Top Gear has just started its 20th series, and has become something of a British institution. It even has its own devoted section on the Telegraph website, and is broadcast in dozens of territories across the globe, including Iran, where British things are not always cherished.
Millions of people will have tuned in to see if Clarkson, May and Hammond are as entertaining and witty as they have been labelled in the past. So how did they do?
The Telegraph’s Neil Midgley gave the episode 2/5 stars, displeased with “Clarkson making rather obvious jokes about the introduction of pubs at motorway services, and James May rather obviously taking the mickey out of Hammond for living in the country,” the delivery of which he described as “just excruciating.”
The Guardian’s Sam Wollaston was a little more forgiving, although he did insult the Top Gear trio a fair amount in his review: “The Three Chumps' car v catamaran stunt is stupid, pointless and puerile – but quite entertaining”, reads the review snippet.
The Mirror’s Kevin O’Sullivan delivers one of the most damning reviews, finding little to enjoy in what he calls the first episode of the 19th Series (it’s actually the 20th, Kev): “Victims of their own extraordinary global success, Clarkson and his lesser sidekicks have no choice but to keep on keeping on.”
The news portals that delivered these reviews seem to have chosen journalists who have little interest in cars, and have been harbouring anti-Clarkson feelings for some time.
What do you think of the latest Top Gear episode? Are Clarkson, May and Hammond as entertaining as ever?
Please, leave your thoughts below!
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