BBC | 2008 | 364 mins. | Not Rated
First launched in 1977, Top Gear is one of the UK’s longest running shows and has an audience estimated at 350 million viewers worldwide. When the show first began airing, it was a fairly typical half-hour news magazine type series about cars. Presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who helped the original series reach its peak in the 1990s, pitched a new version of the series that began running in 2002. With each episode extended to an hour, a standard episode usually begins with an automobile profile—the latest from Ferrari or Porsche, for instance. Then the car is handed over to the team’s tame racing driver, a shadowing anonymous figure known only as The Stig. There is usually some joke surrounding his arrival (“some say, he has no nipples…”) and then the vehicle is timed around the show’s track. Then, there is the news segment (always tongue in cheek) followed by another spotlight, and then the main feature begins.
Nearly every episode of Top Gear has a competition—between Jeremy and the others, between Richard in a car and some guy doing something athletically crazy, between James and a bullet train—and the results are spread out over the course of the rest of the hour. Add in a look at the Cool Wall (which new models are cool and which don’t make the grade) and a sequence where a “star” (Simon Cowell) is placed in the show’s reasonable priced car. They race around the track and their times are compared to those of other “stars” that have appeared on the show.
Clarkson, along with his fellow presenters Richard Hammond and James May, gave us just six episodes during season 11, but that doesn’t mean the quality was lacking. Episode one has a Ferrari 430 Scuderia review, and since there’s always a challenge, this episode has the guys making their own police car based on a used and much cheaper purchase, and the humor that results as they try to put this thing together is off the charts. The show still has one news segment, and this time it’s an investigation of fuel economy. Comedians Alan Carr and Justin Lee Collins are the Stars in the Reasonably Priced Car.
Episode two features reviews of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, Audi RS6, and the Mercedes-Benz CLK63 AMG Black Series. The featured race is the Audi RS6 vs. French skiers, and Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks) and Peter Firth (Equus, Tess) are the Stars in the Reasonably Priced Car. Episode three features a review of the Bentley Brooklands, a cheap cars challenge—Alfa Romeo for £1000. James Corden (Gavin & Stacey) and Rob Brydon are the Stars in the Reasonably Priced Car. Episode four features reviews of the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione and Nissan GT-R, the feature race is a Nissan GT-R VS Japanese Bullet Train from Hakui to Chiba. Fiona Bruce and Kate Silverton are the Stars in the Reasonably Priced Car. The highlight of this episode is the guy’s argument that that the British Alfa Romeo is less about driving efficiency and more about driving experience, despite repeated attempts to prove them wrong. Episode five features a review of the Nissan GT-R, the featured challenge is Classic Luxury Limousines: Mercedes-Benz 600 vs. Rolls-Royce Corniche and Daihatsu Terios Fox Hunting. Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis are the Stars in the Reasonably Priced Car. Episode six features reviews of the Gumpert Apollo, Mitsuoka Orochi, and Mitsuoka Galue III, the feature challenge is The British (Top Gear) vs. The Germans (D Motor). Rocker Jay Kay is the Star in the Reasonably Priced Car.
Though it probably helps, these guys are so entertaining that you don’t have to love cars to enjoy Top Gear. For those of you who’ve never seen the show, be aware that the guys make no bones about the fact that they hate EVERYTHING about American cars. Yes, their constant bickering borders on childish a lot of the time, but that’s part of the fun.
Top Gear arrives in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation and the episodes are straight from the American and Canadian broadcasts. While colors aren’t particularly vibrant, the series maintains a pleasant, natural look. While there’s some edge enhancement, none of this should interfere with the viewing experience.
The Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 mix adds a nice sonic pop to the series. The electronica used to back up each segment is given some real sizzle!
Unfortunately, there are no special features.
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