RMweb Premium Torper Posted December 4, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 4, 2016 (edited) Sadly, I can't agree with Gordon and David. I'm afraid I found this episode a bit dull. The tent scenes were OK, but the Grand Tour to Venice went on for rather a long time without anything much happening except for Hammond being irritating - I think it was meant to be amusing but in the event I truly did find him irritating. As for the three cars, are we really any the wiser about any of them? Lots of pictures of them, but precious little in the way of information. It's maybe because of the move to an American company which has an American audience as its main target, but much of the zany British humour and daft stunts that made the better episodes of TG so much fun are no longer in evidence. Happily, nor was "The American" or the awful "Ebolatrack", and I suspect that the never-very-funny Celebrity Braincrash may be drawing to a close....please. DT Edited December 5, 2016 by Torper Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 I think that the old Top Gear was getting stale anyway. If it is down to Wilman and the 3 stooges to come up with ideas then it's no wonder they are running out of them. Ed 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted December 4, 2016 Share Posted December 4, 2016 I think that the old Top Gear was getting stale anyway. If it is down to Wilman and the 3 stooges to come up with ideas then it's no wonder they are running out of them. If it was so stale then why was it watched by 300 million people worldwide and earning the BBC £100 million per series in foreign sales. And why would Amazon throw $250 million at the same four people to create a show as similar as possible without stepping on the BBC's intellectual property? Anyway, if you don't like it then don't watch it. Cheers David 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Watched episode 4. It's really finding its feet now. The Porsche vs BMW segment was really well done. The challenge was like TG in its heyday - superficial, impractical and very funny. Cheers David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamie.dunn Posted December 10, 2016 Share Posted December 10, 2016 Personally I find the show quite good , I've yet to watch episode 4 but I'm currently enjoying the series. Out of the three I found episode 2 to be a little dull but that's just my opinion . On a side note I've found quite a few railway related shows using the search bar , these include Yorkshire Steam a personal favourite and various other shows based on uk heritage lines ( NYMR, WSR etc ) may be worth searching . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted December 10, 2016 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 10, 2016 I suspect it is doing what Amazon expected of it, raising the profile of Amazon Prime and drawing more people into the Prime user base. I must admit, since watching the GT I've been watching a lot more on Prime. The show probably makes life more difficult for the BBC too, despite many not liking Clarkson and TG it was a big earner for the BBC and if they cannot recapture that lost global audience then they stand to lose a lot. A secondary (but maybe more serious issue) is that as more people get drawn into on-line services then it will make the license fee steadily more difficult to sell politically I think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 I understand the somewhat boring bit in Jordan was because they were invited there by someone very high up who is a car enthusiast. Much the same reason they are currently filming in Dubai. But that should be more interesting. Cheers David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 There's something painfully obvious as the series proceeds, the new ideas simply do not exist, it is beginning to look like a caricature of it's former glory days, the cars are there, the scenery is nice, May is last, but the items like the eco cars were just so plain predictable. Rather like the mention of Last of the Summer Wine, the GT shows is on retreads at the moment, and given the massive production budget is short of the magic of the best of the BBC series. As it is on the net audience figures are impossible until the full assessment of the whole series and a lot of consumer research, but the rumour is around the net that the audience is not as big as expected. I think we may be looking at the end of an era.......unless they really come up with some cracking new ideas very soon. Stephen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted December 12, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 12, 2016 I think this is the last we will see of them as a trio, and they will not go beyond 3 series, both ideas and age. 1 good (intro superb), 2 poor, 3 very good, 4 enjoyable Programme quality is around good CHM TG Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 Mixed feelings about this latest episode. Good to see them on form again, but the main feature of the show is stretched to it's limit and ceases to become amusing or holding my interest. The SAS feature went that way and the latest on environmental vehicles suffered the same fate. Contractual issues have taken away great chunks of the show, so the replacements are mixed or padded out to fill air time vacated by previous features. I noticed the American appeared toned down a little this time, but surely this can't be a result of feedback on the show as I guess they were all recorded way before critical feedback has appeared. I just wish it could recapture it's spark, but they all seem to be trying too hard in places. If you don't have sufficient content, shorten the show and have us all screaming for more. Don't pad it out for an hour and find your audience is slipping away. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 Just watched Ep 5 and at last things seem to be settling. The sequence on the Mazda/Lotus/Alfa was so much better and bit by bit the superfluous stuff is being toned down or given less air time. An enjoyable watch.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted December 21, 2016 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 21, 2016 I thought the last episode was excellent. Hammond is over playing the idiot bit but overall it is settling down nicely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted December 21, 2016 Share Posted December 21, 2016 It is settling down now, but only to the level of the better BBC ones of a couple of years ago or more. Hammond is trying very hard to "be there" and May is beginning to yet again look as though he feels he should not be there! The car segments are great, but the rest is predictable, just like the old Benny Hill shows, the humour is flagged up too obviously, into a well rehearsed, well worn routine. Amazon are doing all right out of this, extra members on Prime, coverage, exposure with reliable content, but not the audience they expected in the UK, although the rumour is the world wide audience is steadily climbing I heard from a friend who works for the BBC, that the BBC are working on a new format for the Top Gear slot, based more on the extra team, and audience participation is heavily involved. Stephen Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted December 21, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 21, 2016 The most recent episode was the best yet. It struck me that it had the feel of Top Gear from 3 - 4 years ago. