Look at the viewing figures for your answers millions think it amusing and watch it regularly, including repeats by the bucketload on Dave.
It's Marmite TV you either love it or hate it
For me it whiles away an entertaining hour, the good bits are really good and the bad bits are OK
all a matter of opinion
|
i thought it was brilliant
again
and didnt that lass with james may have a clean neck
|
I may sound like a sad twit but this is the best laugh I had in ages. I am sure the blonde girl was all staged but it as so funny. I think I will watch it again later on Iplayer.
I actually really like this series, there seems to be a lot less of the super cars and its all a bit more down to earth. I always love it when they buy old cars because it is something I relate to a lot.
|
I enjoyed seeing Clarkson's classic in action. I had a Midget thirty odd years ago. Great wee car. It got stolen and written off unfortunately. Navy blue, chrome and wires.
Don't have any use for one now but it doesn't stop me wanting one again. A bit anyway. Probably best just to remember how much I enjoyed it when I was eighteen I s'pose....
|
Indeed, everytime I get out my Commodore 64 I just get disappointed. It is an amazing computer considering its limited hardware but its 27 years old and it shows.
It is the same as those classics, I bet any modern bog standard supermini will be a better driving experience than that midget although probably less 'fun'.
|
|
|
|
1. Viewing figures. Majority rules.
2. Who is so petty as to care? Its his hair.
3. How do you know him so intimately well as to know that he doesnt?
4. Because the decision is made for the majority, not for you. If you think they are crass idiots, you simply change the channel, the BBC have quite a few.
I thoroughly enjoyed tonights prog, it was very funny and my didnt James do well, in more ways than one :) Im not into blonds... but still ...damn
|
And what about the lead singer of AC/DC in the reasonably priced car !
Never heard of the chap before but thought he was a great character and what a lap time.
Not bad for a 62 year old.
|
|
I watched with my BiL so watched it all for a change. I really liked the Citroen Ami and it was immaculate, good buy I would say ! I knew the singer chap - I was an AC/DC fan at one time and went to a couple of their gigs. Rock and Roll - ANGUS ! - and own a Hell's Bells tour tee-shirt which has shrunk some in 30 years.
Edited by Pugugly on 27/07/2009 at 00:01
|
The Ami was a cracker, I am glad they didnt do the usual, bash them about and screw with them rubbish.
|
|
|
|
come on pug, once an ac/dc fan always a ac/dc fan ...yeah ive got an acdc t shirt too from donnington bout 1980 ish
|
I'm guessing 1981?
Whitesnake, AC/DC, Blue Oyster Cult, Slade and Tommy Vance getting bottled in a red and white baseball cap/jerkin combo?
I was there to see BOC (who stank, lost their drummer the night before and had the PA sabotaged)
I also caught chickenpox!
|
|
|
|
|
|
>>Answers on a postcard please.>>
I bet you're great company in the pub......
|
Half a mild and a few pork scratchings probably
|
|
No point in asking that on here Halmer, most of them are fans... if only they would use some of their "profits" on a proper motoring prog...
|
Link to the classic car auction that they used.
tinyurl.com/lt7w84
|
|
|
if only they would use some of their "profits" on a proper motoring prog...>>
But "proper" motoring programmes were attracting fewer and fewer viewers - Top Gear, as with others such as Driven, introduced a fresher, more modern approach to the subject and it paid off by attracting a far wider spectrum of the population.
Even the ITV programme This Morning was originally based on a magazine type format, with specific time slots for a range of subjects, thus proving of greater all round interest.
|
You miss the point, Stu. The Beeb is a Public Service provider, that means that it must provide for non-mainstream interests as well as mainstream, viewing figures for such progs are not such a big issue, though the fact that some other programme manufacturers provide motoring progs does indicate that the viewing figures are not getting "fewer and fewer". TG is not a motoring prog, its Light Entertainment, with (sometimes) a motoring theme, they do not provide a motoring programme for those of us who have more interest in cars than just which can go fastest.
They should provide such a programme, and, in my opinion, the profits they make from TG could be usefully channelled into such a programme. We should not have to rely on other channels to which we may or may not have access when we pay a licence fee for a service which is supposed to cover non-mainstream interests, but doesn't.
