Chris Harris is imho the best car journalist- perfect for the job......he's a fantastic driver and knows his stuff-
just a shame Chris Evans is also on the show.....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc/...ris-Evans.html
I love CH's output and a very credible choice for the petrolheads but I'll need to be convinced that he is right for what is in essence a family entertainment show. Maybe he'll rise to the challenge but I imagine a large proportion of the old-TG fans would be bored witless by the videos he puts out.
Can see your point, though it depends what you define as the old TG fans. I was a fan of the old TG when it was about relatively accessible cars as well as £1M supercars so a return to closer to that would have me watching regularly for the first time since before I reached my teens.Originally Posted by Optimum
Latterly it was attempting family entertainment and comedy but in a very passé style akin to the comedians of the early 80s (IMO of course), and I'd much rather watch contempory comedy if I'm after a laugh, than a few middle aged office jokers with a big budget.
It had appeared to me to be heading to a place that would have ended each show with Clarkson being chased around in circles by a procession of scantily clad high heel wearing young women to the backdrop of a jaunty tune.
Yes it may have been cliched and or old fashioned but the ratings and (worldwide) viewing figures for Clarkson's Top Gear would disagree with you.
bring back William Woollard....... actually talked about cars , as oppossed to soppy bollocks and his mates driving across a desert and crashing caravans
and on that note....
Last edited by arthurDALEY; 23rd December 2015 at 14:20.
I can't see that ending well...
Evans : "So Chris, what did you think of the Ferrari 488GTB?"
Harris : "Well..."
Evans : "My mate's got one and he says it's great... not as good as my California of course... did you know I had a California?"
Harris : "...yes. Anyway, the 488GTB..."
Evans : "Oh, come on Chris, spit it out, you always beat around the bush... If you know what I mean, fnarr, fnarr.... Well, that's enough of you waffling on, let's get on with 'Chris Evans' Rich mate In A Reasonably Priced (ie over £3M) Ferrari' shall we?"
I won't be watching...
M.
Great addition in my book. Always liked Chris H''s stuff. I reckon they will make a good team, unlike the previous lot, who personally I could not stand. Obviously millions disagreed with me !
Anyway, I will start watching again. I wonder if they will continue placing the fittest woman in the audience right in camera shot behind the presenters at every opportunity !
Probably best to wait until the programme is broadcast rather than pre-judging it.
F.T.F.A.
Chris Harris is superb, good to see him on 5th Gear recently, definitely should get more air time.
Saw Chris Harris described in the tabloids today as "an unknown." I'm sure petrolheads will be wetting themselves, but he will have a bit of work to do convincing the 90%+ of the current Top Gear audience who've never heard of him.
A change of direction, back to a proper motoring show, good move IMO.
I think that Chris Harris is great; however, a lot of the appeal from the Clarkson Top Gear was the interaction between the 3 of them. Even though I'm sure that this new version will be good (especially from a car enthusiast point of view), I can't see it having the world-wide success of the Clarkson one.
Harris is a really nice bloke, I have met him a few times, he can drive (unlike anyone on top gear, or amazon prime) and he knows his stuff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZwA...layer_embedded
Well, that's an option, but I've seen enough of Chris Evans to know I won't bother.
M.
I'm pleased. I like Harrismonkey.
And for those wibbling on that 'it won't be the same' - I very much doubt they will try to make it the same since even if they tried, they couldn't. Who knows - even the whole 'magazine' format may be dumped.
If you want old top gear, get a prime subscription and enjoy the fact that there is now more choice.
I had written top gear off as I'm not much of a fan of Evans or Zoe Ball or Jodie Kid or whoever it was they said was going to be on it with him. this has pricked my interest as I have always enjoyed the Harris output. I will certainly tune in to see how it works, I do however have a nagging hunch that he will be quite strictly edited from saying what he really thinks and all the actual interesting bits where he waffles on about carbon prop shafts and torque converters etc will probably end up on the floor.
it wasn't about cars in the end though was it? more a predictable comedy show.
I don't watch TGIF either, Chris Evans is just a boring chav who also engineers poor quality comedy moments imho of course.
what I would like is a quality motorcycle show.
as long as he doesn't bring that bloody duck!
I like that they have added Sabine Schmitz as well. She most certainly can drive.
that's the one positive, I have always liked German girls even if she would humiliate me/us on the track.
I cant help wondering what her parking's like though?
Not sure that the ratings figures disagree with me, my point was that the show was tacky etc. and the ratings figures proved it to be popular (as we all know it was) but don't disprove that it's tacky, cliched and passé.
You only have to look at the ratings figures for eastenders, strictly ballroom and the X factor to see that tacky and passé doesn't equal low viewing figures. People like those things, together with McDonald's and cadburys chocolate; my preferences are otherwise though. Good luck to Chris Harris, looks a decent fit from what I've read.
Exactly
Good move. I like the way he presents.
