[Snkfanatic]

Can't wait for this!

[LordAlu]

5 more minutes UK GAF!

[DrForester]

lousy stupid lucky Brits....

BTW. Is it an hour special or a bit longer?

[iNvid02]

india!!!

[kharma45]

lousy stupid lucky Brits.... BTW. Is it an hour special or a bit longer?

Hour and a half.

[rhfb]

Hope the US turn around is as quick as it was for the last series, but since BBCA is advertising the showing of another "Lost Season" starting in January I'm wondering if they will wait until that is finished to show the new stuff.

[kharma45]

Hammond's Mini looks great.

[DrForester]

Hope the US turn around is as quick as it was for the last series, but since BBCA is advertising the showing of another "Lost Season" starting in January I'm wondering if they will wait until that is finished to show the new stuff.

There has been no advertising for the BBC America premier. Last winter, there was a two week lag, but it didn't' start till the actual series started in late January, not two weeks form the holiday specials.

[Complex Shadow]

Hour and a half.

SWEET JESUS!

[Aegus]

Oh god. The banner payoff was brilliant.

[kharma45]

Banners had me in stitches.

[Chinner]

this is alright, but horribly scripted.

[CHEEZMO™]

The banner getting dragged out of the train was funnier than the "punchline", IMO.

[Arnie]

this is alright, but horribly scripted.

Yep.

Don't know what it is but I'm really struggling to enjoy this. The scripting is far too obvious, with that Banner thing taking the cake. I mean, really, "English Muff". I just don't find that shit funny.

Might just watch this on iPlayer with a fresh perspective, I'm bored to tears here.

The banner getting dragged out of the train was funnier than the "punchline", IMO.

Agreed, and even then I wasn't really laughing.

There's no way they made that banner, with just the three of them, on that cramped train. The British flag was proportioned perfectly, and Hammond only had one can of paint on his unusually convenient trip to buy supplies.

This scripting is ruining it for me. I often ignore it, but they're making it too hard to.

I blame Attenborough.

[rogue_pigeon]

The banner getting dragged out of the train was funnier than the "punchline", IMO.

That just had me crying paperwork.

[bengraven]

Left Lego man looks like Leo Laporte.

[JonathanEx]

It's not bad, I'm laughing... just not feeling it.

[Aegus]

I always enjoyed see cool scenery and stuff in these specials, but it feels like it's focused purely on the scripting.

[kharma45]

Here's the scenery, finally!

[lil smoke]

I wouldn't mind the scripting if they did it in a way that was a funny play on itself, but they seem to be actually trying to convince you that it's all natural spur of the moment stuff.

[Xun]

Meh.

Getting a bit bored with the same old routine. Again.

[PjotrStroganov]

Nope. Not feeling it. Shame.

[Fallout-NL]

Here's the verdict: it sucked.

They need to stop being ridiculous and just drive their cars across a country. That's more than enough entertainment.

[Slizz]

Damn kinda let down by all the reactions.... Hopefully the regular season picks up a bit...

[Saiyar]

The only worthwhile parts of the first hour were the hill climb and the dual carraigeway segments, about 10 minutes of footage. The entire train part was boring as hell.

Last 30 minutes was more like it.

[Kyaw]

So much ridiculous shit although it was quite funny.

Need to be less stupid stuff and more about cars...

[Bootaaay]

The hill-climb, dual carriageway bit and stuff in the mountains was all great, and while the train section was so scripted I still enjoyed it - the whole garden party bit was ridiculous though, awful stuff.

I personally would prefer it if they just drove the cars from A to B, had a laugh, tried to annoy each other, interacted with the locals and saw some awesome scenery. I don't see why any of that has to be so overly scripted.

[Burger]

The hill-climb, dual carriageway bit and stuff in the mountains was all great, and while the train section was so scripted I still enjoyed it - the whole garden party bit was ridiculous though, awful stuff. I personally would prefer it if they just drove the cars from A to B, had a laugh, tried to annoy each other, interacted with the locals and saw some awesome scenery. I don't see why any of that has to be so overly scripted.

It wasn't just ridiculous, it was borderline farcical. Do these guys enjoy this sort of rubbish? I suppose the pay packet makes you turn the other way. When Hammond turned his Mini quickly and feigned a look of shock, who do they think they are kidding? Even the 'modifications' they do to the cars these days are idiotic.

These specials are like a form of manufactured comedy, you can see the idea behind some of the stuff, but the execution of it is just terrible.

I thought the producer said they wouldn't do this sort of schtick any longer? Clearly he was full of crap.

