Completely agree. Fantastic scenary, good banter between the boys and it felt more natural than certain other specials (India...) Hammond didn't adopt his OTT persona either, which helped.
I wonder why they haven't done an Australasia special yet? Having them trek around Australia or New Zealand could be interesting.
Maybe they are doing that now, if the laps pics of James May, Jezza (and his ex mistress) are anything to go by.
The second part wasn't as good. Some people say it wasa perfect mix but it was trying to hard to be the best Top Gear ever
The best one was Bolivia one in the train forrest where little was scripted. This two part was by no means the best ever Top Gear it was good but over rated to say it was the best.
The second part wasn't as good. Some people say it wasa perfect mix but it was trying to hard to be the best Top Gear ever
The best one was Bolivia one in the train forrest where little was scripted. This two part was by no means the best ever Top Gear it was good but over rated to say it was the best.
I disagree. I thought it was one if the best so far for many series.
The second part wasn't as good. Some people say it wasa perfect mix but it was trying to hard to be the best Top Gear ever
The best one was Bolivia one in the train forrest where little was scripted. This two part was by no means the best ever Top Gear it was good but over rated to say it was the best.
Really enjoyed this TG but agree, I thought that the Bolivia episode was best and the Vietnam ep was my least fave.
Geographically, the source of a river should also be as far away from the mouth as possible. This evidence suggests that the theorem of Dr. Burkhart Waldecker and Joanna Lumley are incorrect and the theory of BBC Top Gear is correct. Though these theorem could all be incorrect as the Top Gear theory has not been proven as the source is the River Nile is still disputed to the present day.[
It seemed almost as if, when they got back and reviewed the film footage, it was decided to lose some of the more scripted scenes in favour of keeping in some of the scenery they drove through?
I'm not complaining - there were some stunning shots last night, but it did feel lighter on banter than these road trips usually are, and not only was Hammond less OTT than usual, but in a couple of scenes, it seemed he wasn't even with the others!
Really good episode though.
Couldn't he use the method of starting the car in gear? That is one method recommended by Land Rover for starting on a hill but might not be effective with a high geared car like his BMW.
I presume the cars are scrapped at the destination or do they ship them back to the UK? A friend drove to India some years ago and the biggest complication (apart from politics) was the carnets.
The cars are returned to the UK and put on display. There is a Top Gear section at Beaulieu where you can see many of the cars.
There always is, they have a big crew that travels with them
I would love to know how much of the subaru suspension/steering repair was an actual repair, and how much a spare system in the back up truck - ie, the grinding and welding were just for show - in fact, how much of the original failure was staged. I presume it all was. Not that I mind. It's an entertainment show after all, not a documentary. I think the vast majority is scripted.
Generally, Top Gear are quite good at acknowledging that there are support staff. Richard commenting on the cameramen’s inability to film wildlife in part 1, plus the gag in both parts about the crew queuing for the toilet - well, for the toilet seat. And I remember an earlier programme where Jeremy makes the sound man get out and push, when he is stuck.
I remember a Bear Grylls (sp?) programme from a few years ago where he had to swim across a river which contained some sort of predator (crocodile, maybe, I can’t remember). He swam across, under water, and we could see how he was looking all around himself while swimming across, because of the danger. IMO, the person at most risk would have been the cameraman, who was obviously at his side, filming him. The cameraman had to concentrate on what he was filming, not any danger around him, and was presumably weighed down by his camera kit. He never got a mention. It was as if Bear did it all on his own, and trhe film magically appeared. Yeh, Bear, I bet it really was as dangerous as you said.:rolleyes:
It seemed almost as if, when they got back and reviewed the film footage, it was decided to lose some of the more scripted scenes in favour of keeping in some of the scenery they drove through?
I'm not complaining - there were some stunning shots last night, but it did feel lighter on banter than these road trips usually are, and not only was Hammond less OTT than usual, but in a couple of scenes, it seemed he wasn't even with the others!
Really good episode though.
this is what Andy Wilman stated:
The main curve-ball is the length because a two part, two hour special was never planned. We went to Africa, filmed what happened, and then when we’d completed the first cut it was running at 2 hours 15 or something ridiculous. With the target being 75 minutes, we set about trimming back, but as Jeremy has explained before elsewhere, cutting stuff is good to a point, because you’re invariably getting rid of excess fat, but keep going and eventually you’re slicing into muscle, sinew and bone, and the story starts to suffer.
This quickly became the case with Africa. In order to hit our target time we were messing up the whole jigsaw puzzle of the road trip, and also losing those lovely moments which may not move the story along, but which provide the warmth and the texture – you know, scenery floating by, three mates being mates and so on.
It quickly became apparent that the ideal length for this adventure was about 1 hour and 53 minutes, but since the BBC stopped showing Tom and Jerry cartoons to fill up gaps many years ago, we took a brave pill and settled on 1 hour and 57, cut into two
I thought I had heard of some of them being on display. It might also be pragmatic and easier to just stick in a container and ship back rather than go through all the complexities of disposing of them locally, even as scrap.
I thought I had heard of some of them being on display. It might also be pragmatic and easier to just stick in a container and ship back rather than go through all the complexities of disposing of them locally, even as scrap.
There is a large display of the vehicles at the Top Gear Live each year. Last year they had Hammond's "James Bond" Lotus on show prior to the episode being on TV.
