Board logo

Chris Evans Leaves Top Gear
Jeano - 4/7/16 at 02:29 PM

Seems like they listened to the people

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36707266


Benzine - 4/7/16 at 02:35 PM

Oh dear
What a pity
Never mind

Quite enjoyed new top gear, except evans.

loggyboy - 4/7/16 at 02:40 PM

For the best - I wonder who will step in to the primary and secondary anchor roles - assuming MLB will stay on as one, but will it be Rory Reid or Chris Harris stepping up. I think Chris works better on his own outside of studio, and RR seems to be a bit to much like an excited kid - if he can tone it down a notch or two he should fill the anchor role well.


[Edited on 4-7-16 by loggyboy]

twybrow - 4/7/16 at 03:10 PM

Personally I think it is a shame. The public had a witch hunt and drove him out. He was doomed from the word go, as he wasn't Clarkson, yet that was what the Beeb wanted to shoot for. IMHO, there are lots more annoying people in the world than Evans. I would be surprised if it gets another series now, as no one will want the anchor role - it is a poisoned chalice.

@Loggy - why is it for the best? Did you really find his presence that annoying? Would no Top Gear be a better situation for you? I am not spoiling for a fight, just keen to understand how people can feel so strongly (this is becoming a recurring theme recently!).

Lurch88 - 4/7/16 at 03:23 PM

I personally didn't think Evens fitted into the role , I like his radio show
just didn't like the shouty persona on Top Gear
If he was given a couple of series to bed in who knows ??
I caught an early episode of the Clarkson, May & Hammond Top Gear on Dave the other day (Really bored)
and that wasn't very good either, it got better as the chemistry developed over time.
Then I think it reached a plateau and then stagnated at the end .
Who knows given time I might even get to appreciate Eddie Jordan assuming I live to be 248 years old !!!

loggyboy - 4/7/16 at 03:31 PM

quote:
Originally posted by twybrow
@Loggy - why is it for the best? Did you really find his presence that annoying? Would no Top Gear be a better situation for you? I am not spoiling for a fight, just keen to understand how people can feel so strongly (this is becoming a recurring theme recently!).


Because he didnt fit. Not specifically as JC replacement, but as an anchor for a show that doesnt suit his style.
I dont think the JC comparison is justified, as without a doubt it wasnt JC that made the old TG special - it was the connection between the 3.

nick205 - 4/7/16 at 03:33 PM

Watched last night's episode and (personally) found it lacking a little. I quite like TG 2.0, but 3.0 didn't really do it for me - the Beeb would have been better IMHO re-formatting the show and making it different - there's a reason why the old lot went!

scootz - 4/7/16 at 03:53 PM

quote:
Originally posted by nick205
... there's a reason why the old lot went!


Yup - the most obnoxious one punched a colleague because he wasn't getting the meal he wanted, so he ran away with the most annoying one, and sadly, managed to convince the decent one to go with them.

nick205 - 4/7/16 at 04:28 PM

quote:
Originally posted by scootz
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
... there's a reason why the old lot went!


Yup - the most obnoxious one punched a colleague because he wasn't getting the meal he wanted, so he ran away with the most annoying one, and sadly, managed to convince the decent one to go with them.



I'm not saying they made a graceful exit, but I do wonder what really happened - it seems a little far fetched to me!

coyoteboy - 4/7/16 at 07:25 PM

quote:

@Loggy - why is it for the best? Did you really find his presence that annoying? Would no Top Gear be a better situation for you? I am not spoiling for a fight, just keen to understand how people can feel so strongly (this is becoming a recurring theme recently!).


Personally I found he jarred pretty heavily, seemed forced and strained.

twybrow - 4/7/16 at 07:44 PM

quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
quote:

@Loggy - why is it for the best? Did you really find his presence that annoying? Would no Top Gear be a better situation for you? I am not spoiling for a fight, just keen to understand how people can feel so strongly (this is becoming a recurring theme recently!).


Personally I found he jarred pretty heavily, seemed forced and strained.


Fair enough. I suspect the weight in his shoulders was just too great. I thought he was getting better, but equally it could just have been there was less and less air time for him resulting in the same feeling.

