The grand tour – One for the road

He did apparently punch Piers Morgan, so hes not all bad…

Weird – I didn’t really read anyone apologising for Clarkson.

I have spotted a bit of virtue signalling though…

He did apparently punch Piers Morgan, so hes not all bad…

Meh, just evidence of poor impulse control innit? Surely everyone who encounters Morgan wants to punch him…

But honestly, who cares about their various shows? It’s just oaf based telly for oafs. I take the piss out of my missus for watching some utter shite “Real housewives of… Who gives a shit” but Clarkson based TV is the equivalent, pitched at stupid blokes.

I won’t deny enjoying it once upon a time, but the jokes, banter and contrived situations got old, and I grew up…

It is stupid,  and pointless and crossed the line way too many times.  But the last one mad me laugh and it was poignant too. Well worth a watch

Maybe I’m just a stupid bloke, but I laughed at it, like I laughed at most of them over the years. Obviously that makes me a very bad person, but do I care?

Looking forward to watching this one as I spent 6 months out in Zim back in 94 at the tender and foolish age of 22.

Used to like tg and in the beginning they were quite funny but did lose its shine quickly. I suppose there are only so many times bumping your mates car is funny. I think I lost interest totally around the Vietnam trip as it could have been so much better but was just a bit shit.

Really enjoy Clarkson’s Farm and Hammond’s Workshop.

Never wanted to see the farm as I think jc is just an arse. Accidentally watched some of a Hammond workshop and dear God he can’t disappear into obscurity fast enough. None of the “charm” of top gear without any of the humour.

Never wanted to see the farm as I think jc is just an arse.

I have the same opinion of Clarkson as Rustyspanner, yet I watched the first series of the Farm.   Clarkson or his producers have this weird way of very minor moments of brilliance, for me his serious poignant summary and managing to switch the buffoonery off  – at the end of series 1 – of just how hard and non profitable running a Farm really is shedding an educated light on something a lot of us are ignorant to.

In the same way I can’t get to grips with Michael Portillos travel series for the same reason, their past/chosen persona massively compromises anything sensible and leaves them eminently unlikable.

Maybe I’m just a stupid bloke, but I laughed at it, like I laughed at most of them over the years. Obviously that makes me a very bad person, but do I care?

This, and I’d rather be a very bad person than a miserable curmudgeon.

I enjoyed it for the most part. I did think the digs at EVs were a bit unnecessary though and out of place. I know Clarkson plays to his audience, but to have him moan about EVs being white goods on one show, and then on his farm whinge about climate change affecting his crops is taking the pee a bit.

Hmmm,

Clarkson started as a motoring journalist at the Rotherham Advertiser and now worth £50-million, must have done something right.

I did grow up watching him and he was originally a breath of fresh air on top-gear with his taking the Ferrari shopping, decades ahead of the rich kids/scammers on insta/YouTube showing off the latest car they’ve bought/borrowed/hired.

Even Mrs DoD used to enjoy his car dvds back in the day and we enjoyed watching one at at Christmas for a few years, he did have an entertaining way with words describing the Lambo’s.

I do think the Clarkson screen persona just didn’t age well and ran on beyond its best before date.

Theres a certain skill/mix to making a good show to appeal to a wide range of people and for a long time they had it before they then started to play caricatures of themselves.

I enjoyed it, I enjoyed how it took the piss out of previous episodes staged incidents, I enjoyed the 3 mates messing about, it had some staged moments of course but it is TV. Was a nice farewell for them and good they showed some of the crew.

I’m keeping it to watch for Christmas :-)

Clarkson started as a motoring journalist at the Rotherham Advertiser and now worth £50-million, must have done something right.

You seem to have a very narrow view of “right”

I enjoyed it for the most part. I did think the digs at EVs were a bit unnecessary though and out of place. I know Clarkson plays to his audience, but to have him moan about EVs being white goods on one show, and then on his farm whinge about climate change affecting his crops is taking the pee a bit.

TBH I didnt see that as having a dig, Most EV’s are white goods, as are most ICE cars to the majority of their owners. No bad thing, just tools to do job! Just took it as car enthusiasts being a dieing breed.

For the record I love shonky old cars that make bwarpy noises but like plenty of EV’s as well BTW :)

I liked it. Not a Clarkson fan but I’ll miss the dynamic that the three of them have.

