New Series Trailer

All a bit underwhelming alright.

Can understand not changing the format too much - they got a decent balance between making a few changes to set themselves out as a new team, while keeping the familiar air of the show. I liked the new lap layout (though it didn't feel the same of course - I know it was the point, but it's still worth saying)

I didn't really like the big intro for the guests. I guess "Old Top Gear" had a very down-to-earth feel to it; cheap yet cheerful, in keeping with the three northeners hosting it. Evans is more in your face, which I don't like. A grand exit for the guests just seems more over the top, more Evansy. Ditto the big wall screen. Ditto the cued cheers from the crowd (was it me, or did a lot of them look not that interested/impressed?). But let's see if that can grow. I suspect not, but let's see.

On Evans - he was quite annoying alright. Even during the laps, he was trying to get cheers and applause out of the crowd at every time. OTG was a bit more subtle. But then pretty much anything is more subtle than Chris Evans.

Matt LeBlanc was just dull. He livened up a bit for the Nomad piece - but surprisingly, it was his voiceovers that were worst. It sounded like he didn't really know how it was going to end up post-edit.

And I guess that was the problem for the hosts - which is understandable. It was their first time. It took OTG a couple of series to get into its groove, and it'll be the same here.

But while OTG had to invent a whole new format, NTG just copied it. And so on that basis, the Blackpool bit was just pointless. Two Reliant Robins (or the successor - can't remember the name now) with the rooves cut off for no particular reason. Then they get ditched, and we get two old jeeps, which just do a bit of a drag race before leaving Blackpool entirely and climbing a mountain in the Lake District. Let's ignore that OTG already did that (and Clarkson got a bit of grief for it) - there was no real thread to the film at all. And that's a bit disappointing given they weren't trying to invent something new.

And the other two films - while both were ok enough in concept - were very similar, which seemed a bit silly.

The main thing though is that there's no rapport between LeBlanc and Evans, which just highlighted how important a part of OTG the Clarkson/May/Hammond link was. Again, that may grow in time - but it left a huge hole in tonight's show.

Laughs? Just the one I think - Evans giving the second lap time as "One minute....just kidding! Two minutes ten"

So - yeah. Bit meh really. I'll probably watch on for a few more episodes to see if it goes anywhere, but I woudn't be recording it if I was out.