Edited by b308 on 27/07/2009 at 12:16
|
I have very mixed feelings about TG but nevertheless watch it in hope that things may improve. I must say that last night's was the best of the current series, which doesn't say much, really.
I frequently look through the Freeview's EPG but never feel inclined to tune in to the repeats shown on Dave or Dave ja vu.
|
|
I think JC has been talking a lot of sense recently, in particular, about Gordon Brown. Whilst I wouldn't use his exact language, I believe many share the sentiment.
|
|
|
|
>>You miss the point, Stu. The Beeb is a Public Service provider, that means that it must provide for non-mainstream interests as well as mainstream, viewing figures for such progs are not such a big issue,<<
If few people watch it, then it is terrible value for the license payer, so many will complain money is being squandered - damned either way really.
Top Gear isnt wrong, it is simply not what some people want, so they should perhaps produce another motoring prog to plug the gap, HOWEVER, a quick look on other channels suggests that this is already more than catered for. Freeview has quite a selection that keeps my dad very happy including that tank resto prog that isnt as bad as it first sounds!
|
I think JC has been talking a lot of sense recently, in particular, about Gordon Brown. >>
That's sort of the problem from my point of view. If TG is entertainment, and most people seem to agree that's what it is, Clarkson should stick at that and not wander into political comment which, IMHO, he only does to be deliberately naughty.
I happened to catch a bit of TG last night and it's the same old stuff. Clarkson making tired old "jokes" about wife swapping and BMW owners and the three of them at the auction: the big boy who's a bit of a bully, the clever one who keeps quiet most of the time and the little one who's eager to please and keep in the group.
I try to keep out of the TG thread but, as a fan of mild ale and pork scratchings, felt I had to join in.
I know TG is popular but then so were public hangings once.
|
>>Clarkson should stick at that and not wander into political comment which, IMHO, he only does to be deliberately naughty.<<
Of course he should, politics affects a huge part of motoring today and unlike alot of spineless people in this country, he isnt afraid to stick two fingers up and say what he thinks and I very much respect that regardless of whether I agree with him on everything ( I dont always ).
.*******
|
|
|
I know TG is popular but then so were public hangings once.
And many on here are saddened by their demise if the sympathy shown to the family of the twocer who died is anything to go by,
|
|
|
|
The ones that there are tend to be on individual asapects of motoring such as Classics, Build/rebuild, etc and they are often several years old and repeats. There is no current "magazine" programme other than 5th Gear which seems sometimes to becoming a mini-me version of TG... And just because there are some progs around doesn't do away with the Beebs obligations.
|
By and large, Top Gear can amuse anyone sufficiently in contact with the modern world to have seen a car with the clowning, jokes and political asides. The three (somewhat exaggerated and underlined) different personalities make the kind of balance that a tabloid TV audience recognises and is used to. But - and this is the clever thing - all the presenters are without any doubt true enthusiasts, knowledgeable and experienced enough not to lose any real car people who might be watching.
One might not always agree with one or another of them, and one might find their schoolboy cruelty to old jalopies and bigotry about boring cars tiresome sometimes. The odd technical howler is not unknown. But so what?
No one knows everything, and unalloyed, bespectacled, technobabble-filled seriousness might pall quite quickly on more of us than we expect. It might not earn the Beeb and its presenters millions as Top Gear does.
No one has to watch it. I haven't, lately. But I'm sure I will again.
|
well said lud
for the benefit of the moaners i only listen to radio 2 and very rarely watch telly
im vehemently against paying a licence fee especially after that do with the hopeless presenter on saturday mornings was reinstated on radio 2
please may i have a part refund of my fee and i will put it towards the TG show
|
well said lud for the benefit of the moaners i only listen to radio 2 and very rarely watch telly
Oh dear, not one of those, who never watch telly and then claim to listen to Radio 2 (all day?). Have you no taste?
|
Jeremy Clarkson listens to Radio 2
|
In may day teenage lads had pics some plastic called Pamela, today male teenagers seem to have posters of Clarkson on their wall.
|
today male teenagers seem to have posters of Clarkson on their wall.