Whether you like Clarkson/Hammond/May etc – there probably won’t be another TV program made again with the production scale of Top Gear / Grand Tour. As daft and unnecessary it was converting the cars to run on rails (and all the previous stunts/set ups/’comedy moments’) – there was a lot of engineering and no doubt red tape and planning going on behind the scenes that then brought the stunning shot of the Victoria Falls bridge and has done with many locations previously.

Yes its felt contrived, scripted and stale at times over the years – but as a piece of entertainment and escapism I’ve always thought it was great.

As good as some YouTube channels are they will never get the depth or scope of a big budget full production company and that is a shame and loss.

Haven’t watched many of the grand tour stuff but thought I’d give the final a watch and it was ok…some lovely scenery shots and had its moments but did remind me of how stale the whole format has got. JC seemed to be the only one with any genuine enthusiasm, RH tried but it came across as trying and JM didn’t seem to have any real enthusiasm for it.

I really hope they picked up all the scattered parts from the beetle too.

I really hope they picked up all the scattered parts from the beetle too.

This is what irks me slightly…they’ll never get every piece.  Just needless destruction of the environment as they’ve paid off an offical somewhere.

Didn’t realise it was going to be 2 hours. Was quite the effort to watch it….

Putting threads like this on a cycling forum is getting close to trolling

Yet the anti smokers suggest that puffing carcinogens on pub dwellers is, in their opinion, unpleasant in another thread  – and the free speech, live and let live crowd drop on it from a great height.

What a mass of contradictions this place is.

I watched it, it was alright. It filled the brief of being entertaining but I probably shouldn’t have stayed up late watching it.

Watched it and enjoyed thinking to myself “I was there….I know where that is,”, could’ve done without the daft stunts that are tired and repetitive by now but it’s the final show so I’ll forgive them. Not looked at my 3/400 pics from 30 years ago for ages so I’ll get them out the cupboard t’morn and have a wee reminisce to myself of a time where I felt invincible at 22, on my own (mostly) for 6 months in Zimbabwe

Watched it and enjoyed thinking to myself “I was there….

Similar, except “there” was in front of a telly in Northamptonshire rather than any sense of ‘there’. What I took away from this, was less an experience of ‘good TV’ but more a reminder of my own aging, and my Dads, as I used to watch the early years with him, both Clarksons reboot and the old format before.

Unsurprisingly the emotional response I’ve got from this is a need to have a few Whiskys with my Dad while I still can. (2 weeks from yesterday, it’s a road trip so kinda on theme)

Finish watching it this morning.

I fast forwarded large chunks of it as it was the same old, but at least they were doing it more as a memorial to the past however many years.

It was the passing of a generation / era. I think the comments about EV were completely right. The last 100 years of ICE vehicles have created culture, ways of life etc. EVs have sucked away any of that. They are now just dull boxes to get from A-B.

So to me a saw it as a fitting tribute and end to probably one of the most successful ways of life in the last 50 years, end of ICE, end of TV production, end of their long established and brilliant careers, and for most of us, love them or hate them, they have been here through our childhoods in middle aged grumpiness.

I quite enjoyed it. The Beetle scene was unnecessary and TBH it was stuff like that which had started putting me off the GT. The rest of it made me think the Zimbabwe looks like a stunning place and I quite liked the reflection of all of the past specials etc.

I kind of agree with Clarkson (Unusual), this did feel like an end of an Era. I too think that EVs are just sh!t, and about as appealing as white goods, the same goes for any modern car regardless of fuel. I feel the same about the iPhone 16 vs the first, or the original Motorola Razr too. I’m not quite 40 and maybe going into that ‘things were more exciting in my day’ phase of life, but I don’t enjoy driving like I used to, neither does it give the feeling of freedom like it did when I was 18.

So kudos to those 3 for milking the gravy train and on an obviously lucrative career and all the best for their next endeavors. I’ll take my aging van for a drive into the Highlands to a quite place for the night and go back to thinking about another Mk3 Polo GT Coupe like my first car that opened up the mountains and great outdoors for me, or the Mk2 Golf I always wanted (Some bloke on STW’s fault).

