I watched BBC Alba's motoring programme a couple of nights ago. Obviously much lower budget than Top Gear but it was quite good fun without the moronic testing a car by driving it around in circles to wreck the tyres.
Watched the Q&A on youtube - odd it wasn't on 'actual' broadcast TV. Admittedly the most startling thing on it was May's shirt but it was interesting enough.
Well, not quite. It's not usually listed in listing mags for example and the show wasn't trailed at all as far as I can see. Being on the red button is different than being on say BBC Three, which seems to show a lot of repeats of Top Gear so it's somewhat odd this show wasn't on there.
It's connected to one of the more popular shows the BBC have and it would certainly have got decent viewing figures, yet they effectively his it away. It all seems a bit... strange.
They seemed to be suggesting he's pretty well known though. Does he have his own regional show "darn sarf" or summat?
Preview of the new series looked promising.
I always enjoy the features where they actually get involved with something fairly sensible, like building that Caterham from a kit, doing Le Mans in the diesel bimmer or going rallycrossing and it looks like there'll be a bit more of that this year.
I much prefer them to the features where they're doing stuff like turning a van into a hovercraft or building a car for OAPs which are usually pretty funny but they've become ever more farcical and pretentious.
If there's been any problem with TG in the last couple of years it's probably that it's become a bit too grandiose for it's own good and it's lost a bit of focus.
Hopefully somebody will have realised that and this year's series will be a bit more down to Earth.
Hopefully somebody will have realised that and this year's series will be a bit more down to Earth.
Hammond did claim that in this series they're going back to what they do best, and the words he used suggested more of what you're looking for and less of the staged theatricals. Having caught a rerun of the episode with the hovervan on Dave last week though I found it fun to watch, and more of that sort of japery wouldn't go amiss.
Isn't Abs Radio available on DAB nationwide? Thanks for the name btw ClarkF1; I knew him but couldn't place him.
Hammond did claim that in this series they're going back to what they do best, and the words he used suggested more of what you're looking for and less of the staged theatricals. Having caught a rerun of the episode with the hovervan on Dave last week though I found it fun to watch, and more of that sort of japery wouldn't go amiss.
Hmmm, I suppose.
Stuff like the thing with the hover-van was certainly funny but it was all too apparent that it was all devised with theatrics in mind.
I tend to prefer it when it's fairly "mundane" stuff that provides the humour.
Possibly a bit of "rose-tinted glasses syndrome" at work but I think they hit a sweet-spot a few years ago and they've been expending ever-increasing amounts of effort and money to get the same sort of result.
Stuff like the Police Car Challenge, the Construction Challenge and, of course, the Car Boat Challenge managed to be just as funny (and often funnier) than a lot of the more extravagant stuff they've done more recently.
Watched the Q&A on youtube - odd it wasn't on 'actual' broadcast TV. Admittedly the most startling thing on it was May's shirt but it was interesting enough.
Tbf I've not seen any similar type of show on the BBC. It is the kind of thing you'd find on the Red button, website or smaller satellite channels like Sky Arts.
Possibly BBC Four do these things but I don't think TG would fit in there.
Next Sunday there is a film on before TG. Maybe they could have had a documentary on at 6pm, then the Q&A at 7pm before the new series. Then again i'm not BBC2's scheduler.
Hammond did claim that in this series they're going back to what they do best, and the words he used suggested more of what you're looking for and less of the staged theatricals. Having caught a rerun of the episode with the hovervan on Dave last week though I found it fun to watch, and more of that sort of japery wouldn't go amiss.
Isn't Abs Radio available on DAB nationwide? Thanks for the name btw ClarkF1; I knew him but couldn't place him.
I thought O'Connell was pretty well known as a DJ. I also remember his chat show.
Personally I ddn't think much of his chat show or him as a DJ but for what was needed for this job he did ok.
I've seen a few Q&A's before and with those it's the person who organised it that presents it and asks the questions.
As for the series, I just hope it's not too similar to what has been. It is just different sketches reshashed and mashed together.
The bike, car, hovercraft challenge across a city for example.
The world’s biggest car programme returns for an explosive and extra-long run of brand-new programmes.
In this first episode of the series, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are in Russia for an incredible race across the vast and very beautiful urban landscape of St Petersburg. May defends the honour of the car in a very small Renault, Hammond tries to prove that pedalling is faster by saddling up a bicycle, while Clarkson attempts to demonstrate that water is the quickest way across town, especially if you’re in a hovercraft. To make matters more complicated, all three presenters are racing not only each other but also The Stig, who is silently making his way towards the finish line on public transport.
Also in this episode, Richard Hammond is at the test track to find out if the dramatic new Lamborghini Huracan is as flamboyant and fun as an Italian supercar should be.
