Top Gear has been around in England since 2002. The show is hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, a fascinating trio. Their expertise, if you’ve never seen the show before, surrounds cars and pretty much everything in the transportation department. The show is broken down in segments of car reviews, challenging tasks and celebrity track races. Also, there’s a little unknown person on the staff called The Stig, who is the best driver on their track.
The show has survived and thrived for 13 seasons and continually finds new ways to trump the previous season. In the past you would get things like the trio racing to Italy in the car of their choice or the trio picking the worst cars made by Britain and racing them until they literally fell apart; there have been many wonderful and wacky events on this non-stop fun fest of vehicular entertainment.
In this season, the boys have new challenges set in front of them and meet even better celebrities. Two of the coolest challenges that this season introduces were extremely well thought out. The first challenge is bringing back vehicles from 1949 and having a race. James May drives off in a 1949 Jaguar, Richard Hammond takes a 1949 motorcycle and Jeremy Clarkson takes (wait for it) a train. Their goal is to drive literally across the Britain nation to see who gets there first. What’s intriguing is that while May and Hammond have to do little other than fighting the elements and gas, poor Jeremy Clarkson is stuck shoveling coal to an ancient train. This is potentially one of the coolest challenges and one of the most informative that they’ve done.
But wait! There is more….
The other challenge that I found particularly cool involved May and Hammond racing (wait for it) a letter across Britain. While it was pretty much a lost cause half way through the race, it was a phenomenal idea that didn’t work out very well. Still, interesting overnight chug across the country and one that has some of the best commentary from both May and Hammond.
The runner-up for this season has to be the French ice race that brought not only one of the more dangerous tasks to the crew, but also one of the most humorous. I simply loved what they did with this challenge.
On top of all these things we also got some pretty high profile celebs making it to the guest seat, one included Usain Bolt (fastest man alive), who brought the same ‘I love myself’ attitude that he carries with him on the track (his track, that is). Jay Leno was another guest and one that, if you didn’t know already, is a huge car enthusiast. Now sticking with celebs, one of the biggest mysteries was solved this season with the unveiling of ‘The Stig’, who has become a mystery celebrity over the years. For a driver that can pretty much conquer any vehicle on the Top Gear track it won’t be a surprise to see who it is.
Anyway, this season was just as entertaining as previous seasons. It takes the exact same formula that it has always carried and applies it to pretty much every episode. The show works mainly because of this formula, but also it works because of its hosts. Their charm, wit and knowledge of everything cars really brings a unique personality that American television simply cannot replicate. The trio explains everything so that new viewers, and non-car folk (like myself), will understand what’s going on. They don’t gloss over the details with rubbish either; it’s facts and good explanations that make it easy to understand. On top of all this is also a wonderful review show that doesn’t pull the punches. Car companies give their vehicles willing to the trio and in return the trio compares the cars with the appropriate competition and conclude with an honest-to-God opinion. Need an example? Find the season where Jeremy Clarkson falls in love with the Ford Focus (also in season 13).
As for the features on this DVD, it comes packed with goodies! Here’s what you’re looking at:
– Stig POV
– Spitfire Magic
– Extended Brian Johnson interview
– Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV 200mph Run in Abu Dhabi
– Train Race Sequence with Jeremy Clarkson
– Ken Block Slo-Mo
All of these features are great. The Stig POV is entertaining as hell. The run in Abu Dhabi is spectacular and the train race sequence is exciting. All in all the only thing missing is a behind the scenes of season 13 and some outtakes. Other than that, you get some great features with an already great show.