Series 24 (2017)

bnt · 05-03-2017 9:38pm #1

OK, it's the reboot of the reboot of the reboot, let's see if they can keep it together. So far they're making much better use of Reid and Harris, and now they're playing tag on the road to Baikonur in Kazakhstan ...

siblers · 05-03-2017 9:44pm

The scripting in the studio is awful, making Matt Le Blanc out to be like Joey

Azatadine · 05-03-2017 9:50pm

Pretty poor I think.

Tzar Chasm · 05-03-2017 10:06pm

Fairly decent, yeah some of the studio bits are a bit stilted, but it shows promise.

DVD-Lots · 05-03-2017 10:07pm

meh, and where the feck was the stig?

Tzar Chasm · 05-03-2017 10:11pm

Actually yeah, where was the stig, he was mentioned

sonofenoch · 05-03-2017 10:54pm

They've certainly taken it back to it's roots which is probably a wise move, not many other places this format can go.....people will either like it or hate it with not much middle ground

Rossi IRL · 05-03-2017 10:56pm

Good episode.

Only bad part was the guys commentary over the lap.

Other than that it was better than most of last season.

Don Juan D N11 · 05-03-2017 11:04pm

Thought it was a step in the right direction with a few chuckles thrown in. Will tune in for episode two!

ScumLord · 06-03-2017 4:11pm

I thought it was a much better show with just the three guys. It is now essentially top gear with 3 different lads but I have no problem with that.

It did come off as very scripted. I'd hope they get better at that kind of stuff.

Mc Love · 07-03-2017 8:22am

ScumLord wrote: »

I thought it was a much better show with just the three guys. It is now essentially top gear with 3 different lads but I have no problem with that.

It did come off as very scripted. I'd hope they get better at that kind of stuff.

It was a hell of a lot better than the scripted GT that's for sure. All they need is to get that chemistry which won't happen straight away but it will.

Muppet Man · 12-03-2017 9:25pm

Can't believe what he did to the Alfa... :-(

They all looked shocked.

bnt · 12-03-2017 9:42pm

That's the word of the day: "frangible".

DVD-Lots · 12-03-2017 10:04pm

Again, it's a meh from me. I'm just not feeling it. Yes it is much better than that horrible last season but I'm starting to dislike Harris a lot. I'll still watch, nice cars, nice montages and nice cars..... it just needs something, I dunno........

ScumLord · 13-03-2017 3:37pm

DVD-Lots wrote: »

Again, it's a meh from me. I'm just not feeling it. Yes it is much better than that horrible last season but I'm starting to dislike Harris a lot. I'll still watch, nice cars, nice montages and nice cars..... it just needs something, I dunno........

Harris is the only one that comes with proper car cred.

They do seem to be trying to pigeonhole them into defined characters. Harris is grumpy, LeBlanc is Mr Tidy, Rory is the common man.

The previous 3 earned their reputations, Captain slow wasn't christened, he earned the name.

The producers are still trying to force things.

bnt · 13-03-2017 7:43pm

They're trying to rebuild a tarnished brand with a new team, and that's going to take time. I'm quite content to moderate my expectations somewhat for now.

sonofenoch · 13-03-2017 8:36pm

DVD-Lots wrote: »

Again, it's a meh from me. I'm just not feeling it. Yes it is much better than that horrible last season but I'm starting to dislike Harris a lot. I'll still watch, nice cars, nice montages and nice cars..... it just needs something, I dunno........

Harris seems to be taking over Chris Evans role as 'Mr Shouty' .....looks very awkward in the studio

Cloudio9 · 14-03-2017 1:18am

Has taken a step towards old Top Gear. The Alfa piece was basically a traditional car review. Top gear hasn't done anything like that in years. The trip to Vegas was again very much about the cars versus personalities in a way TG hasn't been doing.

that's all fine with me but not sure it will do much for audience numbers.

Tzar Chasm · 14-03-2017 12:01pm

The Alfa segment is where the show ultimately wants to be, good factual motor journalism, well presented and filmed, a balanced review, and then try to drift the car sideways through something Frangible.