The Star in the Reasonably Priced Car will be Ed Sheeran.
Ep 1/10
Sunday 25 January
Time to be confirmed
BBC TWO
HD
That just seems to be a rehash of the race across London from a few years ago.
That just seems to be a rehash of the race across London from a few years ago.
Yes it is, they admitted that straight out in that TG talk on Sunday, But they did say that it was with transport that was more fitting, and across a different city in a different country.
I googled it and I see that it's a London radio station so you'll have to excuse me for not being aware of it up here in the badlands of Scotland.
Absolute Radio used to be Virgin radio. It's on 1215 kHz over most of the country, though reception is crap. Basically it's 247metres in old money, where Radio 1 was for its first 11 years.
As pointed out it's also on DAB nationally (though coverage is patchy)
It's not a London station, it's national, it's just that it's on FM in London
I thought the clips they showed were really good. Looking forward to the one where JC and JM make a slow attempt to rescue RH.
Like I've always said, I know absolutely nothing about cars but this is my favourite all time show on the BBC.
I knew it was on their youtube channel but didn't know about the red button. It is being repeated in 10 mins or so on the red button (1955) , I had started watching it on iplayer when I decided to check if it was being repeated. From what JC has tweeted I don't think it was 'LIVE'.
Comments
Absolute class!!
There's a preview of the new series and a live q & a session with the chaps on the BBC red button at 9pm tonight.
TG now on a par with Last of the Summer Wine
If anyone missed it, it's on the iPlayer for 29 days.
It's connected to one of the more popular shows the BBC have and it would certainly have got decent viewing figures, yet they effectively his it away. It all seems a bit... strange.
I thought that too.
They seemed to be suggesting he's pretty well known though. Does he have his own regional show "darn sarf" or summat?
Preview of the new series looked promising.
I always enjoy the features where they actually get involved with something fairly sensible, like building that Caterham from a kit, doing Le Mans in the diesel bimmer or going rallycrossing and it looks like there'll be a bit more of that this year.
I much prefer them to the features where they're doing stuff like turning a van into a hovercraft or building a car for OAPs which are usually pretty funny but they've become ever more farcical and pretentious.
If there's been any problem with TG in the last couple of years it's probably that it's become a bit too grandiose for it's own good and it's lost a bit of focus.
Hopefully somebody will have realised that and this year's series will be a bit more down to Earth.
It was Christian O'Connell from Absolute Radio's Breakfast Show
You say that like I should be aware of it.
I googled it and I see that it's a London radio station so you'll have to excuse me for not being aware of it up here in the badlands of Scotland.
It's available here in the Midlands (on AM), and is also on Freeview.
Isn't Abs Radio available on DAB nationwide? Thanks for the name btw ClarkF1; I knew him but couldn't place him.
He used to also have his own Channel 5 show and was on FiveLive for a time, so he's not exactly an unknown nationally.
That's right, he did.
I thought that he was well known nationwide.
He took over from Chris Moyles on Channel 5 & hosted Fighting Talk on Radio 5.
Hmmm, I suppose.
Stuff like the thing with the hover-van was certainly funny but it was all too apparent that it was all devised with theatrics in mind.
I tend to prefer it when it's fairly "mundane" stuff that provides the humour.
Possibly a bit of "rose-tinted glasses syndrome" at work but I think they hit a sweet-spot a few years ago and they've been expending ever-increasing amounts of effort and money to get the same sort of result.
Stuff like the Police Car Challenge, the Construction Challenge and, of course, the Car Boat Challenge managed to be just as funny (and often funnier) than a lot of the more extravagant stuff they've done more recently.
Possibly BBC Four do these things but I don't think TG would fit in there.
Next Sunday there is a film on before TG. Maybe they could have had a documentary on at 6pm, then the Q&A at 7pm before the new series. Then again i'm not BBC2's scheduler.
Personally I ddn't think much of his chat show or him as a DJ but for what was needed for this job he did ok.
I've seen a few Q&A's before and with those it's the person who organised it that presents it and asks the questions.
As for the series, I just hope it's not too similar to what has been. It is just different sketches reshashed and mashed together.
The bike, car, hovercraft challenge across a city for example.
That just seems to be a rehash of the race across London from a few years ago.
Absolute Radio used to be Virgin radio. It's on 1215 kHz over most of the country, though reception is crap. Basically it's 247metres in old money, where Radio 1 was for its first 11 years.
As pointed out it's also on DAB nationally (though coverage is patchy)
It's not a London station, it's national, it's just that it's on FM in London
Like I've always said, I know absolutely nothing about cars but this is my favourite all time show on the BBC.