Review: Top Gear, BBC2 (From Blackpool Citizen)

Review: Top Gear, BBC2

4:35pm Friday 9th July 2010

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TO quote a Thin Lizzy lyric, the boys are back in town. But could it be that the Top Gear team have actually listened to their critics?

Yes, the ultimate lads’ show, which is also loved by women, has returned to give us something to watch on a Sunday night.

But after two shows, it would appear we’re being served up Top Gear lite rather than the full-fat version. True, some of the antics on previous series had got out of hand and your average nine-year-old was more responsible than Messrs Clarkson, Hammond and May.

But in toning down the silliness, something’s been lost. Richard Hammond’s haircut remains highly amusing and the basis of the show makes it much more than a programme for petrol heads.

But take last weekend’s show, which involved the boys driving through Germany in 20-year-old cars on one of their ‘challenges’. The whole thing looked truncated — one of the challenges wasn’t even broadcast.

But we did get Clarkson locking horns with Alistair Campbell — it was like seeing two bull elephants in the bush.

Striking the right balance between puerile and funny is always difficult (something Chris Moyles has never managed) so let’s hope the boys get it right soon.

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