Hodor - 4/7/16 at 10:18 PM

I didn't mind him really. Thought Chris Evans and Matt worked well off each other. Matt seems to suit the style of the program and writers, but can't see him being the main anchor. None of the others have it either. Also don't see why everyone thinks Chris Harris is all that? He comes over a bit irritating to me.

Needs another main anchor with the charisma and ability to connect with the audience. Dermot Oleary? Or Sebastian Vettel would be good.

hearbear - 4/7/16 at 10:48 PM

I still think they should have re done the whole format it's like they picked up all the scripts for this series that the other three left behind and that will never work as they aren't the other three. Watched Sunday's effort and fast forwarded through the stars in a rally x car as I have since the 1st showing (don't like it) and that bit if 15mins long. Why?

Texan - 5/7/16 at 12:51 AM

Hallelujah!!!

Step one in transitioning the #1 Main show over the crew on the #2 followup show that's really been what they wanted to do from the first but were afraid no one would watch if they did it from the get go.

Also they've found controversy sells so they built some in.

swanny - 5/7/16 at 10:36 AM

i like evans, he comes across as very honest and is a genuine car nut, who's worked hard and been lucky enough to buy his dream cars.
i can also see that the shouty stuff got on peoples nerves. but generally i like listening to people who are excited by what they are talking about. i agree with others they'd have been better coming up with a new idea and getting him to do that but the Beeb needs the cash from overseas sales so they have to try and stick a bit to the old format to keep the overseas market happy. generally i like listening to people who are excited by what they are talking about. i liked the last episode though, especially the modern take on classic cars

loggyboy - 5/7/16 at 10:38 AM

quote:
Originally posted by swanny
i liked the last episode though, especially the modern take on classic cars


I didnt get that - it was just a repeat of what the previous version did a few series ago, but with the addition of a stupidly overpriced MG.

scootz - 5/7/16 at 11:29 AM

quote:
Originally posted by nick205
quote:
Originally posted by scootz
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
... there's a reason why the old lot went!


Yup - the most obnoxious one punched a colleague because he wasn't getting the meal he wanted, so he ran away with the most annoying one, and sadly, managed to convince the decent one to go with them.



I'm not saying they made a graceful exit, but I do wonder what really happened - it seems a little far fetched to me!



How so?

I think the legal fall-out pretty much confirmed the debacle.

MikeRJ - 5/7/16 at 05:34 PM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
quote:
Originally posted by swanny
i liked the last episode though, especially the modern take on classic cars


I didnt get that - it was just a repeat of what the previous version did a few series ago, but with the addition of a stupidly overpriced MG.


The MG might seem stupidly priced, but add up the parts and labour that go into making it and it doesn't seem that bad. Sure you could build yourself one for less, but then your labour is free. How come you aren't accusing the other two far more expensive cars of being stupidly overpriced?

I am delighted that Evans is going. I didn't mind him Radio 2 but on TG I found him hugely annoying. Constantly shouting in an attempt to emulate Clarksons style, coming out with some proper BS on occasions and worst of all during the guest slot he fawns over the rich guests with expensive cars. He also dresses like a low class tramp. The MG review was easily one of the best things he's done on the series, but clearly it's too little, too late.

He's take a lot of abuse on unsocial media which is never nice, but he's also taken home a very fat cheque so he's the one ultimately laughing.

OTOH Matt LeBlanc has surprised me just how well he fitted into the roll. He's enthusiastic and seems reasonably knowledgeable and his calm, deadpan humour contrasts sharply with Rory Reid who comes across like an over-excited teen. A teen with an obnoxious London "street" accent

[Edited on 5/7/16 by MikeRJ]

coyoteboy - 6/7/16 at 08:34 AM

quote:

Fair enough. I suspect the weight in his shoulders was just too great. I thought he was getting better, but equally it could just have been there was less and less air time for him resulting in the same feeling.


Agreed

loggyboy - 6/7/16 at 09:00 AM

quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
How come you aren't accusing the other two far more expensive cars of being stupidly overpriced?

