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The Grand Tour – Amazon Prime Video from 18th November 2016


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Old 31-12-2016, 15:34
Sick Bullet
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So we really believe that they spent the entire night sleeping on the ground in the desert alone without any food? Where did the big filming and support crew go?
Have you never watched them before?
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Old 31-12-2016, 16:03
Ess_Bee
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Easily the best two shows it was a classic of old, I wish they were all specials.
I agree. Much more entertaining than the dead celebrity and puerile contrived schoolboy shenanigans we get in that tent contraption.

For the record, my husband loves ice cream and is not and never has been gay. Years ago there was a book out called 'Real Men Don't Eat Quiche' and I remember thinking, how stupid - real men eat anything going, especially if there's meat involved!
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Old 31-12-2016, 16:44
exstoker84
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So we really believe that they spent the entire night sleeping on the ground in the desert alone without any food? Where did the big filming and support crew go?
To be fair it's easily the most heavily scripted programme ever made. It's more scripted than professional wrestling.

Surprises me that it's actually entertaining to anyone
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Old 31-12-2016, 17:10
Woodbine
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To be fair it's easily the most heavily scripted programme ever made. It's more scripted than professional wrestling.

Surprises me that it's actually entertaining to anyone
Probably because everyone who watches it knows it is scripted, just like how it was on Top Gear.

It's entertaining to me hence why I paid for an Amazon Prime sub to watch this, nothing surprising about it, just isn't for you clearly.
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Old 31-12-2016, 17:15
Sick Bullet
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To be fair it's easily the most heavily scripted programme ever made. It's more scripted than professional wrestling.

Surprises me that it's actually entertaining to anyone
Well it seems to be doing very well indeed, I hate wrestling but look it's huge.
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Old 31-12-2016, 17:24
exstoker84
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Probably because everyone who watches it knows it is scripted, just like how it was on Top Gear.

It's entertaining to me hence why I paid for an Amazon Prime sub to watch this, nothing surprising about it, just isn't for you clearly.
No need to pay. It's free if you look online.
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Old 31-12-2016, 17:27
Woodbine
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No need to pay. It's free if you look online.
hehe you little rebel

Yeah I know, I have kodi but I prefer to pay for the things I like. Only use kodi if there's nothing I can find to watch on sky, netflix or amazon videos.
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Old 31-12-2016, 18:16
Daewos
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To be fair it's easily the most heavily scripted programme ever made. It's more scripted than professional wrestling.

Surprises me that it's actually entertaining to anyone
Clearly entertaining for you. I mean, why else would you watch and post about it?
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Old 01-01-2017, 12:34
DanielF
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"Most heavily scripted programme ever made"

What a ridiculous statement. Yes, it's scripted. Sure, they don't do everything they imply they do - there's a "stunt team" listed in the credits. Clarkson himself has stated on screen during Top Gear there's a script. But there are far more heavily scripted programmes out there. Or do "normal" TV programmes not have a script which is followed to the letter?
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Old 01-01-2017, 12:44
Inspiration
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It's weird but for me the scripted nature of it all seemed to work on Top Gear.... with this it just feels so painfully obvious. Hammond in particular is far too much of a "character" now for me.. as if he's not even acting his natural self anymore. It just feels weird.

I'm not saying I didn't think "Oh that's scripted" watching Top Gear... but something just made it work. With TGT it just feels .... really awkward.

I can't work out if that's because of the show or because we've just seen it all before and don't take any of it remotely seriously anymore. I used to love the specials but this one isn't doing it for me sadly.
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Old 01-01-2017, 12:52
Aaron_2015
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Just seen the two part special. Quite honestly, I'm a little bit disappointed.

The problem with TGT is that it's had too much money spent on it. One of the highlights of the Top Gear specials is that the vehicles were bought with a £1000 and they regularly went wrong and broke down. With GT, the buggies had clearly been professionally built to the wishes of Clarkson, Hammond and May.

Also, because of the setting, it felt like they never really went anywhere. It was just desert, then desert, then desert, a town, then desert, then the waterfalls. It didn't feel like an actual "journey". The aerial lift at the end was ridiculous, and didn't really add anything.