[123rl]

The Specials should all be like the Polar, Vietnam, or Bolivia episodes. When the show is like that it is the best show on television. The scripted jokes need to go

[Kyaw]

The Specials should all be like the Polar, Vietnam, or Bolivia episodes. When the show is like that it is the best show on television. The scripted jokes need to go

Agreed!

Those were REALLY good and then we have this kind of garbage...

[kharma45]

The Specials should all be like the Polar, Vietnam, or Bolivia episodes. When the show is like that it is the best show on television. The scripted jokes need to go

Yeah those were classics, as was the first USA one, and I still quite enjoyed the Botswana one too.

[iNvid02]

some of it was genuinely funny but some of the scripted bits sucked.

liked it overall

[Lonestar]

I've rewatched the Bolivia and Vietnam specials 5+ times each.

More like those, please!

[Foliorum Viridum]

I was expecting to come here and say it was way too scripted and that the show has lost sight of what made the other trips so good and fight against comments like "If you don't like it don't watch it blah blah blah"

Glad to see others feel the same way. This was by far the worst special yet. They used to be the highlights of a series.

Give us some fun challenges, nice scenery and just show us their adventure. All of this badly scripted bollocks is killing my love for a show I thought I would love forever.

Depressing.

[Fallout-NL]

Give us some fun challenges, nice scenery and just show us their adventure. All of this badly scripted bollocks is killing my love for a show I thought I would love forever. Depressing.

Well put, feel exactly the same way.

[123rl]

I've almost finished watching it on iPlayer. The firework scene was embarassing. I'm tempted to switch it off and just watch the Bolivia episode instead. Again. Because it was an excellent episode

[Chinner]

apart from being overly scripted, it just feels like they're jumping from setpiece to setpiece too quickly. would prefer if they just slowed down shit and concentrated on normal travel.

you know it's boring if the journey of the environment is not enough to sustain the show so they have to throw boring challenges and 'spontaneous' shenanigans to entertain you.

[Foliorum Viridum]

Yep, compared to the adventures of the older series where the journey was EVERYTHING.

There were a few great random moments that happened on those journeys and everyone loved it, so they just play up to it more and more now without realising what made those moments great was the fact they were spontaneous and natural.

The real greatness from the adventures came from watching them bond over the course of the journey. This is just some C grade, badly written sketches that have been slapped together.

It's barely recognisable as the same show.

[DrForester]

watching now. OK so far. Will admit I lost it at them doing the band and singing Hey Jude on the train.

Actually, the entire train bit was great.

Like the jokes about the whole Mexico fiasco.

[Edmond Dantès]

Certainly going through the motions now, with ever increasingly hackneyed jokes and ridiculous set pieces. The show has become a caricature of itself. Shame, as it was required viewing a few years ago. I wouldn't mind if the show was given a break, to allow the three of them to go their own ways for a while and concentrate on their solo projects.

[Technosteve]

is this on par with or better then when they went to Botswana? In my book that was the greatest special they had done period. Well the american one was good too just because they almost died.

[Edmond Dantès]

is this on par with or better then when they went to Botswana? In my book that was the greatest special they had done period. Well the american one was good too just because they almost died.

It's actually one of the poorer efforts, if not the worst.

[DrForester]

Didn't think it was awful, but it was a bit meh.

Really enjoyed it up until the stupid garden party. Enjoyed the bits once they got to the mountains. Though I disliked them destroying that beautiful mini, and the car modifications in general were just silly. They were all nice cars.

Will never grow tired of them screwing with one anthers cars though. The brake horn was great.

[theb0xmIke]

Meh ill still love this episode when i get to watch it :) Because it's freakking top gear!

[Technosteve]

It's actually one of the poorer efforts, if not the worst.

i'll rewatch the Botswana episode then, best part was when the president of the country comes in on a flying ATV. BAD ASSED

[Red_Man]

Best news I've received all month, the King has returned.

[Foliorum Viridum]

It's actually one of the poorer efforts, if not the worst.

I would say it's the worst thing they've ever done easily.

Over 90 minutes there was 5 minutes of good content. When they were driving on the road at night and when they were camping and joking about if they did a trip to Monaco.

5 minutes out of 90. Ridiculous.

[PjotrStroganov]

The banner flying out of the train was also a good few seconds. It was the only time they were really in serious danger and you saw that they knew they were lucky to get out of it unharmed.

[Foliorum Viridum]

Yeah, true.

5 minutes and 20 seconds then.

[Slizz]

A bit disappointing, I'll echo the same sentiments as others. With them needing to concentrate on more stuff like Botswana. There really was never a legit challenge. Shit the whole train bit was essentially for no reason. Good stuff on the train though just not like other specials where they actually have to 'do' stuff.