Top Gear: Series 19

oldbag said:
Part 2 is better than part 1 was.
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I'd say the exact opposite. Part one showed the effect of the country on the presenters, and much of their reaction seemed genuine. Part two was back to all the scripted stuff, all exactly as before. And a LOT of re-shooting. Was I the only one who spotted the constantly changing wheels on the Impreza, long before it got to the bumpy bit? It alternated between two sets, with no pattern. The shots taken genuinely were the the five single-spoke after-markets, and then some fill-in shots showed the official five double-spoked wheels. And at some point they either used another car, or gave it a clean.
 
I wonder what the production time is actually like with regards to prop building/development - i.e the team/man hours involved in building a raft for the cars to go on.

Still think it's pretty ridiculous the way they pretend it's them who build everything - yes, it's part of the entertainment value but everyone in the known universe is wise to the fact that it isn't them so why not involve the crew, at least by mentioning the fact that they built the devices etc.

Jeremy definitely developed that remote control spy chopper in his garden!

It would be more entertaining if they adopted a Long Way Down/Round approach, involving the camera and support crews. That technique is far more entertaining and much more of an adventure to watch than snipped together bits of footage of them doing silly things like pulling onto the wrong side of the road and pretending James didn't know - seriously!

But hey, what do I know :p

Dumbed down for the masses and all that ;)
 
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What i thought was interesting was just how many references they made to all the stuff that goes on behind the camera.

They mentioned the car with the producers in, they mentioned the support truck they had full of spare tyres, they had shots of the massive film crew that follow them around etc..

People have complained before about "how staged" it is, and i think this was a nod those people, that no it isn't a case of 3 blokes randomly go off into the desert with 3 cars and find out what happens, but without turning it into a documentary.
 
Yeah, they've done that for a while.

Still, it doesn't take away from the fact that Hammond supposedly managed to single-handedly weld together his wish bone!

I hate to be one of the 'oh its staged' naysayers but in my personal opinion, this episode has been the worst 'special' I've seen - because it was too edited/staged. I've thoroughly enjoyed every other special and occasionally watch them on repeat! Favourite being Arctic and Vietnam. This one was just too bodged together. No glimpse of an adventure story here, despite being in two parts. What a waste!

I saw little emotion with regards to struggle, progression, elation, enjoyment etc etc through the countries.

I shall continue to watch Top Gear though because I love it! Just my opinion of this particular episode.
 
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Some people seem to see too much past the entertainment portion of the programme, do you people (You know who you are) sit at home dissecting everything you watch saying "nah, would never happen /popcorn?" :eek:

That said, the African A-Team music was :D
 
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