Top Gear returns... [Archive] - Motorsport Forums

Dave B

17th July 2007, 17:28

...for one episode.

Ahead of it's autumn run, there's a one-off Top Gear special on Wednesday next week:

Top Gear Polar Challenge

Wednesday 25 July
8:00pm - 9:00pm
BBC2
In Top Gear's most ambitious and arduous challenge to date Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond attempt to race from Northern Canada to the North Pole, 450 miles away. The terrain in between is some of the toughest on earth - a mix of mountainous land masses and jagged sea ice where temperatures can drop to a mind-numbing minus 65 degrees Celcius. Jeremy and James will be driving a specially adapted pick up truck whilst Richard will be travelling on something a little less high tech - a sled pulled by a team of ten Canadian Inuit Dogs.

VIDEO Plus+: 9309

Repeat, Subtitled, Widescreen, High definition, Audio-described

(Radio Times says it's a repeat. I'm sure this is a new episode :\ )

J4MIE

17th July 2007, 17:47

Sounds good :up:

Caroline

17th July 2007, 18:00

DonJippo

17th July 2007, 21:54

Where is Stig?

Tomi

17th July 2007, 21:58

Where is Stig?

you should know where he is :)

Crypt

17th July 2007, 22:20

Where is Stig?

Legend has it, he races pods on Tatooine in his off season.

Daniel

17th July 2007, 22:43

If you want a dose of James May he's got his own show on at the moment. Was on in two 30 minute episodes tonight on BBC2 from 8-9 :)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctwo/noise/?programme=james_may :)

Mark

18th July 2007, 08:56

In the Sunday 8pm-9pm slot there are still, I think, 3 episodes of Coast left to go in this series. It's been put back by a week due to Wimbledon overrunning.

Flat.tyres

18th July 2007, 09:47

Where is Stig?

Eddie Irvine.

Mark

18th July 2007, 10:16

It's definitely a new episode, in part being used to promote Heroes starting on the BBC

A special episode of Top Gear has been lined up to lead into the terrestrial premiere of Heroes on BBC Two next Wednesday.

The BBC is billing the Top Gear special - which will also be available in high definition - as the "most ambitious and arduous challenge" yet.

"Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond attempt to race from Northern Canada to the North Pole, 450 miles away," the BBC announced. "The terrain in between is some of the toughest on earth - a mix of mountainous land masses and jagged sea ice where temperatures can drop to a mind-numbing minus 65 degrees Celsius. Jeremy and James will be driving a specially adapted pick up truck whilst Richard will be travelling on something a little less high tech - a sled pulled by a team of ten Canadian Inuit Dogs."

The hour-long special will air at 8pm before NBC's Heroes makes its terrestrial debut at 9pm.

BeansBeansBeans

18th July 2007, 13:19

Eddie Irvine.

Wrong!

Black Stig - Perry McCarthy
White Stig - Ben Collins

Some manufacturers specify their own driver, which means that occasionally a rogue Stig appears. ie - Heikki Kovalainen (Renault R24) and Darren Turner (Aston Martin DBR9).

Daniel

18th July 2007, 13:23

Wrong!

Black Stig - Perry McCarthy
White Stig - Ben Collins

Some manufacturers specify their own driver, which means that occasionally a rogue Stig appears. ie - Heikki Kovalainen (Renault R24) and Darren Turner (Aston Martin DBR9).

I think people just like ignoring commonly known facts so they can have their own hypothesis :mark:

p.s I think it's Damon Hill :p

stevie_gerrard

20th July 2007, 17:45

i look forward to it :up:

Sleeper

21st July 2007, 00:52

Top Gear followed by Heroes, cant wait. :D

jim mcglinchey

25th July 2007, 23:11

..can anyone settle an argument? How exactly is the christian name " "Ranulph", as in the arctic explorer, pronounced? I thought it was pronounced Rafe but my better half maintains that its pronounced just as its spelt. Not that I watched Top Gear, of course, I just caught the end when I turned on for Heroes...

Brown, Jon Brow

25th July 2007, 23:17

Ranulf

BDunnell

25th July 2007, 23:38

Never mind his first name — the Twistleton Wykeham Fiennes bit is even more impressive.

stevie_gerrard

26th July 2007, 02:06

thought it was a good episode, another good challenge :up: Hopefully they can continue the trend when they bring back the series

LotusElise

26th July 2007, 14:16

SEATFreak

26th July 2007, 15:02

Well, I for one thought it was brilliant!

Real "edge of seat" stuff finding out if Hammond could, with huskies and sledges, something far more aclimatised to the conditions and terrain, beat a tough pickup truck (Toyota Hillux) which could have broken down in any number of ways in such tough unforgiving terrain/conditions. In the end I genuinely felt a little devastated, despite the ground made up, Richard didn't win. But I quickly forgot it.

Funny and dramatic. Well done TG! :up:

Robinho

26th July 2007, 20:05

i thought they could have at least showed Hammond making it to the pole, after everything he's been through just making it was quite a real acheivement that i for one would have liked to have seen being celebrated.

but everything else - great, very funny, May's phone call to Hammond to say "bad luck" was awesome

jonas_mcrae

26th July 2007, 21:53

f*ck I missed it! when are they goig to re-transmit it?