Stop it Rattle. Someone is bound to say snidely that they are all gay and Clarkson is a gay icon...
|
|
|
>>You miss the point, Stu>>
I haven't missed any point. The BBC, in this instance, is providing a programme that is the most popular on BBC2 and makes money for the corporation throughout the world.
There are plenty of non-mainstream programmes (I watch some of them myself!), so can't see why you are complaining.
As I stated earlier, the traditional motoring programmes became old hat and Top Gear had to be refreshed, otherwise it would have just disappeared from the Radio Times...
|
We have the internet now if we want to find out about how a new Blandui FedonDog might drive. This is why the old format became out of date. It used to be a factual programme but there isn't the same demand anymore due a big increase of media.
I find normal car programmes a bit boring, I have all that info online.
Top Gear is just entertainment.
|
|
|
>>You miss the point Stu>> I haven't missed any point. The BBC in this instance is providing a programme that is the most popular on BBC2 and makes money for the corporation throughout the world.
Popularity is irrellevent, they do not provide a motoring magazine programme, which is the point I'm making - I'm not saying get rid of TG, just that they provide a show for motoring enthusiasts who don't have access to cable/satalite (and there are still a lot of them!).
There are plenty of non-mainstream programmes (I watch some of them myself!) so can't see why you are complaining.
As I said, not available to everyone... and also as I'm a Licence payer and a motoring enthusiast I'm entitled to complain!!
As I stated earlier the traditional motoring programmes became old hat and Top Gear had to be refreshed otherwise it would have just disappeared from the Radio Times...
It didn't have to be refreshed in the way it has, there was always space for a motoring magazine programme, it was just done to get new, non-motoring viewers in, in fact I'd bet that there are more non-motoring enthusiasts watching it now...
|
>>As I said, not available to everyone.>>
I'm talking about the BBC.
|
The orginal top gear went because no-one watched it. It was boring. Motoring can be boring enough with reveling in its boringness.
|
My last reply doesn't make sense and its too late to delete it, most of the motoring progs I see are not on terrestial BBC channels Stu (ie BBC1 and 2)...
As regards content, I agree AE, but it could have been changed and still kept as a motoring prog... but wouldn't have the viewing figures some of you seem to think is essential...
Anyhow I can tell when I'm flogging a dead horse so, as I'm lucky enough to have cable, I'll continue to watch the motoring progs that the Beeb don't want to provide and hope that some time in the future they will do away with the license fee so I don't have to subsidise grown adults wasting large amounts of my money....
|
>>grown adults wasting large amounts of my money.... >>
Actually my view is that anyone who pays Sky or similar broadcasters substantial sums of money annually to be able to receive hundreds of different channels, of which they can only watch or record one or two at any given time), is wasting money...:-)
Even more so those who fork out for these services, then complain about the (much lower) cost of a television licence, which also confers the right to receive television transmissions in your own home. The BBC doesn't even get all the TV licence money, the amount involved being decided by the government.
It's not a personal thing in any way with regard to b308, but all those subscribers to whom it applies.
|
It's not a personal thing in any way with regard to b308 but all those subscribers to whom it applies.
Not taken that way at all... personally I wish that they'd let you choose exactly which channels you want and just pay for them... I only find myself watching about 10 different ones at the most.
|
|
I must agree with b308, as it's the first time!
As long as you're not saying the Beeb should dispense with TG, I think it would be very beneficial to everyone if we had a Top-Gear-of-old style programme where a man in a beard tells you how big the boot is, how to release the seats and whether it's awkward or not etc.
TG is something very special at the moment; it's one of the very last bastions of telly untainted by a PC agenda. That's why many dislike it. But that's why I like it.
But they don't do normal cars. Fifth Gear is much the same - ONE "normal" car per episode on average.
As a critic of the BBC, my views should perhaps be glossed over (that's certainly what they do when I've complained), but don't tell me there's no market for a programme focusing on more average cars. That's what most of us drive and yes, it's the BBC's remit to provide for the masses. I'd record every epsiode and create an Excel spreadsheet detailing the merits or not of the potential cars I might have. But less of my OCD.
