Un-official GTPlanet BBC Topgear UK ThreadTV

[NW48]

I'm torn between waking up at 6.30am on a Sunday to watch Part 1 Express from the UK or watching the encore at dinner. Then the same goes for Part 2.

 

[Robin]

Three wise men

We bring Gold, Shampoo and a Nintendo DS...

 

[Liquid]

They're driving through Patagonia so I'll bet there might be at least one joke, perhaps off hand, about the Welsh.

 

[Wiegert]

Trevelin and Esquel lie on or very near to the route they chose according to this map. The sudden language shift should be something they'll acknowledge at least.


EDIT: Nope. Seems they bypassed Chubut altogether in favour of the Chilean side of the border.

 

[Ross]

That cow gag was very nostalgic and also funny.

 

[Liquid]

I quite enjoyed that. James is in the lead so much if you're playing with a points system like challenges gone by. But we weren't told budgets and what they paid.

I noticed already though that the front licence plate on the Porsche fell off. Exactly when and where did the furore kick in? Unless Argentinians heard about it latterly and chased after them.

Also, one reason that was much better was that they spent time talking about cars and engines. I don't care if it's uncool and doesn't draw numbers, that's what was good about Top Gear.

Edit: Thanks to the teaser for tomorrow, I now know why I initially thought Hammond had bought a Montecarlo.

 

[Vic Reign93]

Pretty ballsy with that reference to the 'slope' incident.

Overall, a good return to arms and happily we only have to wait 24 hours for the second half. 👍

 

[Solo]

Good start to the special, far better than the first half of last years special anyway.

 

[mattythedog]

I thought it was good, nothing too silly, but still definitely Top Gear style. Can't wait to see tomorrow's.

 

[Wiegert]

While this half will most definitely be overshadowed by the already infamous Part 2, it's been a far more solid outing than anything the previous special gave us with the focus back on what's being driven rather than trying to act as foolish as possible. I thought the throwback gags were genuinely good too. And so I find myself really looking forward to the rest.

I noticed already though that the front licence plate on the Porsche fell off. Exactly when and where did the furore kick in? Unless Argentinians heard about it latterly and chased after them.

What got the ball rolling was a Tweet made by an Argentine blogger who'd seen the car parked up in Bariloche six days prior to the gang incident. Though the plate stayed on for a while afterwards.

 

[Robin]

Gosh that episode was dull, think the only interesting bit will be when they are chased out at the end.

And Clarkson admitted to doing 100 MPH plus on the motorway on national TV.

 

[Bo]

And Clarkson admitted to doing 100 MPH plus on the motorway on national TV.

And seemed human for once in quite an emotional piece.

 

[Liquid]

Gosh that episode was dull, think the only interesting bit will be when they are chased out at the end.

Disagree. This felt more like three blokes in cars driving around and not some contrived 'reality' mockumentary.

And Clarkson admitted to doing 100 MPH plus on the motorway on national TV.

He's written about that before; it's been in his Times columns on a few occasions so if they were going to prosecute him they would have done it by now.

 

[Tom]

I thoroughly enjoyed Part 1 of the special, highly enjoyable and fewer immature gags than I remember from last years' episode.

I thought Clarkson's piece about the 928 and his Father was certainly rather touching, too.

 

[andrea]

 

[Sting]

I was surprised when Clarkson went into the story about the 928 and his father. It was nice and you sympathize, but I never would have thought he would ever bring up something that personal on TV. Fair play to the guy.

Wasn't a fan of all the Lotus bashing, yes it has more in common with recycled parts bins from other companies, one of which is the electric window switch from Vauxhall's of the time, but it is a desperately beautiful car on the outside. The late 80s redesign to get it away from the Bond style Espirit made it look sleeker and then the following early 90s redesign into what I believe James had, an S4, was spot on. I love looking at the Espirit, it has the right lines for a mid-engined sports car, and if I could have one I wouldn't hesitate. Sure, it may not be the impressive, go-anywhere version that James seemed to have bagged, but if money was no object, I would probably enjoy updating the Espirit for the current day. Gorgeous car. Just wish Lotus had gone ahead with that concept they had a little while ago, I'm pretty sure that would have sold well.

Clarkson's Porsche felt like a safe choice when he rocked up, but it was nice to see him in a 928 again, since I believe he had that red one in the cheap Porsche challenge Top Gear did way back. Always had a soft spot for the front engined Porsches. My favourite had always been a 944 Cabriolet S2 after having the picture of a red one in a set of Top Trumps.

Hammond, I know he has a thing for muscle cars, I can't blame him I love the look and sound of them and would love to drive one some day. Surprised he picked a muscle car for this challenge, for some reason a TVR V8S popped into mind for him. Gorgeous car the Mach 1, and I actually liked the green paintjob, but that DAMN hood intake, what a monstrosity.

As for the episode, I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the second part, but I'm definitely loving all the imagery of the Espirit.

 

[Tyger]

In fairness, the Lotus jibes quickly gave way to an acknowledgment of how hardy and badass it was. It's "Esprit" by the way, not "Espirit"...common mistake

 

[MUSC4EVER]

Enjoyed it last night, Clarkson's reason for picking the Porsche was touching and the funniest part was when they put Peugeot Stickers on Hammonds Mustang to make it more reliable, Cant wait for tonight!!

 

[andrea]

Holy crap, May! That looked painful.

 

[Akmuq]

Those Argentinians are pathetic.

 

[andrea]

Those Argentinians are *****.

 

[Ninners]

That wasn't on.

 

[Roo]

Those Argentinians are pathetic.

Those Argentinians are *****.

I think it's worth pointing out that "those Argentinians" refer soley to the members of the mobs and not to Argentinians in general.

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It's a pity it ended that way, as up to then it was one of the better road trips they've done, certainly the best of the last 3 or 4 years.

There should also be more 928 and Mach 1 pickups. I do, out of curiosity, wonder where the cars are now.

 

[mattythedog]

They rather ruined their tourism advert there. Interesting that there was no sign of the 3 presenters in that escape footage- I wonder if they were more carefully shepherded to safety.

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

I do, out of curiosity, wonder where the cars are now.

They were picked up by police and later impounded, and were either going to be crushed or auctioned off. Apparently the BBC tried to get them back (presumably just for storage sake or perhaps they wanted to film something extra with them back in the UK), but Argentinian law states that the owner has to be there when they pick it up; considering the somewhat frosty reception the three presenters would get, I doubt they went through with it.

 

[Roger the Horse]

So Argentina basically just proved that it has a useless police force that can't adequately control a clearly violent and dangerous mob...

 

[Liquid]

Actually very disappointed with that second part. It paled compared to the first part, wasn't really interested until the mobs appeared.

Diplomacy: we keep the islands but call them Malvinas.

 

[andrea]

I think it's worth pointing out that "those Argentinians" refer soley to the members of the mobs and not to Argentinians in general.

C'mon. You don't have to spell it out for people.

 

[Wiegert]

I wonder if they would have encountered one of those mobs sooner if they hadn't taken what was supposed to be a direct ferry to Ushuaia.

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

It paled compared to the first part, wasn't really interested until the mobs appeared.

I get the feeling there was a chunk of stuff that was filmed for the actual trip but got left on the cutting room floor to make way for more of the mob stuff at the end instead. I seem to recall paparazzi caught them at an actual ski resort doing handbrake turns and stuff (practising for car football I imagine?) with the camera team which didn't seem to make it in.