probably all a set up. And being a real 'know it all' with cars dosnt matter when watching top gear either. you can still watch the more 'real' programs but it is nice to have a bit of entertainment based on something you like: cars. Better than a damn holiday show anyway!

RobAMerc

I agree Alun,

I am happy with Top Gear in its current format, provided their is an altrenative for people who actually want to know about the cars.

Fifth gear isn't bad if you can find it on, and that Tiff Needel has such brilliant car control he's a joy to watch powerslide a car around a circuit (If a bit of a toff), VBH is easy on the eye too, but all in all I do miss the old top gear.

I suppose we can just read magazines for actual info on cars.

Ps I would not be surprised if Needel is The Stig, although I am sure it's D Hill.

Alun

RobAMerc wrote:

Ps I would not be surprised if Needel is The Stig, although I am sure it's D Hill.

It's neither (probably). See here for more than you'd ever really want to know on the subject

RobAMerc

Alun wrote:

It's neither (probably). See here for more than you'd ever really want to know on the subject

Seems I wasn't the only person sniffing up the Damon Hill tree.

Whomever he is, he seems to be a 1st class Pilot of a motor car.
His comparison of the porsche/aston/bmw up the mountain in that weather was scary !

Chong

I have to say I still enjoy Top Gear no matter what format they are trying to go with. Reason being is I like Clarkson as I think is a legend.

On another note if anyone wants to watch just plain car reviews without so much challenges and stunts, I strongly advise checking out 5th gear.

Alun

Willem D wrote:

On another note if anyone wants to watch just plain car reviews without so much challenges and stunts, I strongly advise checking out 5th gear.

... on what channel? There are some ancient repeats on one of the more obscure Discovery channels (can't remember which one), but I'm wondering whether they're actually making any more, and if so, what channel they're being shown on. It was orginally shown on UK's Channel 5, but we don't get that here, not on ntl: digital, anyway.

Namen

Alun wrote:

I agree, you should take the current incarnation of Top Gear for what it is, a bit of light-hearted fun, although I have to say Clarkson gets on my tits sometimes with his anti-ecological digs and racist remarks.

Exactly, it's not meant to be taken serioiusly. I really enjoy it, regardless of the heavily scripted humor, etc.

Try not to think of it as a car show. Try to clear your mind and just watch a rocket-powered Mini go down a ski slope. ^^