About Me

I ramble about a number of things - but travel experiences, movies and music feature prominently. See my label cloud for a better idea. All comnments and opinions on this blog are my own, and do not in any way reflect the opinions/position of my employer (past/current/future).

09 May 2017

Reboot of the Rebooted Top Gear - Season 24

I did not enjoy Season 23, and The Grand Tour resurrected a lot of the magic of the old Top Gear. The reboot of the reboot managed to resurrect some of the old formula to good effect. It got rid of the rally cross, and brought back the old lap; albeit with an "everyday" sports car in the form of the Toyota 86. Matt le Blanc is an excellent anchor - and channels the James May weirdness in bringing heavy machinery for amusement. There are some crazy challenges - not as off beat as Clarkson shows - but still interesting - such as the taxi challenge in Kazakstan and playing Pac Man.  Extra Gear continued and brought a lot more behind the scenes views - which greatly increased my appreciation on what it takes to actually film an episode of Top Gear. 

All in all, Season 24 of Top Gear manages to resurrect the show - and it is more of a driving, car show than 3 blokes having fun. It's more balanced from the absurdities of the Clarkson era; a whole lot better than Season 23 - so there are signs of hope once more.