Nostalgia, it ain’t what it used to be…

I’ll take my aging van for a drive into the Highlands to a quite place for the night and go back to thinking about another Mk3 Polo GT Coupe like my first car that opened up the mountains and great outdoors for me, or the Mk2 Golf I always wanted (Some bloke on STW’s fault).

Here you go, buy one before you miss out.

Here you go, buy one before you miss out

That one for sale ;)

That one for sale ;)

I sold it 5 years ago when I could no longer drive it due to my worsening spms, the buyer took it off the road and its been in dry storage ever since with his other cars, which is a shame as it should be driven and if I knew he was going to do that I would have sold it to the other interested folk

I also get the analogy between EVs and white goods. EVs are brilliant in a lot of ways and make loads of sense, but they are boring.

It’s like steam trains. No sensible train operator would choose to build a steam train when electric trains exist, but watching a steam train go past is inherently enchanting, unlike a a generic electric train.

I stopped watching regularly long ago but enjoyed this one and am glad they had one last adventure.

British Autotest Champion, 38th on the 86 Welsh Rally in a Group N Samba (first in class) when Hannu in the Quattro beat Dai in the Metro and I don’t find EVs boring. Drive a few. They’re a bit like a steam train, bags of torque at low revs with traction control rather than needing sand on the rails for grip. The Zoe on Cross Climates at suitable pressures is a delight to drive.

I used Top Gear as English language teaching material when Clarkson was still a motoring journalist trying a bit too hard rather than the provocative reactionary **** he became. The Frontera review was a great listening exercise and “rickshaw technology” made most people smile. Then the Micky taking and attacks on minorities started to piss me off so I watched the motoring shows on French and German TV instead.

The vast majority of new cars are boring, but liking or desiring the few interesting ones makes you worse than Putin, so…

Just caught up.

I haven’t watched any of the Grand Tour shows so the callbacks were lost on me.  But I really enjoyed that, a fitting finale I think.  I’ll be shocked if there isn’t a comeback special at some point.

A bit of fun in a dreary world, some people need to lighten up.

Watched today as I recovered from my ride. It was ok and I’ll miss them but feels that it’s naturally ended.  22 years nowadays is a long time to work with the same people.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Back to the good format of a beautiful country, a few thousand miles and a nice road trip without silly stunts (for the most part). I think they judged the episode very well and it felt like a lovely end.

When Dire Straits started up…

I know it’s a money making venture and I understand it’s a transaction, but I’m certain that it’s meant more to them than that at times. We all get a bit lost from time to time.

Just took it as car enthusiasts being a dieing breed.

I’ve found myself becoming an anti-car petrolhead.

The last time I watched Top Gear (or it might have been GT) was when they hired a car somewhere (spain maybe??) and bought the full insurance package just so they could wantonly smash it up and then take it back for another.

But I noticed was the last Grand Tour last night so tried to give it a go. I was actually quite enjoying it until the completely pointless Beetle scene. WTAF was the point in that and spreading bits of metal / plastic / oil etc across a beautiful bit of countryside? P’d me off so turned it off before I got more grumpy!

Clarkson’s Farm on the other hand is something I can watch. Yes, he’s a caricature of himself at time and deliberately and arse, but there are some poignant bits about the state of british farming and also some natural humour in there too.

I really enjoyed it. May have helped that I worked in Zim back in 96 so for me it was a trip down memory lane. Suffice to say I don’t think the roads have got much better! Yes, it’s contrived & set up but then it’s Tv not a documentary. It’s 3 blokes messing about in cars, having a laugh & getting well paid at the same time. I wonder if that last aspect isn’t why some are so resentful of its existence? I will say I was hoping the Rover would get it in on the act….but alas. I imagine that they will be back in some form at a later date – I suspect that they might just miss the buzz a little too much to stay away completely. I’ll just say thanks boys – it’s been a laugh!

As for those questioning a thread on TGT here? For gods sake go & get laid, ride a bike or just have some fun! Get over yourselves!

having a laugh & getting well paid at the same time.

Having a laugh at other people’s expense, often foreigners and/or minorities, is a dick think to do, there was too much of that to continue to watch.

Get laid: yup

Ride a bike: yup, up Luz Ardidenne yesterday

Have fun: nice swim, a bit of DIY, picked up the German exchange people from the station – yeah all of that was fun today, even typing this reply to your rant as I sip a relaxing infusion is fun.

Sleep tight.