For the exact same reason they stated in the program - the cost of the source car compared to the price they are asking. The other 2 are classics from top end marques, and the MG - well they brought us the Maestro FFS!

nick205 - 6/7/16 at 09:54 AM

quote:
Originally posted by scootz
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
quote:
Originally posted by scootz
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
... there's a reason why the old lot went!


Yup - the most obnoxious one punched a colleague because he wasn't getting the meal he wanted, so he ran away with the most annoying one, and sadly, managed to convince the decent one to go with them.



I'm not saying they made a graceful exit, but I do wonder what really happened - it seems a little far fetched to me!



How so?

I think the legal fall-out pretty much confirmed the debacle.



Personally I find it hard to believe that Clarkson lamped someone - the chance of getting lamped back make me think it seems odd. I may well be wrong of course, but I just think Clarkson in particular wanted an exit and that's how it was "engineered" for him. I'm guessing the other two had made enough from it and wanted to move on as well.

MikeRJ - 6/7/16 at 09:56 AM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
the MG - well they brought us the Maestro FFS!


I hope you could come up with a better argument than that. MG did not bring us the Metro, Maestro, or the Montego, at that point it was simply a badge which was broadly equivalent to "GTi".

The argument in the show is also deeply flawed, I'm surprised anyone fell for that. My uncle bought an E-Type for £8k and it's now worth at least £150k, so by that argument his must be terrible value. What other modernised retro car, built from all new components does the Frontline MG compete with?

jeffw - 6/7/16 at 10:13 AM

Omex did the work on the 2.5lt Duratec engine in the Frontline MG, 300 odd BHP from a 2.5 NA 4-pot is not going to be cheap in a production ready package.

David Jenkins - 6/7/16 at 03:29 PM

quote:
Originally posted by nick205
Personally I find it hard to believe that Clarkson lamped someone - the chance of getting lamped back make me think it seems odd.


Clarkson is quite a big, solidly-built bloke - the man he thumped was considerably smaller. He also had the power of being "the star".

I think that he's just a brash, know-it-all bully who'd had a bit to drink before the incident. He'd boasted a while before this happened that he often drank a couple of bottles of rose wine in an evening - personally, I'd be horizontal if I drank that much in one go!

Good riddance, as far as I'm concerned.

Although this new team hasn't been great, the old team's efforts on Amazon seem to have been greeted with a resounding "meh..."

jeffw - 6/7/16 at 06:43 PM

quote:
Originally posted by David Jenkins
the old team's efforts on Amazon seem to have been greeted with a resounding "meh..."


Based on what? They haven't released any programs yet.

David Jenkins - 6/7/16 at 06:47 PM

3rd-hand reports!

They probably came from people who were on the production team. I don't know - and care even less.

02GF74 - 7/7/16 at 02:04 PM

quote:
Originally posted by jeffw
Omex did the work on the 2.5lt Duratec engine in the Frontline MG, 300 odd BHP from a 2.5 NA 4-pot is not going to be cheap in a production ready package.



... except it was turbo, or am i misremembering it?
Anyways my finger in the air guess 20k would be pretty much cover that, so wheres the other 75k gone - thats a decent annual salary for two people? (5k for donor, same on suspension).

loggyboy - 7/7/16 at 02:20 PM

quote:
Originally posted by 02GF74
quote:
Originally posted by jeffw
Omex did the work on the 2.5lt Duratec engine in the Frontline MG, 300 odd BHP from a 2.5 NA 4-pot is not going to be cheap in a production ready package.



... except it was turbo, or am i misremembering it?
Anyways my finger in the air guess 20k would be pretty much cover that, so wheres the other 75k gone - thats a decent annual salary for two people? (5k for donor, same on suspension).



Misremembering!

http://www.frontlinedevelopments.com/vehicle/mg-abingdon-edition/

ENGINE & TRANSMISSION

2015 Mazda 2.5 litre 4 cylinder aluminium engine
Billet crank, billet rods, forged pistons, solid lifters, variable cam timing
50mm direct to head throttle bodies
Omex engine management
2015 Mazda 6 speed aluminium manual transmission
3.7:1 ratio, gear driven limited slip differential