Yes, the new series of Top Gear (Flop Gear, Bottom Gear, Was-Totally-Boring Gear, Was-Tempted- to-Turn- Off Gear) aired on Sunday night and as the Nations TV reminders pinged, all eyes were finally on the new TG line up as we all watched in bated breath with our blogs open and Twitter feeds at the ready to get the answer to the biggest question on everyone's minds:
"Is this going to be shit?"
Well, the answer, as I'm sure you've already read on various mediums is a resounding "YES!" From celebs to us plebs, everyone was rocking the New Top Gear boat with some even threatening to turn away from Top Gear completely. From the ironic not mentioning the old Top Gear while mentioning it thing, to the irritating 'Saturday night' cheapened feel Chris Evans brought to the proceedings, it proved to be a show that the majority of 'old' Top Gear fans just couldn't stomach.
The show began with Evans trying his attempt at a Clarkson-esque opener and geeing up the crowd but rather than getting us all going, it just seemed to come across as though Evans was given a cue card "this is a multi-million pound show for the BBC, don't fuck it up" just before recording. And so he proceeded to run about the studio like a TV intern on his first proper Television gig, shouting about how great the show's going to be while the Nation could almost be heard cringing on their sofas with their heads in their hands.
With that, we get the first car review and here is where the questions really came up. The review was exactly the same in terms of format, to the Top Gear of old; notice the talking, skidding round a corner, before more talking followed by speeding along the straight going "Whoooa!" routine all present and accounted for. But notice, Evans had said they didn't want to make comparisons to old? Funny that.
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| The new series launch failed to impress viewers on Sunday night. |
Matt LeBlanc's piece in the Normad was not too bad, it packed more punch than Evans for sure, but you could still sense that he has a lot to learn about front seating a review on a motoring show. Maybe his performance will go to the next gear in the coming weeks.
We got more ironic mentioning of the unmentionables when it came to introducing the Stig. Evans runs about yelling "We've got custody!" as if he assumes the Stig even cares who has custody of him, or indeed even knows what custody means- he is quite an obscure man after all, some say. The chemistry in this part of the show is visibly lacking somewhat between Evans and LeBlanc as they attempt the same style of banter as you may have had with Clarkson and Hammond. The laugh was there but it was more a lacklustre scoff than a laugh from me really.
And the lack of chemistry was again visible in their drive to Blackpool, it was like watching two men who had met at their mutual friends work do at the pub, it felt odd and disconnected. But at least the vicar turned up to lighten up the proceedings as by this point we all needed something to keep us from drifting off to sleep.
The 'Star in a Rally Car' bit was also a bit lacklustre. Sure it was a nice thought to add off-road sections and fluff about the stars' first and dream cars but that's all it really felt like- time dragging fluff. It was a mediocre interview from Evans and his narration of their laps was something to be desired- note such comic gems as "bit of trail breaking there" and "there's some air!". Add that to the ridiculous cheering and whooping from Evans and you have a recipe for cringeworthy television. The sheer effort he went to in order to get the audience to participate was painful and him even cheering himself on? Sounds to me like someone was enjoying the whole experience a bit too much, and sadly, much more than the Nationwide audience watching at home.
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| The boys' Amazon Prime offering The Grand Tour looks to speed into poll position against Top Gear in the race for Best Motoring Show |
So there you have it, The new series of Top Gear. Yes while we haven't seen all it can offer yet; we only saw three presenters with Sabine Schmitz appearing only for a brief cameo in one of the races with the boys, it was clear to see that this show will have the same characteristics as Evans' show TGI Friday. And if you want more evidence that the new Top Gear has sold out Saturday-night style, they've even made a side show on BBC3 called 'Extra Gear'. Yes, they want to change from the old format- after all its a new series with new presenters, but making it feel like a Saturday night Prime Time show is the completely wrong way to go about it. It's a car show, not BGT. We want fast cars, fast banter and comic car capers NOT an all singing, all dancing host that elbows their audience to cheer at every rev. It's certainly clear that improvements need to be made and sharpish before they lose the loyal TG fans for good (some of which have gone already). For me, the damage is already done, I may tune in for one more but really I can already see where my loyalty has, and will always lie: with Clarkson, Hammond and May and their most anticipated Amazon Prime Show, The Grand Tour, the name of which they only thought up a couple of months ago. For now I shall wait to see what they offer.
On that bombshell, it's time to end. Goodnight.
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