TG 1.0 with Tiff, Quentin etc, very much about car reviews, some humor

TG 2.0 CHM era, very much about cocking about, some cars involved

TG 2.1 seems to be heading for a balance between both

Agricola · 14-03-2017 6:19pm

DVD-Lots wrote: »

it just needs something, I dunno........

Probably the ironic/sarcastic Clarkson humour mixed in with a bit of mild zenopho........I mean nationality banter!

It now very much feels like they are trying to simply recreate the old show with 3 new hosts and since they won't be attempting to use a similar style humour and it's obvious the 3 of them aren't really friends off camera (yet, if ever) then I don't see it working in the short term at least.

bnt · 19-03-2017 9:09pm

"Dr. No-Hair" ... oh dear. :cool:

Jayop · 19-03-2017 9:15pm

That Bond skit was easily the best segment in top gear since Clarkson and Co left.

First time it's felt like Leblancs show.

dublinman1990 · 19-03-2017 9:29pm

Now get out of the ****ing car and.........:D

bnt · 19-03-2017 10:02pm

Nice to see Sabine back on her old stomping ground: tearing chunks out of der Nordschleife.

Red Kev · 19-03-2017 10:14pm

I think there's too much time spent with the guest, the interview was a bit flat. Also the segment where Chris is "angry" and trying to teach them to drive should be dropped. It's getting old very quickly.

I also don't get the discrepancy in the lap times, the old cars were much closer together, but maybe that's me.

Apart from that it's very good, I loved the 3 segments; the Aston v Merc, the Golf and the Fiat, especially the nod to the original 124.

Sabine should keep on doing Ring segments, but they could throw up the odd time on it. Still enjoyed it.

kneemos · 20-03-2017 3:57am

Too character driven .it was always about the cars not the presenters.They failed too appreciate that in the final years of the previous series and continue with it more so with this one.
Bland presenters,boring delivery arkward Interaction and badly scripted. Le Blanc might be interesting in fairness if the leash was taken off,otherwise the guests are the best part of it,perhaps because they aren't told what to say.

ScumLord · 20-03-2017 3:12pm

bnt wrote: »

Nice to see Sabine back on her old stomping ground: tearing chunks out of der Nordschleife.

Sabine is a lunatic, she's great. I thought that bit and even the bit before looked more like an advertisement than ever before. I don't know what actual lap times are like for that car but I don't think it would have had such an easy time on the Nords even in the hands of Sabine. The other cars were basically getting out of her way and making the car look good. It all felt very contrived. Good, but contrived.

Red Kev wrote: »

I think there's too much time spent with the guest, the interview was a bit flat. Also the segment where Chris is "angry" and trying to teach them to drive should be dropped.

I'd agree with that, they're not letting a relationship develop naturally. May got the name captain slow naturally through circumstance, now they're handing out personalities and Harris is getting the short end of the script. Maybe he's just super excited to be there and he'll get more comfortable.

LeBlanc gets better with each show, the scripted nature of it probably suits him and highlights a lack of training in Harris. Reid looks like he was born and raised as a TV presenter, but he's almost too perfect, the other two have obvious flaws, Reid seems to take everything in his stride.

Anjobe · 20-03-2017 5:02pm

ScumLord wrote: »

Sabine is a lunatic, she's great. I thought that bit and even the bit before looked more like an advertisement than ever before. I don't know what actual lap times are like for that car but I don't think it would have had such an easy time on the Nords even in the hands of Sabine. The other cars were basically getting out of her way and making the car look good. It all felt very contrived. Good, but contrived.

Not so contrived I think. That Golf has a best time round the Nordschleife of 7:47, so right up there with most of the exotica she was overtaking. That, and it was in the hands of a professional driver and 'ring expert who wouldn't have been personally liable for any damages caused vs Touristfarhten drivers in their own cars being careful not to crash.

ScumLord · 20-03-2017 5:38pm

Anjobe wrote: »

Not so contrived I think. That Golf has a best time round the Nordschleife of 7:47, so right up there with most of the exotica she was overtaking. That, and it was in the hands of a professional driver and 'ring expert who wouldn't have been personally liable for any damages caused vs Touristfarhten drivers in their own cars being careful not to crash.