Would the BBC create another car show? Not on your nelly! For the same reason that the Guardian doesn't have a Motoring section. BBC producers mostly live in London, with public transport to hand and a general aversion to all things motoring.
|
TG is something very special at the moment; it's one of the very last bastions of telly untainted by a PC agenda. >>
Really? I could be wrong but I think generally Clarkson only has a go at those who tend not to hit back. How politically incorrect is that?
And at present the public enquiry into whether or not walkers have a right of way close to his holiday place on the Isle of Man has just been adjourned. The dispute has been going on for some years. He and his wife are represented by counsel. How politically incorrect is that?
All due respect, FocusDriver, but I wouldn't confuse a bit of elderly adolescent nonsense with anything to do with being un PC.
|
Optimist
you are unfair
he has a home in the iom
there is common land near
every tom dick and harry wants to peak at his home and family
how would you like it
i would have my 12 bore primed
thats why i dont do tv programmes
|
I'm with JC on this one - I doubt if anyone would be prepared to put up with what is alleged to go on. See:
tinyurl.com/nqbugr
|
i havent seen this update Stuartli
but think it reafirms my belief that we are all due some privacy
good look jc and if you have to sell then its everyones loss not just yours
|
computa say no
so look mean luck
|
|
Surely his solicitors and/or the surveyor should have spotted that before he bought...
|
Surely his solicitors and/or the surveyor should have spotted that before he bought... >>
They almost certainly did, but would probably not have foreseen the arrogance and belligerent attitude of some members of the general public.
I'm quite sure that the majority of people would object to strangers wandering around their property without permission.
|
Yet again we have the TG hating drivel. I can't stand Eastenders, so I simply don't watch it, ever. I don't go straight onto a forum to winge about not liking it and how its a waste of the license fee (oops, have I just contradicted myself there)
Every series we have the same complaints about the format/antics of the show and presenters. Just toddle off an watch another channel whilst we enjoy the light hearted motoring related show that is an international success story......
|
We do...
But surely a forum is the place thats been set up to moan or complement things, and a car forum will inevitably have a thread on TG, warts and all... and suggestions for making it better, or where to spend the profits it makes! ;-)
|
probably not have foreseen the arrogance and belligerent attitude
For using a right of way thats been in use for generations according to the report?... bit strong, Stu!
wandering around their property without permission.
Thats why its gone to court, the ramblers (and locals it seems) say they DO have permission...
Think we'll have to await the outcome of the court case, but I hope JC is sending his bill to his conveyancing solicitors!
|
If people just used the right of way I'm sure there would be no problem. But apparently some have been stopping, pointing, staring, clambering into the garden and trying to get photos.
This seems entirely in keeping with the way some people carry on. Having been dragged up in barns or raised by kind mother foxes in the wild and so on, it doesn't occur to them that the homunculi they goggle at on TV are actually real people entitled to the same courtesy as everyone else. They think they own them, and become very incensed when their puppets refuse to answer their ill-mannered questions or moronic criticisms. It's why some film stars have to be surrounded by bodyguards half the time. The same sort of thing happens to politicians nowadays.
I blame the public, and to be fair TV itself which encourages and feeds off this sort of thing. The Clarksons have my sympathy.
|
bit strong, Stu!>>
As I pointed out earlier, it has apparently gone beyond using a right of way - more a right to peer, disturb and generally annoy someone in their own property.
It doesn't matter if it's Jeremy Clarkson or Joe Bloggs from the council estate, it must be extremely annoying for those being pestered.
|
Thats why its gone to court the ramblers (and locals it seems) say they DO have permission...
It would appear that there is NO defined Right of Way..but...successive land owners have allowed people up there. It would also appear that the Clarksons are willing to go along with this, with the exception of one part of their land, that is near their building.
The local arguement from the organised ramblers is that of people have been permitted to walk there for many years, so should claim it as a 'right'.
Personally, I think that the Clarksons are being reasonable. They haven't said 'Get Orf My Land' for all of it, just one small part to have some privacy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