GridGirl

26th July 2007, 22:05

I missed it too. I thought today was Wednesday. Doh. Its repeated at 8.00pm on Sunday Jonas. :)

J4MIE

26th July 2007, 22:22

Excellent :D :up:

Hazell B

27th July 2007, 19:21

Its repeated at 8.00pm on Sunday Jonas. :)

And about a dozen times over the next six weeks on BBC3 no doubt :s

What's the betting Matty battering her dogs when they fought will get some complaints generated? What's the other betting that it was only left in the show in order to generate complaints? ;)

donKey jote

27th July 2007, 20:59

Just saw it, was ok I guess. Clarkson eating bolts was funny :laugh:

LotusElise

27th July 2007, 22:12

What's the betting Matty battering her dogs when they fought will get some complaints generated? What's the other betting that it was only left in the show in order to generate complaints? ;)

I'm surprised they left that in actually.
I've had the privilege of driving sled dogs myself and that's sometimes the only way you can separate them if they decide to fall out with each other. Other than that, I have never come across a dogsledder using a whip and it is much frowned upon in Sweden, where I did my sledding.

stevie_gerrard

27th July 2007, 23:01

I was gutting to find that there isn't a big pole sticking out where the North pole is :p : so apart from not showing Hammond finish, it was very very good :)

Donney

28th July 2007, 11:18

I liked it very much, I loved the Gin and Tonic bit.

DaveTaylor

28th July 2007, 12:58

Wrong!

Black Stig - Perry McCarthy
White Stig - Ben Collins

Some manufacturers specify their own driver, which means that occasionally a rogue Stig appears. ie - Heikki Kovalainen (Renault R24) and Darren Turner (Aston Martin DBR9).

Yes is 100% correct that some car makers prefer it if the stig is their own test driver or a driver of their choice. This is how it goes or top gear don't get the car to test.
I have been told this by a current GT and le man driver.

if the manufacturers don't specify a driver then top gear use their own stig and who this is is the mystery

Hazell B

28th July 2007, 19:26

Ben Collins. Mystery solved/no mystery :mark:

Lotus, I'm officially jealous of your dog sled experience. Frankly, when my dogs kick off at each other for more than a few seconds the only way to stop them is put a boot in or they'd kill each other. I'm sure it was edited in purely to get complaints.

Mp3 Astra

28th July 2007, 20:03

Great episode it was apart from, as you say, them not showing Hammond finish. I hadn't seen the presenters in that light before, and I found it funny but also an eye-opener as to how tough you have to be to do a north pole expedition.

Mark

30th July 2007, 12:06

What they didn't mention is how they got themselves and the cars back again after they'd reached the pole.

Daniel

30th July 2007, 12:08

What they didn't mention is how they got themselves and the cars back again after they'd reached the pole.
Perhaps the car wasn't really that low on fuel ;)

GridGirl

30th July 2007, 13:17

I just figured they had one of the support vehicles carrying extra fuel.

Hazell B

30th July 2007, 17:24

I doubt greatly anyone drove back when helicopters are easier.

jim mcglinchey

30th July 2007, 19:37

Perhaps the car wasn't really that low on fuel ;)

How dare you cast dispersions..sorry, make that aspersions, on the integrity of the BBC.

Lalo

23rd August 2007, 16:15

Too bad it's not showed over here. What a great show

Dave B

17th September 2007, 12:45

October 7th, in case you didn't know.

New series :D

Mark

17th September 2007, 12:48

Get in! :D

BeansBeansBeans

17th September 2007, 14:22

£10 says that at least one episode will feature Hammond and Clarkson going down a hill in a bathtub, whilst an ageing northern battle-axe hits May with a rolling pin.

Captain VXR

17th September 2007, 16:24

Cant wait to see Britcar 24hrs :D

Hazell B

17th September 2007, 20:06

They filmed a Veyron (or whatever they call it) against a jet fighter a few weeks ago for this series. We passed by and I think it was Hammond.

There was also a McLaren tech truck coming out of a certain airfield (Hammond knows the place well ;) ) last week when we come out of a friend's farmyard nearby and I'm told that was something for Top Gear. We got stuck behind the truck until it got stuck in a narrow lane. I'd have stayed and laughed, but when you can go round via fields and you're late for tea you just don't bother :laugh:

I'm still mildly annoyed they cut all Hammond's tests after his accident, including the Alfa one they filmed our dog for :mark:

Iain

17th September 2007, 21:02

I couldn't believe it (well actually I could knowing the Great British Public) when I read in the letters page of The Sun (it was cheap ok :p : ), someone referring to Hammond's crash in the Britcar 24 Hours, saying maybe he should give up driving fast for the sake of his family, after another "near miss". :rolleyes:

It was a motor race, accidents happen and I understand one of the Stigs crashed as well at one point. :p :

CCFanatic

17th September 2007, 23:14

Lalalalalalala...

We get episodes that are, I think a season old. Tonight we get the episode where Brian Cox does the celebrity lap, they go on a camping trip, and some other stuff. It is labeled as a 2006 episode.

rah

18th September 2007, 06:57