Clarkson's Amazon Prime Top Gear rival finally has a name - and it's not Gear Knobs | TechRadar
http://www.techradar.com/news/televisio ... bs-1321121

Clever - Grand Tourer/GT is a well known car acronym of course, so they have good deniability that they've gone from TG to GT....

BBC defends Top Gear following audience complaints | Television & radio | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radi ... d-laughter

Did it sound canned? I haven't watched it yet. I'm not sure I care any more lol.

"New format"? It was just the same as the last series. Apart from a couple of tweaks, the same format, furniture, and set were used.

I was expecting a complete overhaul. What did Evans do for over a year then?

Cash a massive cheque every month?

CBA to watch tonight's. other things I can be doing. May catch up with 'extra' show in the week.

I was expecting an overhaul too. I guess I won't bother with iPlayer then...

I thought tonight's show was better than last week (not that that says a lot)


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Tonight's episode was very good, IMO.

Well, he did admit to buying a very expensive McClaren in last night’s show. So....

Ouch.

They haven't included the catch up services in that figure, so it could be higher when those are released.

Unless they can pretty much double it, they've got problems.

Let us also not forget the last two Sunday evenings have been very good in terms of the weather.
There's bound to be a lot of people missing the broadcasts just because the sun is shining and it's warm.

Mark

For what it's worth, I thought the second episode was much, much better. The Mclaren segement was great fun, and Jenson Button must surely be in line for at least a guest slot like Eddie Jordan (preferably instead of, but hey, maybe that's just me!). He had the perfect balance of expertise and wit, something lacking from Mr Shouty.

The off-road challenge was good fun in most parts, although could have been more original - I'm sure the old gang did a task where they had to not spill something while driving? And trying to video wildlife in the rear camera was just silly and pointless - what did it prove in the real world or maybe I'm missing the point? There probably wasn't a point. Eddie Jordan seems to be taking on the James May role of Mr Slow and incompetent.

In general, though, I just wish they'd totally reinvented the whole thing, it feels so wrong them just copying whole segments, right down to the "Some say..." Stig intro and the "Celebrity in a rally car" bit. Matt Le Blanc adds little to the mix and is probably only there to appeal to the US market. He sounds like he's reading an autocue. This, for me, is the weak link.

Evans has a pretty good track record of putting his own mark on things, so you've got to think his hands were either tied (but then he is an Executive Producer so can't see that being the reason) or this is a case of too many meddling bosses further up the line stopping him from moving too far away from the old formula. It is a huge cash cow overseas, after all.

Thing is, it's overdue for a good old overhaul, it's just a shame Evans and Co didn't put their own stamp on the show. Still, it's early days, and I actually quite enjoyed the second episode. I think there might be a few surprises in store, they should have started the series with the second show and they wouldn't have had half the bad press they've had so far.

Which is why the catchup figures will be interesting. From next weekend it's Euro 2016 - may even be an England game on Sunday evening I think - which will be on for the rest of it's run more or less (although how far England get is anyone's guess).

They can't do much about the weather, but Euro 2016's been in the calendar for literally years. Somewhat terrible scheduling frankly. However, the counter argument to that is that Top Gear is.. or at least was.. a massively popular worldwide brand. If any sort of competition or alternative now makes it's audience collapse, that itself says something quite worrying.