As Jezza himself said, it was good to have Top Gear back in its normal Sunday evening time slot. Sunday January 23, 2011 saw a welcome return for the boys, and despite the previous year's hullabaloo surrounding his royal silliness the Stig - yeah, he revealed his identity didn't he? Who was he again? - things have picked up pretty much as normal.
Is Top Gear a Waste of the Licence Fee? No!
So, they have ridiculously expensive cars that no-one will ever get to drive, and film them in the most beautiful, extraordinary ways imaginable. But seriously, have you seen other motoring shows? The cars look like ugly metal machines. On Top Gear they're treated as creatures of sublime beauty, shot using filtered lenses in stunning locations by a production team who look as though they've trained under Christopher Doyle.
Granted, this probably costs a fair bit more to do, but boy do they do it in style. Top Gear takes a lot of flack from the serious media commentator types, but just because the programme lacks pretention and the presenters enjoy a bit of banter doesn't mean it should be written off as the butt of the intelligentsia's jokes. Gawd, last night's episode even had a top tip. Clarkson's entirely apropos rant about fuel prices ended with the advice to 'try not to brake as much, it wastes fuel'. Sound motoring advice, beautiful cars to look at, what's not to love?
James Tests the Ariel Atom V8
James May's piece about the new V8 Ariel Atom kicked off proceedings on last night's show. Now, they've looked at the speedy, sporty little Atom before on Top Gear, so what's different? Well, this time it has a spoiler! That's not all, of course, because unlike the original V6, which was silver, this one comes in gold, and it also has a teeny weeny little windscreen. But the main difference is the increase in speed the Ariel Atom's been afforded. It beat the the Lamborghini Gallardo and the Lexus LFA hands down in a race from 0 - 100mph - 0, and has proudly taken it's place as the fastest car round the Top Gear track, with new Stig setting a time of 1.15.1.
But then you would kind of expect that in a car that costs £150,000 and doesn't even come with doors.
Jeremy Clarkson and The Skoda Yeti
Jezza dedicated his turn on the show to extolling the virtues of his new favourite car the Skoda Yeti. He did this, in his usual inimitable style, by forcing some poor sap to get a tattoo done in the back of the car, whilst he drove around a field. Either this was to prove ride comfort, to show people will do anything to get on the telly, or both. There was some other stuff to flaunt how great the Yeti is too, involving firemen, dogs, Sienna Miller in the glove box, driving through a burning building and a helicopter landing on the roof. Which just goes to show how much trouble it is to demonstrate that Skoda's aren't rubbish any more. Ok, we believe you Jeremy!
And Hammond Drives a Porsche 911, Again
It was no surprise to see Richard Hammond's obsession with Porsche 911's continue, but at least the report made for interesting viewing. Hammond took the £131,000 Turbo S Cabriolet for a spin on the salt plains, and raced it against its jurassic predecessor the VW Beetle. The twist was Hammond raced along the ground, whereas the Beetle was dropped from a helicopter. The Beetle won. Does that mean it's a better car than the Porsche? Possibly not, but the way the poor old wreck was crumpled up on the ground didn't half give it the look of a classic Jaguar - which makes it cooler than a Porsche in my book anyway.
Long Live Top Gear
So series 16 is already off to a flying start. The Ariel Atom is at the top of the track leaderboard, and ever-amiable comedian John Bishop has managed to nudge Tom Cruise off the top of the 'star in a reasonably priced car' segment. That's probably pleased a lot of people! How much steam is left in this show? Well, it seems to be a commonly asked question, but Top Gear is actually ridiculously tight and well run. When things get sluggish, they just change it about. Certainly on the strength of last night's opening episode it would seem the show still has a fair bit of mileage left in it, and that's even before mentioning the unfeasibly cool Jaguar hybrid concept car (the CX-75) they unveiled last night... More like this please!
Top Gear is currently showing on Sunday nights, 8pm on BBC 2.
Michelle Strozykowski - Michelle Strozykowski lives in a small brewing town smack bang in the middle of England. She loves films, especially arty European ones ...