Obviously Top Gear was partly fake, and you had to suspend your disbelief, but not to the extent that you have to do with TGT. It felt like every little bit of the program was pre-planned, and not just the presenters being set a challenge and seeing what happens.
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Old 01-01-2017, 13:05
Inspiration
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Also, because of the setting, it felt like they never really went anywhere. It was just desert, then desert, then desert, a town, then desert, then the waterfalls. It didn't feel like an actual "journey". The aerial lift at the end was ridiculous, and didn't really add anything.

Obviously Top Gear was partly fake, and you had to suspend your disbelief, but not to the extent that you have to do with TGT. It felt like every little bit of the program was pre-planned, and not just the presenters being set a challenge and seeing what happens.
Yes that's pretty much what I felt too. I was pretty excited for this special but it just didn't do anything for me.
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Old 01-01-2017, 13:23
Cricketblade
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Well i thought it was great.

But then i treat it as a throwaway bit of fun to watch.
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Old 01-01-2017, 15:02
trooperlooper
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Obviously Top Gear was partly fake, and you had to suspend your disbelief, but not to the extent that you have to do with TGT. It felt like every little bit of the program was pre-planned, and not just the presenters being set a challenge and seeing what happens.
Exactly, old Top Gear was scripted, in that they were fed a few lines and the scenes had bullet points for what should happen, but other than that they were left to their own devices to improvise off each other. (This was confirmed in a book written by one of the writers IIRC). You could tell the situations were setup, but that a lot of the conversation was natural and they had a rapport.

The Grand Tour is so obviously fully scripted, and they are terrible actors so they can't pull it off. Maybe because the stunts cost more, they feel nothing can be left to chance, but it is painful to watch at times.
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Old 01-01-2017, 15:54
MR_Pitkin
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The problem I had with this special, is that surely they got to this place in the first place, so why didn't they just co back that way instead of spending most of the first episode driving round in circles getting lost?
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Old 01-01-2017, 16:12
pavier
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Initially I thought this could turn out to be another classic like my (and according to Jeremy their) all time favourite episode the Botswana Special, but although enjoyable and one of the better TGT episodes so far it still fell short of the trio's best. There was too much waste, e.g endless driving around in circles in a featureless desert + the unfunny rhino poacher hunt.
This should have been trimmed into a one hour special instead of the 45+60 minute 2 parter.
As for obvious scripting, James said in an interview they spend most of their time getting the writing just right, sometimes spending hours on one sentence where moving one word from the beginning to the end of a sentence can make all the difference.
Yes James, it shows, but not in a good way.

The problem I had with this special, is that surely they got to this place in the first place, so why didn't they just co back that way instead of spending most of the first episode driving round in circles getting lost?
We don't know from which direction or road, if there was one, they arrived at the meeting point. Once there they received a challenge to head north to the northern most point of Namibia's coast at the border with Angola so they didn't have a free choice for which direction to head in.
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Old 01-01-2017, 16:20
Aaron_2015
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Exactly, old Top Gear was scripted, in that they were fed a few lines and the scenes had bullet points for what should happen, but other than that they were left to their own devices to improvise off each other. (This was confirmed in a book written by one of the writers IIRC). You could tell the situations were setup, but that a lot of the conversation was natural and they had a rapport.

The Grand Tour is so obviously fully scripted, and they are terrible actors so they can't pull it off. Maybe because the stunts cost more, they feel nothing can be left to chance, but it is painful to watch at times.
You've probably just hit the nail on the head. Clarkson and Co aren't good actors, but for Top Gear that wasn't issue. For TGT however, it's a big issue.

The worst example is probably from the Christmas episode inside the tent when Jeremy fell over into the crowd (which looked a little bit realistic), before then falling again. The second fall was totally, totally fake and it showed. Even Clarkson himself didn't look comfortable doing it.

The more the show goes on, the more it feels like it's catering for 8-12 year olds unfortunately.
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Old 01-01-2017, 21:20
jonbwfc
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With GT, the buggies had clearly been professionally built to the wishes of Clarkson, Hammond and May.
And as we saw, none of them broke down, went wrong or had any design flaws at all. Totally different.