Sabine makes it believable, but some of the cars she was overtaking clearly got out of her way maybe they just see the car coming and let it through but some of those cars would have left the golf for dust every time a straight came up. It's still 20 seconds slower than the likes of the GT3.

It just seemed somewhat set up at times, I know that track pretty well and the shots were jumping all over the track, it wasn't in sequence. Like it is a scripted show, you can't set a fast lap time and have a camera car on the track too. I just thought they over did it a bit. The GT3 is not slower than the golf for example, it's just not. Yes Sabine is going to make a massive difference but it was pulling to the side just as they got to a straight, it's likely in the real world if you left the camera on them the GT3 would just shot past again.

sonofenoch · 20-03-2017 8:46pm

ScumLord wrote: »

Sabine makes it believable, but some of the cars she was overtaking clearly got out of her way maybe they just see the car coming and let it through but some of those cars would have left the golf for dust every time a straight came up. It's still 20 seconds slower than the likes of the GT3.

It just seemed somewhat set up at times, I know that track pretty well and the shots were jumping all over the track, it wasn't in sequence. Like it is a scripted show, you can't set a fast lap time and have a camera car on the track too. I just thought they over did it a bit. The GT3 is not slower than the golf for example, it's just not. Yes Sabine is going to make a massive difference but it was pulling to the side just as they got to a straight, it's likely in the real world if you left the camera on them the GT3 would just shot past again.

It was an open track day .....most of those supercars were probably been driven by someone not capable of getting even half of what they can do......put someone like the Stig in one of those and it's not even a contest

Tzar Chasm · 20-03-2017 10:31pm

The studio bit was somewhat hit and miss, but Leblanc was good, I really liked the dung spreader bit, it was short, entertaining, and somewhat informative, also helped that both of them seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves

ScumLord · 21-03-2017 3:47pm

sonofenoch wrote: »

It was an open track day .....most of those supercars were probably been driven by someone not capable of getting even half of what they can do......put someone like the Stig in one of those and it's not even a contest

If they're locals at nordschleife with porsches my guess is they probably know the place pretty well.

I just found it all a bit disingenuous, I know top gear do skit pieces where they make out a car is much better than it is because the presenter likes that particular car but this was presented more as an informative piece and it was giving extremely biased information. I bet VW was delighted with it, they're car couldn't have been shown in a better light.

kneemos · 21-03-2017 3:52pm

Rather tasty looking Merc we were told nothing about,all we found out about the Aston Martin was that Matt Le Blanc can spin its wheels.

ScumLord · 21-03-2017 4:00pm

kneemos wrote: »

Rather tasty looking Merc we were told nothing about,all we found out about the Aston Martin was that Matt Le Blanc can spin its wheels.

I wonder can Matt actually drift of is he like Hammond was and it's all stunt men and quick editing? I don't think they ever really show him drifting.

Anjobe · 21-03-2017 5:20pm

ScumLord wrote: »

If they're locals at nordschleife with porsches my guess is they probably know the place pretty well.

I just found it all a bit disingenuous, I know top gear do skit pieces where they make out a car is much better than it is because the presenter likes that particular car but this was presented more as an informative piece and it was giving extremely biased information. I bet VW was delighted with it, they're car couldn't have been shown in a better light.

On Touristfarhten days the 'Ring is basically a public road and normal traffic laws apply, i.e. keep to the right and overtake on the left, it is not at all like a 'normal' track day. The etiquette for when traffic is approaching from behind is to move right and back off to allow them to pass, so what was shown was not necessarily a set up.

ScumLord · 21-03-2017 5:42pm

Anjobe wrote: »

On Touristfarhten days the 'Ring is basically a public road and normal traffic laws apply, i.e. keep to the right and overtake on the left, it is not at all like a 'normal' track day. The etiquette for when traffic is approaching from behind is to move right and back off to allow them to pass, so what was shown was not necessarily a set up.

But we know it was a setup, it's a TV show after all. You can't put in a fast lap of the nords if there's a camera truck in front filming you. It wasn't in sequence, so at one point it showed near the end of the track, then we're back near the beginning in the next shot.

Looking at lap times it is possible that Sabine could do that, but that piece probably should have been a bigger thing then. The way it was it was a throw away incredible act and they move on. Sabine works for a company that does fast taxi rides of the ring, they have a few cars and drivers and I'm almost sure one of the cars she passed out was one of those taxis.

