27 Not Out?

Series 27 episode 1 of Top Gear has aired.

The one I was hoping not to like.

Well, it wasn't awful.  The relationships between the three presenters is promising and given that I like all three of them then I suppose that was always likely to be the case.

The BBC are bigging it up as you would expect.  They say that the critics give it "warm praise."  But then they open up that story to the Gammons who infest the BBC News Website with the predicted result.  I do hope that anyone who reads the comments on BBC News doesn't think that they are indicative of British attitudes.

So what did I think?  I enjoyed the Ethiopia bit.  I also enjoyed the Ferrari and McLaren bit but the fact Chris had to do it just shows that we have gone from three car experts (James, Jeremy & Richard) down to two and a half car experts (Chris, Rory & Matt) down to one car expert (Chris) - this will hamper what Top Gear is meant to be and also hamper the discussions within the banter.

Based on episode 1, I am willing to give it another go - I'll probably last the series but I don't see myself being bowled over.

Goodbye, Old Friend

Yesterday, The BBC told us that Matt LeBlanc will be leaving Top Gear.

That's a shame.  I liked him in that role.  Even when he said "Top Gear" with the emphasis wrong.

 

We've still got him for the next series though - so there's no need to worry just yet.

 

Although the BBC have already started speculating about his replacement.

 

Bit soon I think.

 

Strictly speaking, they don't actually need to replace him - but three presenters does seem to work very well for this type of show.

 

They could give a bigger input to Eddie Jordan and/or the lovely Sabine Schmitz.

 

The speculation currently includes Jodie Kidd - yes, I'll give that a thumbs up.

 

There's also Guy Martin - I could see that being OK.

 

There's also Dermot O'Leary and Rebecca Jackson.

 

No thank you.

 

Maybe they should look elsewhere within the cast of Friends:

Now I really like Matthew Perry and Jennifer Aniston but I'm not sure of their motoring pedigree.  While I quite like Lisa Kudrow, her character Phoebe annoyed me beyond belief so it's a no from me.

 

No, we need to look elsewhere within the world of US sitcoms.

 

Frasier? How I Met Your Mother? Big Bang Theory?

 

Ah, got it!

 

A right-wing Clarkson-esque elderly idiot:

Duns-Folding?

Interesting story from Autoguide this week about the Top Gear Test Track.

The test track made famous by Jeremy, James & Richard but now being used by Matt, Chris & Rory.

 

Following on from the planning permission requested for a mega-motor museum in Oxfordshire, we now have a planning permission request to turn the Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey (better known as the Top Gear Test Track) into a mega-housing development.

 

Sacrilege!

 

Although it is amusing to read in the article that the Americans think Surrey has its own Secretary of State.

 

Anyway, a bit more digging brings up this Waverley Borough Council page about the proposals.

 

The page owner is Ben HAMMOND.

 

Coincidence!?

 

Yes, probably.

Edd's Gone!!!

And I don't mean Edd The Duck.    

No, I mean the only other "Ed" who spells his name with two D's - Edd China:

I was going to do a posting today about Sunday's Top Gear - I had a couple of ideas and was definitely going to mention my favourite quote of the show:

"The Suspects are Joey from Friends and a bald guy in a bad suit."

or maybe I was going to complain about them dissing the Dolomite Sprint...

...which led into Rory Reid driving the most famous car on TV (if you watch car shows) - a Mark I Golf GTi carrying Reg. number A651FEJ:

Here's Jeremy with it:

 

and here it is on Car SOS:

This may well be it again but I'm not going to find the episode in the second series of Wheeler Dealers - Trading Up to find out:

It's not appeared on For The Love of Cars yet though.

And here we arrive at the big news story of today:

Discovery today announced established automotive expert Ant Anstead is the new co-host and master mechanic on the global hit series WHEELER DEALERS. After 13 seasons, longtime co-host and lead mechanic Edd China has decided to leave the series to pursue other projects. WHEELER DEALERS will continue for a season 14 later this year with current co-host Mike Brewer who will now be joined by Anstead. Ant Anstead is the former host of the Channel 4 series “For The Love Of Cars”

Wow!

Or I could have gone with...

"Opel cleared of diesel emissions cheating by French authorities"

...an Autocar story today which comes just after it was announced that Opel was to become part of the PSA Group which is part-owned by the French authorities.