OK, hands up. Who thought Jeremy Clarkson actually made the Toyboata, for example? I'll let you into a secret - they never made any of the cars they 'made' or 'bought' themselves. You know the bits occasionally where they go just off the entrance to the test track and there's an industrial building which mysteriously had some of their cars parked out side it? That building was full of clever engineering people who made all their stuff for them, be it campervan canalboats or caravan cannons. They also have researchers to go and search car auctions to buy cars for them. Cars which will match the on screen personas they each express, yes, but nevertheless, they have people to do this stuff for them because those people will do it for much less money.

So in fact the beach buggies were no different to several things they've done before.

The one criticism you possibly can throw at TGT is it is really is just more Top Gear under a different name. But the idea they didn't ever have a massive budget is living in a dreamland.

Top Gear has pretty much always had a budget proportional to it's audience, until it went to Amazon, anyway. If you're making £50m a year profit or whatever, you have a strong argument for a big lump of that going towards making more of the show.
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Old 01-01-2017, 23:39
jonm01
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The TG episode you refer to with the boat-cars they were at least helping to build them, they showed that in the programme. In TGT they clearly just give some instructions and then just turn up on the day, as was obvious in the episode with the Eco cars.
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Old 02-01-2017, 00:09
jonbwfc
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The TG episode you refer to with the boat-cars they were at least helping to build them, they showed that in the programme. In TGT they clearly just give some instructions and then just turn up on the day, as was obvious in the episode with the Eco cars.
Yes, and that never ever happened when they were making Top Gear rather than TGT.
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Old 02-01-2017, 00:29
Bob Paisley
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The Namibia special was fine...the whole of the series has been fine. A perfectly decent, acceptable series of Top Gear...sorry, the Grand Tour. But the problem is, no matter how much money you throw at it, the programme only works if the ideas are good enough. The Clarkson/Hammond/May version of Top Gear has been going for a long time and was getting a little tired. The production team for the Grand Tour, which is basically Top Gear Mark II, are only going to make a success of it if the ideas are good. So far, the ideas have been okay, but hardly spectacular. I'm enjoying it, but it's not earth-shattering, nor was it ever likely to be.
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Old 02-01-2017, 01:26
stono
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the special was fine, the series has been fine, its still better than alot of the stuff that gets put on tv, its just it has felt, like alot of the driving in Namibia just going round in circles.

maybe it was because I watched both parts back to back, but the TG specials mostly always seemed to have a clear objective, get to this point, its a long way there will be challenges, your cars will likely break etc.

this was well drive round in circles for two days, find the bumpiest roads you can, wander off shopping, or rhino hunter hunting, and then build a literal cable car car. however entertaining driving around sand dunes are is nowhere near as entertaining as watching them.

I dont know it just felt like they were struggling for ideas with it, so it then feels padded
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Old 02-01-2017, 02:27
Johnr
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1hr 45m was definitely too much, parts of it were good but other parts 'oh no we've accidentally shot Hammond hahahahaha!' didn't really work as well

It will be interesting to see how the second series comes out, what I have noticed as this series has gone on is each episode just edges ever more slightly towards the 'sod it just go into Top Gear mode and hope the BBC lawyers aren't watching'
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Old 02-01-2017, 09:49
Mickey_T
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Thought the special was pretty poor. The first episode just seemed to consist of them driving up and down the same stretch of beach for 45mins and was very boring.

Second episode, slightly better, but was too ridiculous in places and the desert didn't really offer anything spectacular that we haven't already seen before.
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Old 02-01-2017, 09:55
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I think it will be interesting to see how the second series of the Grand Tour pans out.

I think this first series has been reasonably good, but no more than that - and there have been a couple of really bad sections, such as the notorious action film style segment in episode 2.

They have already said they will sit down at the end of this series and see what works and what doesn't, and shape this into series 2.

I think the biggest disappointment to me is that we were led to think that the show would be a real step forward from Top Gear in terms of being very modern and fresh feeling, when in fact it just seems like Top Gear with a bigger budget. Although the show looks great in terms of camera work and editing, as many others have said, it just feels so incredibly scripted now.
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