Call me cynical (or VRB, again), but one female and one non-white co-presenters. The BBC never fails to amuse..................
I'm certainly intreeged, I like CH but I'm worried much of how he reviews will not make it to air. For me he is interesting because of how passionately he talks about the cars, about how they're made, how this bit of carbon works, etc... But I cannot see how this will sit with the general public.
If the Beeb are content on making a credible car review programme, this'll help. But his style won't fit much else.
The strength Clarkson had was that he is a journalist: his tools are words, and his enthusiasm for cars clear. I've yet to hear a single car test outside TG as entertaining as anything Clarkson has done on that programme.
However, it's not just Harris joining, but Sabina Schmitz... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/bbc/...ris-Evans.html
I quite like him, not sure who that bird is though. In any case, I don't have teevee so it's lost on moi I'm afraid. Can't wait to see the old team on Amazon ;)
You don't know Sabina? Shame on you! She's the one person TG viewers actually want on TG regularly. She almost owns the Nurbergring.
Pretty much the standard formula for every Evans interview:
1. Feign exaggerated interest in subject
2. Ask question
3. Interrupt
4. Make pathetic joke
5. Laugh at pathetic joke
6. Repeat
That's what put me off, it was just a formula at the end.
I love CH but he learned his craft directly from Steve Sutcliffe; the master in my opinion.
Sad that Sabine joined... Evans isn't well-known here in Holland (after seeing him a few times on YT, I wonder if he's aware of that? His ego... is big enough to expand over the North Sea...). Sabine has enought personality and driving skills of her own. She was the one who blasted JC from the screen (and the tarmac) the first time the old TG invited her...
Menno
Nail, head.
"A man of little significance"
Great news, had hoped for something like that to happen but the cynic in me doubted that it ever would. Not a fan of Evans at all, but I'm sure he'll be the comedy anchor while the others hopefully talk about cars for a change (and in fairness to Evans, he is a petrolhead).
I like what I have seen of the work of the unknown Mr Harris, especially his love of 2CV's. I will watch the show before judging Mr Evans involvement.
That was rather funny, thank you.
The news I've been waiting to hear. Best motoring journalist by a mile!
+1
Few folk can drift a car like Mr Harris.....thank God they went for the real deal instead of a Joe Bloggs TV presenter like Zoe Ball or similar....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJPJxOndCXQ
I for one am well please. His film comparing the merits of the 918, P1 and Le Ferrari was excellent. 60 minutes of pure petrolhead porn and very funny as well.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Monkey Harris is a top motoring hack who can drive the nuts off just about anything and loves to do just that.
Sabine is bit like a human BMW M5 and will no doubt provide a good counterpoint to Harris.
You can throw rocks at me if you like, but I quite like Chris Evans and he loves his motors.
I'm quite looking forward to it now.
"A man of little significance"
I thought they should bring her in as soon as they started the search for new presenters. While it will be a very different show with the new line up, I think this move may actually save the brand.
Very funny story
He really is the best motoring journalist out there IMO, I always enjoyed reading his evo articles and always watched his drive videos every week when he was doing them
Great choice
Monkey should be a great addition.
Love his F40 vs F50 video
Last edited by andy tims; 23rd December 2015 at 22:36.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
Hmmmm
Whilst he is good behind the wheel, all the sideways tyre smoking malarky is too much old Top Gear for me. Hopefully this will not transfer onto the new series.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Agreed... Happy see more of this
Stunning in HD, epic cars!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3YPTkBRaOk
Top Gear was slowly turning into Last of the Summer Wine with cars. The new program might be good, it's just that I can't stand Chris Evans in anything.
I watched a fair bit of that. No doubt at all it will please most petrolheads. TG attracted 350m viewers worldwide every Sunday simply because it was not an hour like that Youtube comparison. TG attracted a much wider audience than car geeks. The guy who dubbed Clarkson into German was a star in his own right.
Too many on here insist that TG is solely a car show. It isn't. It's a car-based entertainment show, highly polished and highly professional - often cinema quality. That vid above would honestly have lost 9/10 of its audience, and money, in the first quarter hour. Let's see Chris Harris driving a Fiat slowly through Chernobyl and you might have something. And none of them, not one, has the same way with words that Clarkson does.
Worth pointing out that the BBC have not yet confirmed the presenter line up.
Harris is very popular with men of a certain age - but it remains to be seen if that appeal can become universal. Sabine is the female version of Michael Schumacher and an acquired taste. Good to look at. Evans will be ok if he keeps a lid on his boisterous enthusiasm - otherwise he can become tedious. I foresee a lack of TG "clowning". I remain lukewarm on the choice of presenters.
As for the show - who knows but it is intriguing. Takes more than a few car nuts, a test track and some tyre smoke to make a watchable programme - ask the team on Fifth Gear!
Cinema quality I reckon is pushing it !
But (unlike a lot of people) I cannot stand Clarkson and his 2 love boys.
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