So did anyone watch the "new" Top Gear?

[SeriousSam]

Watching Matt LeBlanc try to be professional and not shout at Eddie Jordan for being a complete muppet was amusing... at some point he is going to let rip and that I think is when the fun will actually start.

[peterb]

Watching Matt LeBlanc try to be professional and not shout at Eddie Jordan for being a complete muppet was amusing... at some point he is going to let rip and that I think is when the fun will actually start.

That almost (but not quite) makes me want to watch it

[StealyClint]

They really need to get rid of Chris Evans he is absolutely the worst kind of wet politicly correct banal presenter that the BBC so loves which is why he is so wrong for top gear.

[TheAnimus]

Clarkson killed the original over a catering issue. It would be interesting to see how much clarkson can be forgiven for by his fanboys....

No he didn't. The guy had a veritable nervous breakdown.

To say it was a catering issue, when someone is awaiting biopsy results, has been through a long day of work and heavy drinking is missing the point, it was the straw that broke the back a camel that shouldn't have been working at the time.

Alcohol dependency is no joke, combined with stresses of life. The psychical violence is deplorable and completely unacceptable, absolutely. But to suggest it's just a catering issue is overly trivialising things.

What I find amusing, is lots of people who are a bit left and normally excuse people from their actions are so quick to call for blood in this specific circumstance.

[Zak33]

A,great episode...AND...funny and well thought out challenge

Watching that poor innocent merc get it's tank ripped off by Eddie J while he was dwelling on his own prowess while hoping Texas would be impressed was a great scene....

Matt L B made me laugh AGAIN.....that's twice ever.

I think it's going to work:-)

[Saracen]

No he didn't. The guy had a veritable nervous breakdown.

To say it was a catering issue, when someone is awaiting biopsy results, has been through a long day of work and heavy drinking is missing the point, it was the straw that broke the back a camel that shouldn't have been working at the time.

Alcohol dependency is no joke, combined with stresses of life. The psychical violence is deplorable and completely unacceptable, absolutely. But to suggest it's just a catering issue is overly trivialising things.

What I find amusing, is lots of people who are a bit left and normally excuse people from their actions are so quick to call for blood in this specific circumstance.

IIRC, more like a long week, at the end of a series of long weeks after the series was extended. And, not all that long after his mum died.

Still, punching someone is a bit of a no-no, and doing it at work puts the employer on the spot too. And JC was already on a final warning.

All told, a right mess with no easy option.

[Raz316]

I really enjoyed the second episode, I think the mix of guests was quite good and it's nice to see 4x4 cars challenged as such. Tinie Tempah and Matt Le Blanc seemed like a genuinely good match as well, not like the some what forced "bantz" between Chris and Matt.

I think the new track could be quite a lot of fun, but the studio segments aren't quite there yet.

Also gotta say, I don't miss Clarkson yelling at things he's pretending he doesn't understand and/or all of the completely unscripted and real and unscripted mess ups that always seemed to happen, you know... like setting fire to a car wash, caravan, a small country and the like.

[directhex]

Also gotta say, I don't miss Clarkson yelling at things he's pretending he doesn't understand and/or all of the completely unscripted and real and unscripted mess ups that always seemed to happen, you know... like setting fire to a car wash, caravan, a small country and the like.

And on that bombshell...

[virtuo]

I thought episode 2 was quite good, even with CE trying his best to ruin it.

MLB and EJ made the feature entertaining and again it was well shot. I thought Jensen Button was great too, I remember he was rumoured to be presenting it and after seeing him throwing the 675 round while still being chatty and entertaining I still think he'd be a perfect drop-in replacement for CE.

The studio segments are still dire. I don't mind CEs breakfast show but he winds me right up on actual TV. Getting the celebrities to read someone else's bio off an autocue is awkward and getting the audience to shout about "which car is better" to hide the fact the presenters have literally zero car knowledge beyond their expensive Ferrari collection isn't great TV either.


One thing I have felt in both episodes is how much you feel like you are having your nose rubbed in the fact they can afford better cars than you, first with Gordon Ramsay who had nothing to say other than to brag about how TWO LaFerraris, and this week CE bragging about how he managed to buy a 675LT when they are sold out.

I know JC, JM and RH did similar, but I never really felt like they were bragging so much - they'd tell us about the cars, do features in them and it wasn't always the latest greatest limited supercars.


An improvement, but it's not quite there yet.

[Lanky123]

Good of the BBC to air this week's show directly after the repeat of 'Dara and Ed's Great Big Adventure' on Sunday. That obviously isn't a show of the same budget or reach but watch it for a very clear demonstration of what Top Gear is now lacking - presenters who enjoy each other's company and can play off each other. Dara O'Briain says at the start of that show that they're 'beyond small talk'...that's all Top Gear has at the moment - awkward, scripted small talk for the most part as well.

It's not really fair to judge that after two episodes but I do start to wonder whether CE & Matt is a partnership that will ever flourish. There's no animosity but they don't seem like natural best buddies either.

[Mblaster]

I caught two minutes, where CE was apeing JC in reading out the lap times, and then changed channels.

The parts where CE tries to mimic Clarkson are the worst part of the show by far, and are all too common, however overall it's not too bad.

I'd love to see Chris Harris swapped in instead of Evans!

[shaithis]

I personally thought it was dire

Never been a Chris Evans fan and Joey it far to American for my liking.....plus they don't seem to gel together.

Not sure I will be tuning in again.

[Heimanyip]

It feels awful tbh, all the shouting inside the cars just feels like they are trying too hard to mimic the old trio.

[ik9000]

I've only watched EP1 so far - will squeeze in two when I can. The first thing I noticed was CE trying to be JClarkson in the opening credits. Then trying to be him in various other stages. MLB is ok, liked his bits and my wife clicked with the German Sabrine, but CE just seemed to not have the stage presence (for want of a better word) nor gravitas to pull it all off. You hear Juliet, you see the credits roll, and you wait for that Clarkson "Tonight..." and get a whiney impersonation, your heart sinks and you go "oh-dear"

And as for scripted - if anyone expects me to believe that CE giving MLB a "love bump" caused that car to magically restart they need their head looking at. As staged as anything that has gone before - and so badly enacted it was truly awful.

[Smudger]

Watched ep 2 last night, thought it was better, the groups test was actually entertaining...

[Bagnaj97]

and I'm looking forward to the Tesla model X next week!

Which didn't appear I went back and watched the end of last weeks episode on Iplayer and MLB definitely said Tesla Model X this week.

But they said it's in next week's show. I hope.