Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2008 16:23:35 GMT
It’s back! From watching the trailers I’m expecting some explosions and badgers on fire. And the sneak preview at the beginning, shows a complete mix of cars and men falling over. The Japanese special with the big challenge looks particularly fantastic.
The fuel crisis and credit crunch was tackled in a typical Jeremy way, with supercars, which was unexpected and a treat to see them all going to head to head, R8 was the victor. Again they proved with another fuel centric challenge, with a Toyota Prius (gah) and a BMW M3 rep mobile, to see what the fuel consumption was like on the Prius as fast as it could go after 10 laps all the M3 had to do was keep up. The M3 came out on top with the better fuel consumption . Proving it’s not necessarily the car but the way you drive it, which after driving my Ford Ka I totally agree with. Especially when my right foot get’s a bit excited and I lose 1/4 a tank of petrol.
The news is back. This is one of the bits I’ve missed the most. Especially as it’s a chance to see the presenters interacting, scripted and non-scripted bits. The road signs campaign is a stroke of genius, I’d like them to visit my local LibDem council and sort them out. The internet picture is a mystery and probably a good job it is. The Dacia Sandero is nearly here! Exciting!
The car test was the Ferrari Scuderia. I’ve been wanting to see this and I wasn’t disappointed. It was fast , furious and fantastic. Back to how Ferrari should be. The Stig’s driving was superior.
The new stunt man. Hmmmm, it’s a great segment for James as it’s a release for his techie physics and maths to be enjoyed. It was a bit, predictable. I’m sure it’ll improve but time will see. But TGSM has a lot of stunts under his belt.
The SIARPC was a bit squashed and felt a bit out of place. There was no real interplay between the guests and Jeremy which suggests it was more of a PR booking than a genuine car loving one. We learnt little about the guests, apart from one was gay and was as fast as a Dame and the other had an awful lot of hair and came from Bristol.
Police cars the TG way for a Police Camera, Crash, Kill, Speed programme. This was what the show needed to make it complete after it’s slightly uncomfortable and stilted beginning.
The Barbie Police car was hysterical, the Boadicea attachments were just down right dangerous, but a stroke of genius and the ice cream siren with the additional paint guns. I like the car challenges as they are always produced and filmed brilliantly (apart when Jeremy was let loose with a tub of Vaseline).
Apart from a couple of continuity problems (which I only spotted on the 2nd watch), it was a neat and cohesive challenge.
Overall, it was a clean start to a new series. It felt a bit like returning to school after the summer holidays; a little uncomfortable but I’m sure this will go on the second show. I also felt a slight sense of anti climax due to this feel, after the promise of badgers and double decker buses on fire whilst power sliding. I’m delighted it is back and can’t wait to see how it will progress.
(BTW the viewing of this episode improves on each watch and it all starts to make more sense.)