Grand Tour

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Some was bleeped on the Prime feed, a lot, not, it's true.

Having read/watched Clarkson since the "Perfomance Car" magazine day's, (and with the pre show language warning) it came as no great surprise! Especially as one of Captain Slow's catch phrases is what we probably now thing of as just a mild expletive. It did seem odd hearing Hammond swear, at first. A bit like when you're young and first hear a family member that you've previously only heard when they're on best behavior let rip with a choice swear word!!

I confess, I'm in two minds about it, I spend enough time working on sites amidst builders that I sort of don't notice so much most of the time. But then, you think how huge a following they all had with the old TG amongst kids and younger children, who presumably will be eager to watch the new show.

It's the same deal we've had in the Boardroom in the past, some want to swear, indeed they seem to find it almost pathologically impossible to speak without doing!! Yet we also had plenty of dads who whose kids loved to look at the Boardroom with them, for the picture of cars etc. (And of course, there are still plenty of adults who find it offensive, which is fair enough).

In the end, nothing is really lost by toning the language down and there is plenty to be gained!

Loved the rest of the show though! Even though the essential chemistry is there, possibly even stronger than ever, it will no doubt take a while for the new format to settle, while they experiment with what works and what doesn't. At the same time, they have a few dragons to slay; they could either choose to ignore them and just carry on with the new, or hit them head on with various nods to the past.

I've got to admit, I was pleased from the opening sequence onwards that they chose to confront them, first with the departure from the Beeb, then with the subverting of both the old news and the guest star segments. Other old elements were dismissed with one liners and then of course there was the American.

Did all those elements work? Well, to the extent that they drew a line under what had gone before on TG, yeah, reasonably. Could they have been done differently, absolutely. Done better, perhaps!

But then it is only episode 1, and like many new TV shows, they had a lot to pack in by way of out with the old/in with the new.

Did the show as a whole work? Given the general reaction, a whole hearted yes, seems to be the answer. I know I'm practically fizzing with excitement to have part 2 and the next installment of Project Binky to watch on Friday!

[Kyle]

The F word was bleeped but the S word was not. It wasn't excessive though and seemed natural. I can assure you that your kids hear much worse at school lol.

[Andy (Sycho)]

[dombanks]

ive met enough children to know they know more swear words than was used on the show.... and i would hazard a guess that often they are swearing and you wont even know it.

[chris parkin]

Not a bad effort, will obvoiusly continue to watch. I think one of the things that makes it so good is the "britishness" about it. I'm worried with the backing of the yanks they may be swayed more to accomodate a wider audience and lose that edge. Their interaction with each other on a non-scripted basis is still very good.

 

Having said that, I'd rather have this than nothing at all.

[kevip6]

The first one was decent but I've just watched episode 2 and it wasn't great IMO. Comparing the feature on the Aston Vulcan to the Top Gear one and Grand Tour was nowhere near as good. The whole show seemed a bit pointless and lacking car content?

What do you think?

[Quinten]

The first episode was meh, the second episode was an hour I won't get back. If I was paying for Prime, I'd be asking for a refund

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

What I loved about the second episode was that, free of the official Top Gear format, they didn't have to pretend everything was always about cars anymore. I enjoyed the Operation Desert Stumble segment; had me laughing out loud, yes it was crude, frrequently telegraphing what came next a mile ahead, and perhaps could have been edited down a bit more tightly. But it just felt like a great marker for what they can do on the new show. I must admit though, even as I watched that bit, I thought there's going to be an awful lot of people that shut off for this.

I wonder if they're tailing off on the guest star Mickey take now, hopefully they've made their point with that and can move on to something else with guests, such a shame if they have to loose the interview bit completely for contractual reasons. It had some of the highlight moments of old TG. (Mind you it also held some of the low lights, so if it's gone, it's gone )

[John K]

Ep 1, for me it was excellent and when the three of them appeared in the Red, White and Blue Stangs it raised the hairs on the back of the neck. Got the feel of three good mates meeting up.

Dead celebs was the only naff bit.

9.5 / 10 from me...

Ep 2, hmm didnt like it,not enough cars and the Dessert Stumble went on too long and its still to recent to feel comfy with folk goofing round with guns. I wanted to hear more about the S8+

6 / 10 for this one.

Will deffo keep watching. And chuffed that there is a Fister ST on the laptime board..!

I pay for Prime for other reasons and this was the icing on the cake.

Would I sub up just for GT? Possibly next week will be the decider.

BTW, did anybody notice GT is TG backwards?

[TAFKARM]

Ep 1 7/10

Ep 2 2/10 although I turned it off after half an hour.

Doubt I'll bother watching anymore.

[Thrustyjust]

Weird........................... I preferred the second one............... bit more laughability with the shooting................

[John K]

Weird........................... I preferred the second one............... bit more laughability with the shooting................

 

Let me guess, you also prefer Caterhams  ...

[Thrustyjust]

Let me guess, you also prefer Caterhams  ...

Harsh .................... at least my car keeps its oil inside 

[John K]

Harsh .................... at least my car keeps its oil inside 

 

Oh my... That was a total Bytch Slap.

 

Well done 

[Cleggy the Spyder Man]

Just shows how different we all are reading previous posts - quite enjoyed the second one ☝️ certainly more than the first