No - the Edd news is much bigger.  A bit like him.

Cool As FXXK

The Arctic Circle is pretty cool.

Or downright freezing.

And that is where they are testing the next iteration of the Black Cab.

Why? - I hear you ask.

Why? - I also hear BBC Transport correspondent Richard Westcott ask.

But he doesn't actually answer the question in that video.

Although he does in this article.

There are two reasons apparently:

• the manufacturer tests all new vehicles in extreme temperatures to see how they perform.
• it wants to sell it in polluted cities all over the world, including Moscow, which can get a little chilly in the winter.

This cab won't contribute to the pollution due to it being electric - with a little range-extender to keep it going.

Anyway, black cabs in cold places brings us, rather neatly, round to the new series of Top Gear:

and Rory Reid driving a black cab, in minus temperatures, with no heating, in Kazakhstan.

Chris Harris got to drive a Ferrari FXXK at Daytona

 

and boy did he enjoy it.

But, if only 40 were built, why did his have a number 54 on the side?

And nobody mentioned Chris Evans.

I thought they could have had a light-hearted dig like The Grand Tour boys did.  Chris himself mentioned how the newspapers said it was "better without the annoying one".

There was a mention in Extra Gear about the orginal test track being back with "all tarmac" but nothing was said about Mr.Evans.  There was a noticeable cheer from the studio audience when it was announced that the original track was back.

I agree with the studio audience and, much as I do like Chris Evans, I agree with the newspapers that it was "better without the annoying one".

Or maybe just a little cooler.

The Countdown Is Over

Carol Vorderman is dead.

Actually, she's very much alive and rocking it in the jungle and planning a round-the-world solo airplane trip.

She just pretended to be dead in the opening show of the opening series of

THE GRAND TOUR!

As did a couple of actors who I wasn't sure who they were.  I didn't recognise them and Jeremy mumbled their names but I'm glad we didn't have quarter of an hour listening to them talking about their latest projects.

So what did the BBC think of the show?

They just told us what the critics thought of the show.

So what did the critics think of the show?

They really liked it.  They described it as "filmic" which I don't reckon is a word.  Perhaps I could ask Countdown's Susie Dent.

 

I wish.

So what did I think of the show?

I thought the opening sequence went on a bit long - but I suppose that added tension and expectation and the show did last 70 minutes to make up for that.

I didn't see the point of the fight sequence - could have done without that.

Not sure about the new "Stig" - I think he may be a Trump supporter.

And I thought overall that the whole thing was...

...brilliant!!

Much as I like LeBlanc, Harris & Reid, the chemistry between Clarkson, Hammond & May is unparallelled (is that spelled correctly, Susie?)  I think the BBC need to rethink Top Gear now, admit defeat, and turn it back into a car show.

With a bit of careful juggling of free trials and having a couple of weeks break in the middle of the 12 episodes, I could possibly see the lot for free - but worst-case scenario is it costs me £11.98 - a price I'm willing to pay.  I've sorted the numbers so it's no conundrum. (more Countdown references in case you've no idea who Vorderman is)

The End of an Error

The odious Nigel Farage has resigned.

Good.  He should have gone years ago.

But his resignation is not making the headlines.

Because Chris Evans has resigned.

I feel quite sorry for him really - Chris not Nigel - he tried his best and put together a really strong team.

And it looks like that team will carry on without him - even if the Matt LeBlanc stories I reported last week are true.

It has been said that Politics has been mirroring Shakespeare or Game of Thrones lately - two subjects I know very little of.

But Top Gear has been mirroring Politics.  It's even been doing badly against the Euro.

Chris has taken the David Cameron stance rather than the Jeremy Corbyn one.  Only time will tell if Jeremy is right but I'm pretty confident Chris is.

And it looks like there won't be a replacement for him.

So Michael Gove need not put himself forward.

Rolls Royce Brexit

Last week, I decided that there could have been a Ford Brexit.

Then, the World (or Europe at least) fell apart.  We have reports of an acrimonious split and headline-hitting resignations.

Yes, apparently, Matt LeBlanc will quit Top Gear if Chris Evans isn't sacked.  It was reported by The Sun after speaking to "a source".  Now, The Sun does have quite a bit of form for publishing lies but Evans & LeBlanc do seem to be harder to find at the moment than Boris Johnson & Nigel Farage.  Evans didn't do his scheduled Radio 2 show this morning.

