BBC Top Gear - Series 23 discussion thread

Tummy · 31 May 2016 at 13:06

Yeh, that's a totally valid point Marky. I just thought Evans was being 'shouty' but you're right, clearly trying to imitate Clarkson's loud style.

Vonhelmet · 31 May 2016 at 13:15

And imitating Hammond in his voiceovers, with the little chirpy upswings in pitch every few words.

Tummy · 31 May 2016 at 13:21

LeBlanc was good, thought his style was a nice change from Top Gear's usual style (even under the 'others').

4T5 · 31 May 2016 at 14:06

I thought everybody would be happy that the show has stayed the same & they haven't changed much at all apart from teh 3 presenters.
Hammond & May should have stuck about & did the show with Matt Le Blanc & then we could have left Chris Evans out of it, JD.

Akagi · 31 May 2016 at 14:09

Can't agree with the above at all, if those two had stayed we wouldn't have The Grand Tour, and Matt LeBlanc is no Jezza. It just wouldn't have worked properly.

4T5 · 31 May 2016 at 14:11

I don't want him to be a Jezza though just somebody who presents a show I watch.

Akagi · 31 May 2016 at 14:15

Those three need to be together.

/bromantic mode

4T5 · 31 May 2016 at 14:21

Just a shame Jezza messed it up for everybody, Them 2, himself & the audience & fans of Top Gear.

CGrieves · 31 May 2016 at 14:32

The producer's role in Top Gear was to provide situations where Clarkson/Hammond/May could play off each other and make us laugh. The formula was simple, and it's existence and success had nothing to do with cars- the reqal currency- the chemistry- could equally have worked as a cookery show, cricket commentary or science documentary. Unfortunately the BBC seem to think all they need is some components; silly situations, oversaturated slowmo footage and well-known TV personalities. Some people will still like it, but lightning has definitely not stuck twice.

I can't wait for Prime's show, you can bet the team's digs back at the BBC will be slightly more subtle than shouting "We got custody (of the Stig)" at a confused rent-a-crowd audience while bent over double with a clenched fist.

Steampunk · 31 May 2016 at 14:35

4T5 said:
I thought everybody would be happy that the show has stayed the same & they haven't changed much at all apart from teh 3 presenters.
Hammond & May should have stuck about & did the show with Matt Le Blanc & then we could have left Chris Evans out of it, JD.

The show was custom fitted for Clarkson/Hammond/May. The same format with new people was never going to work.

They should have changed it completely. How many people kept saying the format was "tired" but the BBC kept the format anyway? Sure, people would have complained that a new format wasn't Top Gear, but changing the people has done that anyway.

Akagi · 31 May 2016 at 14:37

4T5 said:
Just a shame Jezza messed it up for everybody, Them 2, himself & the audience & fans of Top Gear.

Indeed. Though arguably it worked out quite well, they now have a new show which they have more control over, with a much bigger budget to play with.

Rroff · 31 May 2016 at 14:40

Steampunk said:
The show was custom fitted for Clarkson/Hammond/May. The same format with new people was never going to work.

They should have changed it completely. How many people kept saying the format was "tired" but the BBC kept the format anyway? Sure, people would have complained that a new format wasn't Top Gear, but changing the people has done that anyway.

I didn't mind too much about that aspect, I kind of liked having 2 stars going head to head on a track that wasn't just a plain circuit - but they needed to tweak the studio bit to make it more interesting and speed it along - while it was mildly interesting to know what cars they first started with spending a fair amount of time discussing it wasn't interesting and the whole oh well you once spent 30 seconds in a Porsche or whatever was just stupid.

4T5 · 31 May 2016 at 14:43

Steampunk said:
The show was custom fitted for Clarkson/Hammond/May. The same format with new people was never going to work.

Was just the same old Top Gear to me just with a couple of new presenters.

Akagi · 31 May 2016 at 14:45

4T5 said:
Was just the same old Top Gear to me just with a couple of new presenters.

Which is fine, it just means you watch the show for the content and the focus on cars, rather than the presenters, like a lot of us.

Get out.

TriedandTested · 31 May 2016 at 14:47

Evans' commentary around the race track was woeful.

Ramsay's key in a box thing was cringe worthy, and no one seemed to care.

LeBlanc was actually OK. Kinda like seeing him in the show and his delivery was good.

estebanrey · 31 May 2016 at 14:48

Acme said:
Indeed. Though arguably it worked out quite well, they now have a new show which they have more control over, with a much bigger budget to play with.

..on a medium that even if every single subscriber watches it, they still wouldn't get half the viewing figures Top Gear did on Sunday. As Chris Evans correctly said 'they've got tens times the audience, with a fraction of the viewers'.

One accolade I can see the Grand Tour getting is the first TV show in history to have been watched illegally more times than legally.

Because of this I don't think the current budget Amazon are prepared to give them is sustainable in the long turn and would bet a lot of money now they won't get anywhere near it if it survives to a fourth 'season'. At £160m for 36 episodes/3 seasons and £79 for a Prime subscription, they would need The Grand Tour to pull in 2 million new customers over that time for the show to break even. To put that in context, Prime currently has 2 millions subs, so in short Amazon are banking on one show to double their customer base which ain't gonna happen.

Akagi · 31 May 2016 at 15:26

estebanrey said:
..on a medium that even if every single subscriber watches it, they still wouldn't get half the viewing figures Top Gear did on Sunday. As Chris Evans correctly said 'they've got tens times the audience, with a fraction of the viewers'.

I'm willing to bet that they are happier though. Its not like they need to earn stacks of cash anymore.

estebanrey said:
Because of this I don't think the current budget Amazon are prepared to give them is sustainable in the long turn and would bet a lot of money now they won't get anywhere near it if it survives to a fourth 'season'. At £160m for 36 episodes/3 seasons and £79 for a Prime subscription, they would need The Grand Tour to pull in 2 million new customers over that time for the show to break even. To put that in context, Prime currently has 2 millions subs, so in short Amazon are banking on one show to double their customer base which ain't gonna happen.

You say that, but I signed up to prime primarily for the show. I'm sure plenty of others have as well. Perhaps not 2 million, but who knows?

4T5 · 31 May 2016 at 15:58

Acme said:
Which is fine, it just means you watch the show for the content and the focus on cars, rather than the presenters, like a lot of us.

Get out.

Nick1881 · 31 May 2016 at 16:02

It was awful, I hated it. About halfway through I was wondering if it was over yet.

I've deleted it from my series link and won't be watching again. I hate Evans anyway but thought I'd give it a try, he's even more annoying than I imagined.

estebanrey · 31 May 2016 at 16:25

Acme said:
You say that, but I signed up to prime primarily for the show. I'm sure plenty of others have as well. Perhaps not 2 million, but who knows?

That may well be true, and I'm sure a they'll get a few thousand that do but they will make a loss on the first three seasons of the Grand Tour without selling the rights to a major broadcaster.

Amazon didn't bid £160m because they thought that was what the show was worth, they did it to blow ITV out of the water and was a bit of a vanity project for them (look, we've nabbed one of the most in-demand presenting teams from under the noses of the biggest commercial broadcaster in the country).