Series 19 Episode 7

[lymaze]

Discuss the last episode here.

[Wyvern]

Fan-bleedin'-tastic.

A worthy follow-up to last week's episode, and to be honest, I think they're impossible to separate given that they're really one big adventure. Loved it. Loved Jeremy doing actual manual labour, loved Richard's ridiculous facial hair, loved James actually winning... loved the whole thing. Such beautiful countries, I always learn more about places watching Top Gear than I expect Can't wait for the DVD - wonder what extras they'll have to surprise and delight us with?!

Also, extra marks (if I could award them) for the African A-Team music, and how to do a running gag right with the quick burst of Genesis

[adrianmay]

I want to rave, but for some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, I can't. Yes, it was very good. It had all the promised elements. Don't know, maybe it was the lack of surprises? Maybe I just know the show too well? Don't know.

Yes, it was good.

[melly]

Don't get me wrong,i loved it too but a lot of times i was thinking that the things that happened,like Hammond fixed his car,that it wasn't real.

[jmsquared]

Just watched this. Really enjoyed it. I think it was the best thing they've done in ages. But.........I can't seem to stop myself finding fault with it. As AM said, maybe I know it too well. For example, the scenes towards the end with the lions. If the lions were really there, there is no way you'd be out of those cars, not without an armed guard in very close proximity anyway. And the scenery seemed different in the close-ups from the sweeping shots. Maybe I imagined it, I don't know. But these are minor things. Lots of laughs and lots of delectable "scenery" (!) made up for them. Roll on the next series.

[crumbs]

I thought it wasn't quite as good as last week's - but the fact James won pushed it to 9!

Somehow, I didn't find it quite as entertaining. It didn't help that Mr Crumbs kept finding fault ("there's no way they could that without a massive back up team - who are they kidding"?). Well, of course not dear - it's an entertainment programme, not Ray Mears. I really loved the scenery, the bridge skit and the fact that James loved the people. I know many young people that love Africa for just that reason.

I know I've gone off him a bit these days, but I did quite enjoy having a bit of a gawp - he looked very rugged with that stubble and I also quite liked the goatee!

[lindenchase]

What was it that James once said in a interview: "Top Gear is real, but not true." They likely edited it a lot in order to tell an entertaining story and they did very well.

I loved it as much as last week's episode. It also brought back many happy memories of my own visit to the Serengati. (I did do some hiking there, but indeed with an armed guard present.) If you have the chance to go there, do! Tanzania is an amazing place and as James mentioned, the people are ever so friendly.

And I never thought I say this, but that goatee looked great!

[amie8]

If you start looking for the strings, you'll find them, so don't look. All shows are made the same way, even serious documentaries and it's a shame Top Gear gets constantly called out for using editing techniques which are pretty standard and only designed to make the best looking end product possible. As for the size of the support team, you could see a large proportion of them queueing to use Clarkson's lav. ;D

My class was cancelled today, so I've just rewatched parts 1 and 2 as a whole. Yeah, I dozed off for a bit in the middle, but it's an excellent two hours' worth of entertainment and by far the best piece of television I've watched for months. Well done to all concerned.

(Sounding a bit like I'm giving out prizes at a school speech day, there)

[Wyvern]

You know what I liked about this special?

They've acknowledged that they don't do it all alone, and it didn't detract. For the first time, instead of playing down the level of support they had, they made it clear; they showed the sheer number of people involved, and they directly referenced that they had mechanical support too, with spare parts and crew on hand. They simply couldn't have done anything on that big a scale any other way. In some respects, I think they hid the strings in plain sight, and the rest of the time, I chose not to look

[jacqui]

I think you need to look at this as one whole thing not two parts, like Wy suggests.

It was excellent, TG at its best i thought. I am so pleased they decided not to cut it down to less than two hours ( I am sure it could have been more) the cinematopgraphy was awesome; TG3 sparked of each other perfectly; yes some of it maybe contrived but it worked and I loved it. I would pay to go on a trip with those guys.

The African A Team music was a great finishing touch; the scorpio ending up in the drink was classic; and I am dammed if i would have gone outside amongst all those lake flies!

Jezza was fab, James with a goatee - very nice and i agree Hammonds hair looked suspiciously dyed Just joking ;D

[Vivienne]

I thought it was excellent too. I enjoy them and the cars. James running, don't get that often.His goatee was nice. Jezza's stubble and Richard's Fu Man Chu. I just sit back and watch the ride.

[Flying Lady]

That was thoroughly satisfying.

James and Richard hat-tipped the support truck several times. It is acknowledged that you can't undertake something like this without assistance. I do believe that Richard did the manual labor to fix his suspension, though they probably had a mechanic with who helped him troubleshoot/fabricate.

The bit where two of James's wheels actually shattered due to the potholes was really something. Combination of alloy wheels, low-profile tires, and absolutely brutal roads. Seems like territory where steel rims would have been advantageous. On the whole, though, I was amazed how little damage the Volvo sustained from beginning to end. Considering that it could barely clear a dead rat in a carpark, offroading it really was a test of how far you could drag that car out of its element.

I loved the scene where they'd all started stealing bits off each other's cars. Well, I really loved the scene where Jeremy chopped a big, ragged hole in James's car's bonnet, and then James grizzled on and on about that he minded the theft less than the shoddy workmanship involved. I can imagine it cheesed him right off to be looking at that ragged hole in the bonnet all day long!

[fallatyourfeet]

I'm giving it a nine this time because I thought the end dragged a bit although the right man won in the end. Was genuinely surprised when Clarkson lost his rear window to the log and laughed a lot when Hammond was rejecting the spices whilst cooking his beans. I haven't bought a TG DVD since Bolivia but I'll be buying this one.

[Flying Lady]

I'd guessed he'd hook his log on something and rip his bumper off, not that the log would bounce up and bash out the rear window. I'm sure they let him hitch up a log under the expectation that something hilariously disastrous would come of it.

[slfriend79]

I give part 2 a 10.

I think, putting parts 1 and 2 together, that this was their best 'Road Trip' to date. ;D

[FizzyLogician]

I thought this was a great episode. Obviously they had a lot of support and the editing contributed to some discontinuity. But the guys and the scenery were great and the story line was a good vehicle for them, kind of like the quest to find Bethlehem and the baby Jesus. (10)