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted December 22, 2016 Share Posted December 22, 2016 Agree it was the best yet. The battleships game reminded me of caravan conkers. The laps around the movie sets were very impressive. But I think the "scales" bit was unnecessary. Cheers David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted December 24, 2016 Share Posted December 24, 2016 This week.... Schoolboy humour, GT40s and Ferrari P3s. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted December 24, 2016 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 24, 2016 I enjoyed the joke they had at Top Gear's expense when Hammond drove past the Cenotaph. This weeks episode was the best yet I thought, the James May hommage to the Ford GT40 and Ferrari P3 was superbly done whilst the Clarkson/Hammond fast Ford bit was very entertaining. The tent section seems to have found its way too, that was trying too hard and felt very contrived in the first couple of episodes but it has been getting steadily better I think. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johndon Posted December 25, 2016 Share Posted December 25, 2016 Still can't put my finger on it but, whilst it is still vastly better than new Top Gear, there is just something missing. The celebrity bit is getting beyond cringeworthy now as well... John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold adb968008 Posted December 25, 2016 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 25, 2016 (edited) Still can't put my finger on it but, whilst it is still vastly better than new Top Gear, there is just something missing. The celebrity bit is getting beyond cringeworthy now as well... John The star in the reasonably priced car... the lack of an on show celeb means there's no distraction from the trio.Perhaps they could take something from spitting image, and have a celeb interview whilst in a taxi commute... (Spitting image had prince Charles giving interviews as a taxi driver) Edited December 25, 2016 by adb968008 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertiedog Posted December 26, 2016 Share Posted December 26, 2016 It's all a bit too predictable at present, it delivers to new viewers abroad, but leaves UK viewers a bit bemused as to where the new content is. Lots of the problem is the old contracts which forbid any use of Top gear themes and forbid them presenting Motoring shows in the UK, the "UK" ones they did had no actual motoring content in the tented segments. The conditions they have to work too are very tight and run for at least a further year, when it runs out and they can do what they like. Maybe Amazon are allowing them time till the old conditions are dropped as they have a 5 year contract, treading water till they can have guests in the studio and allow them to drive, both of which are forbidden by the BBC contracts, as it was part of Top Gears Format. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted December 26, 2016 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted December 26, 2016 One of the reasons the BBC was so desperate to retain TG after the three previous hosts left was to keep the international revenue. Amazon will not be seeing the GT as a UK show but an international one and I suspect that if they wouldn't have bothered with the show (or at least not given it anything like the budget it has) if they were chasing the old TG UK audience only. Which gives the BBC a headache, as if Amazon manage to take the international market for TG then wil the BBC find another international audience? The BBC had a good scapegoat for the last series of TG flopping in Chris Evans which wasn't entirely undeserved as I found it was Chris Evans that did the most to ruin the show but it is too simplistic just to blame an individual, they have a second chance at a reboot. If it flops again then I think it'll be curtains so the pressure in on for Matt Leblanc to deliver. The question is will the international market still be there? They probably see the global star Leblanc as the ticket to international sales, which may be a good strategy and I like Leblanc but the success of the GT will I think have an effect on the value of TG internationally. Something which I find the GT has brought into focus for me is just how obsolete I think the idea of broadcast TV is for entertainment, movies etc. Why be tied to schedules and what somebody else has decided to put in a schedule if you can watch anything you like when you want to watch it with on-demand services? The Christmas TV schedules used to be a huge battle between BBC and ITV and companies made a real effort to provide something special, these days it is becoming almost an irrelevance I think. Yesterday the only broadcast TV I watched was Doctor Who and I very rarely watch broadcast TV. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted December 26, 2016 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 26, 2016 One person has really screwed up the BBC and has cost them the following. Formula 1 coverage Clarkson Foisted the Voice on us That is Danny Cohen, he has really screwed the BBC over. Why? 1) Stopped showing all live F1 races so he could get his mate William a music talent show gig. Howver the Voice has never done well at all. 2) Started bullying Jeremy Clarkson because he hated that type of programme. 3) Cut the budgets of major earners such as Doctor Who and Top Gear. I now think that the punch was a way of getting out of the BBC. It seemed that TG presenters were being treated a bit badly. Please note I am not condoning punching producers. The only sport I did follow was F1, not a fan of music talent shows, there are plenty on ITV anyway. I reckon most stuff I now watch since getting it is on Amazon Prime. Oh and one thing I find an instant turn off and refuse to watch are any channels with on screen logos (apart from rolling news). Yes I have not watched C5 for around a decade! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted December 27, 2016 Share Posted December 27, 2016 (edited) This needs to become a meme. Next up is a 2 part Namibia special. Released on Friday and Saturday. Cheers David Edited December 27, 2016 by DavidB-AU Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidB-AU Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 Got around to watching the Namibia special. Classic TG challenge stuff and really well done. We all know these challenges and races are staged so the fact the buggies were following existing tyre tracks didn't matter. I did think the cable car at the end was unnecessary. And the final shot showed just how inaccessible the beach was. Cheers David 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Torper Posted January 3, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 3, 2017 Just catching up.... Episode 5 was much better, back to genuine old TG standards. DT Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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