So the South African dust has settled on another instalment of the new Top Gear but how did it compare to last week?
Evans is still shouty
I tweeted just before the show asking whether Chris Evans would continue to be shouty and unfortunately he was. He even said in the titles that he was going to more shouty, brilliant... He started the show in a hospital bed and like most of us, I was rather hoping he'd stay there. However he made a full recovery after his film about the McLaren 675LT. In fairness it wasn't a bad piece but Evans still continues to grate somewhat, especially as he is appearing to be a poor man's Jeremy Clarkson.
Has the show improved?
In my opinion it has, but not massively, there is still room for further improvement. The films were better and more engaging although I still feel the guest section is still clunky. It just doesn't seem to flow that well in my opinion and I just find it a tad boring. As mentioned before, the first film was about the McLaren 675LT, the LT standing for 'Longtail'. The car takes its name from the McLaren F1 GTR Longtail racer which also featured in the film along with the car that started it all, the McLaren F1.
Jenson Button joined Evans and he hooned about the Top Gear as Evans did his best not to be sick. Again. It was good fun seeing Button throw the McLaren around and I was actually wondering if there was any way we could have Button instead of Evans... Sadly though it looks like we are stuck with the ginger shouty man for the foreseeable future.
SUVs in South Africa
The main film saw Chris Evans, Matt LeBlanc and Eddie Jordan - who made his TG debut - in South Africa where they tested the Porsche Macan, the Jaguar F-Pace and the Mercedes-Benz GLC. The film was very much like old Top Gear, meaning that the lack of originality continues to take place. It was entertaining though as the trio were joined by singers Seasick Steve, Tinie Tempah and Sharleen Spiteri as they embarked on a series of challenges. The film was better than the UK v America one from last week though but it still wasn't without its faults.
Throughout the whole film there wasn't much detail given about any of the cars and as a viewer I didn't get much of an idea how they were like to drive. Yes, Clarkson, Hammond and May did a lot of cocking about - especially Clarkson - but even so viewers got some decent information about the cars and what they were like to drive. Or am I being biased? I may be a little bit, but even the conclusion of the film felt a bit half-cooked. They said the F-Pace was best as nothing had broken on it, is that really what you base it on?
Also, I may have missed it but I did not see the Porsche break in any way? The same cannot be said for Eddie Jordan's GLC which got rather battered in the harsh African terrain. It transpired that he had not put the car on off-road mode, therefore the ground clearance was too low to get other large obstacles. Oh Eddie.....
They finished the show by doing another 'on that bombshell' gag, seriously guys the first one wasn't funny so please stop doing it.