While we're discussing form, Top Gear has form for controversial number plates.

And last night, we saw Evans' Rolls Royce Corniche driving about part of the EU with a Brexit Number Plate:

That's  BRX 522 T  which is near enough.

5 is the number of the Top Gear episode that came straight after the Brexit vote.
2 is the number of Top Gear Presenters that include Evans and LeBlanc.
and 2 is thember of guests that we now have every week on the Top Gear sofa.

Wow.  Spooky Huh?

Everything's Going To Be All Right

I promise that this is the last Top Gear review-type thing I do for this series.

During the week I came to the revelation that Chris Evans was doomed to failure - I saw him as David Moyes trying to fill the impressive shoes of Sir Alex Ferguson.

I say "impressive" reluctantly as someone who does NOT support Man United.

But whoever took over from the red-faced one with anger-management issues was never going to win over the fans of just about the biggest franchise in the World unless the resulting performances were brilliant.

And they weren't.

So he got the push.

Then Louis Van Gaal took over.

Same result.

I saw the same thing happening with Top Gear - Chris gets the gig for one Season, then someone else takes over but doesn't improve things, then Jose Mourinho gets the job and all is well again.

But maybe, after last night's performance, the tide is turning.  I think this was the first show filmed after the disastrous reaction to show 1.

Evans was noticeably less shouty and Matt LeBlanc seemed to be leading the studio bits.  The newcomers were allowed in to comment on their films and the interview was enjoyable - although Kevin Hart had a lot to do with that and Anthony Joshua played his part too.

Overall, I thought, "Everything's Going To Be All Right." - and so did the press.

Generally. 

Here's the Mirror view and here's the Telegraph.

I think the back-room team might just be able to sort this.

Not Two Bad

Last week, I stated how new Top Gear needed three front people rather than two.

After episode 2, I still stand by that - although episode 2 was better than episode 1.  Although that may have had something to do with Eddie Jordan joining Evans & LeBlanc for the road-trip.

Still not got the chemistry working properly yet though.

The Internet seems more interested in watching Clarkson, May & Hammond assembling DHL packing boxes.

Which got me thinking.

Three middle-aged men - good chemistry - good comedy.

Now I know I've always banged on about how car shows should be presented by motoring journalists or racing drivers.

But, let's be honest, Top Gear is a comedy show with car bits in there too.

So this is who the BBC should have got in to front it...

 

They have all that is needed.

Including the cardboard boxes.

 

The Magnificent Seven

So here it is...

...in Chris Evans' own words...

The new Top Gear line-up!

Not bad - not sure I'd go as far as "magnificent" (but that's probably only because I've not heard of one of them)

Eddie Jordan was a pleasant surprise - I enjoy a dour expert who isn't afraid to put over his point and get a good argument going.

Obviously, LeBlanc came on board this time last week.

I'm also very pleased that the lovely Sabine Scmitz is in there but I also know that the "politically correct" comments will have begun - especially since the unknown guy is a "gentleman of colour" - am I allowed to say that?  I'm sure these choices will wind up many people who thoroughly deserve to be wound up.

Tough.

So, roll on May.  (not James May)

Car Matt

After much speculation, we now know the name of Chris Evans' first co-host on new Top Gear.

It's Matt LeBlanc!

This is a major departure for him.

This is because he has never starred in a show with more than one word in the title before.

Speculation in December concentrated on the names Sabine Schmitz, Chris Harris & David Coulthard.  I guess that speculation didn't look far enough away from Europe.  I would be happy if any or all of these three joined the show - it doesn't have to have exactly three presenters after all - and these three are racers or motoring journos, my favourite two categories of people to present TV car shows.

Something that Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc are not.

But Top Gear is not so much a TV car show so much as an entertainment, nay comedy, show with a big car content.

I'm very happy.  Both have proved themselves car-wise and Matt led the Star-in-a-Reasonably-Priced-Car leaderboard for quite a while.

It was always going to be a very difficult job replacing Jeremy, James and Richard. They seem to be going about it the right way.  Very impressive casting.

Now we need some very impressive writing.

Wonder if Matt knows any good comedy writers?