Sabine is amazing but she's not the only person who can put in a fast lap there, from videos I've seen of her driving she's an exciting fearless driver, but not necessarily the outright fastest.

muckwarrior · 23-03-2017 2:49pm

Have watched the first two episodes of this series and I'm really liking it. Yes there's still some painfully obvious scripting, but it's not as cringeworthy as with C/H/M. Speaking of which, I've kinda given up on the Grand Tour. The beach buggy episodes were the last I watched and could have easily been an old Top Gear episode with a different landscape superimposed.

Sleepy · 27-03-2017 4:41pm

It's not as good as CHM at their peak, but let's face it, they were long past their peak when they left (aside from the always wonderful specials) but so far, I'm preferring this season of Top Gear to the first of The Grand Tour.

Tzar Chasm · 27-03-2017 8:01pm

The films this week were excellent overall, even the star lap naration was toned down somewhat, but the studio segments were still a bit hit and miss.

I doubt we will ever see peak CHM again, but this is finding its own style and i like what they are doing

Anjobe · 28-03-2017 11:36am

I am quite enjoying this series. It must be remembered that old-new Top Gear magic kind of happened organically as the 3 presenters built up a genuine friendship in which the childish bickering and laddish banter featured quite naturally, and then the shows were obviously written to take advantage of that. It will be next to impossible to recreate that dynamic with different presenters, but there is the glimmering of a genuine rapport between CH and MLB. CH needs to calm down and bit and it would be good if MLB was a bit more enthusiastic/less laid back but there is promise. Sabine was no presenter but she's great for the lunatic driving segments. RR still seems to be a bit of a spare wheel though.

Dravokivich · 28-03-2017 1:02pm

Anjobe wrote: »

* CH needs to calm down a bit

* RR still seems to be a bit of a spare wheel though.

And they seemed very promising last season with us wanting to see more of these 2. Maybe it was better to give them a chance to develop into the show.

ScumLord · 28-03-2017 3:26pm

Anjobe wrote: »

but there is the glimmering of a genuine rapport between CH and MLB. CH needs to calm down and bit and it would be good if MLB was a bit more enthusiastic/less laid back but there is promise.

I thought Chris seemed more relaxed in this show. He seems to be settling down each episode.

That last episode was a good show that I'd have no problem watching.

I think they need more episodes, I don't think they can just do 8 episodes like Clarkson and co could. They need to build up the relationship, if we only see them 8 times a year they'll end up forgotten.

lertsnim · 28-03-2017 7:46pm

Considering how few episodes they have done I think they are doing a fine job. The studio segments while not perfect seem less forced compared to episode 1. Also no sign of Eddie Jordan this year either which is a massive bonus.

sonofenoch · 28-03-2017 10:18pm

The Dubai skit was Top Gear at it's best, been done many times but they didn't drop the ball on this one

bnt · 02-04-2017 8:23pm

lertsnim wrote: »

Also no sign of Eddie Jordan this year either which is a massive bonus.

Um ... don't watch tonight's episode, then ...

BrianJD · 02-04-2017 10:00pm

That hammer racing in tonight's episode was mad!! I'd love to see it on telly..

ScumLord · 03-04-2017 12:52pm

bnt wrote: »

Um ... don't watch tonight's episode, then ...

I think that was the best use of Eddie I've seen so far.

Cloudio9 · 03-04-2017 1:26pm

ScumLord wrote: »

I think that was the best use of Eddie I've seen so far.

Did they fire him in to a caravan ?

fryup · 03-04-2017 5:22pm

never realised eddie jordan is so short

kinda looks like john lennon in his old age

ScumLord · 03-04-2017 5:24pm

Cloudio9 wrote: »

Did they fire him in to a caravan ?

No, they treated him like the annoying uncle nobody wants to be stuck with.

dastardly00 · 04-04-2017 9:23pm

I think the 'Star in a reasonably fast car' segment works best when the celeb actually has an interest in motoring.

Tinie Tempah in episode 4 was relatively enjoyable because of this, whereas episode 3 with the actress (can't remember her name) wasn't good at all.

Series 24 (2017)

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