Thanks for posting Andy Wilman's comments - an interesting read.
It'd be good to see some behind the scenes footage of the making of one of the TG specials, actually - a lot of work must go into the finished product.
It was an enjoyable special, but not as good as previous ones. I can't quite put my finger on what didn't work for me personally. The second part was better than the first, but it still fell a little flat.
I still regard the Bolivia and Polar specials as two of the best. Perhaps the difference here is less of the usual banter and sabotaging the others' cars.
I really didn't like the "we are now coming into Jezza" before the watershed. It was funny, but I had my mum in the room!
Left in in first and turned the engine off, i presume.
Gotta say, i have always said that i never thought they'd top Botswana, but my god, this has been EPIC!
I literally have no words to explain how incredible this trip has been with such amazing shots of Africa, great comic moments and a drenching for the Scorpio (which i always quite liked) and my favourite bit of all, the A Team theme in an African style! PMSL-ed at that!
The location of the supposed source is suggested to be south west of Lake Victoria, in the Serengeti on a tributary named the Grummeti, on the opposide side of Lake Victoria to where Dr. Burkhart Waldecker (Burundi) and where Joanna Lumley (Rwanda) thought the source was. However, this has not been proven, though evidence suggests that this is highly likely by taking into account that the mouth of a river has to flow into a tidal area. The Nile mouth is said to be at Alexandria however this leads out into the Mediterranean Sea which is not tidal, meaning that the actual mouth of the Nile is at the Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. Geographically, the source of a river should also be as far away from the mouth as possible. This evidence suggests that the theorem of Dr. Burkhart Waldecker and Joanna Lumley are incorrect and the theory of BBC Top Gear is correct. However, these theorem could all be incorrect as the Top Gear theory has not been proven - thus the source of the River Nile is still disputed to the present day.
& naturally Wikipedia now states James May as the potential discoverer of the true source of the Nile
Comments
Maybe they are doing that now, if the laps pics of James May, Jezza (and his ex mistress) are anything to go by.
The best one was Bolivia one in the train forrest where little was scripted. This two part was by no means the best ever Top Gear it was good but over rated to say it was the best.
I disagree. I thought it was one if the best so far for many series.
Really enjoyed this TG but agree, I thought that the Bolivia episode was best and the Vietnam ep was my least fave.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nile#BBC_Top_Gear
I'm not complaining - there were some stunning shots last night, but it did feel lighter on banter than these road trips usually are, and not only was Hammond less OTT than usual, but in a couple of scenes, it seemed he wasn't even with the others!
Really good episode though.
Vietnam was brilliant, so was Bolivia and North Pole and Africa. This one is up there as well and better than the India one by a mile.
The cars are returned to the UK and put on display. There is a Top Gear section at Beaulieu where you can see many of the cars.
http://www.beaulieu.co.uk/attractions/world-of-top-gear
I would love to know how much of the subaru suspension/steering repair was an actual repair, and how much a spare system in the back up truck - ie, the grinding and welding were just for show - in fact, how much of the original failure was staged. I presume it all was. Not that I mind. It's an entertainment show after all, not a documentary. I think the vast majority is scripted.
Generally, Top Gear are quite good at acknowledging that there are support staff. Richard commenting on the cameramen’s inability to film wildlife in part 1, plus the gag in both parts about the crew queuing for the toilet - well, for the toilet seat. And I remember an earlier programme where Jeremy makes the sound man get out and push, when he is stuck.
I remember a Bear Grylls (sp?) programme from a few years ago where he had to swim across a river which contained some sort of predator (crocodile, maybe, I can’t remember). He swam across, under water, and we could see how he was looking all around himself while swimming across, because of the danger. IMO, the person at most risk would have been the cameraman, who was obviously at his side, filming him. The cameraman had to concentrate on what he was filming, not any danger around him, and was presumably weighed down by his camera kit. He never got a mention. It was as if Bear did it all on his own, and trhe film magically appeared. Yeh, Bear, I bet it really was as dangerous as you said.:rolleyes:
It's been the Top Gear Festival in Sydney over the weekend. They have been presenting that. A friend of mine went on sunday.
Where was this written?
I thought I had heard of some of them being on display. It might also be pragmatic and easier to just stick in a container and ship back rather than go through all the complexities of disposing of them locally, even as scrap.
Nah, I disagree, the second part was better than the first. the first one started very slowly. Too slowly.
The final scenes were a little unreal too - James May running on television? How did that happen?!
There is a large display of the vehicles at the Top Gear Live each year. Last year they had Hammond's "James Bond" Lotus on show prior to the episode being on TV.
Sorry, I thought that I had posted the link - it was the Top Gear blog:
http://transmission.blogs.topgear.com/2013/03/03/coming-up-on-tonights-top-gear/
Stunt double?
Thanks for posting Andy Wilman's comments - an interesting read.
It'd be good to see some behind the scenes footage of the making of one of the TG specials, actually - a lot of work must go into the finished product.
I still regard the Bolivia and Polar specials as two of the best. Perhaps the difference here is less of the usual banter and sabotaging the others' cars.
I really didn't like the "we are now coming into Jezza" before the watershed. It was funny, but I had my mum in the room!
:cool:
& naturally Wikipedia now states James May as the potential discoverer of the true source of the Nile