Top Gear Australia
Top Gear Australia has convincingly executed the production values of the UK original, and along with it, borrowed the heirarchy of the British hosts.
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When you’re charged with the task of producing a local version of an overseas format, international producers invariably insist you follow a tried and true format. So You Think You Can Dance Australia looks the same as the American version. For years Sale of the Century was copied around the world right down to Tony Barber’s bouncy entry. Sticking to the format is considered one of the only safeguards in ‘fool-proofing’ any new version.
But it brings with it the challenge: how do you make it your own? So it is with Top Gear Australia.
We love the British prototype for a myriad of reasons. Front and centre are the charismatic hosts. Add to that the brilliant storytelling of a potentially dull product (cars). Throw in the lavish cinematography, the production values, the stirring music, the political undertones, and, dammit, the absolute hide of the stunts.
All of these have been readily identified by the Australian producers, Freehand (part-owned by the BBC). All of these have been attempted in one form or another, with the brazen task of “Australian-ising” the content in look and tone.
In episode one, the three hosts were all confident, fluid and engaging in their presentation. If there were any nerves, they weren’t apparent here. For three disparate strangers to click with relative ease is something of an accomplishment in itself. That said, it is also clear that so far they are yet to dig deep and eke out their own group chemistry. These three seem to have carbon copied the heirarchy of the Brits.
Charlie Cox is, like Jeremy Clarkson, the alpha-male, the team leader, the voice of wisdom. Steve Pizzati is the cheeky, fresh-faced larrikin a la Richard Hammond, and Warren Brown is the left-of-centre counterpart to James May.
All three spent the episode deriding one another, insulting their motoring skills, yearning to top one another. This is a branding of the UK hosts, borne of true chemistry. As the Australian series progresses, the local hosts will need to find a way of interacting that, like the show, seeks to stand on its own feet.
The production values from the Aussie team are excellent. Here is our big, brown land, a better off-the-road destination than the UK can ever dream of. With their clever use of filters and aerial shots, the show excelled on this level.
The stunts in the first episode were also formidable, scaling the sand dunes, battling the icy elements, and, just when you thought “yeah but where’s the weekly stunt that is so Top Gear audacious?”, Warren was sunk into shark-infested waters in a Moke.
If the show can upkeep sequences that also speak to the ‘everyman driver’ it will chart an impressive course.
One comment from Charlie Cox about a standard Porsche being more economical than a Toyota Camry by “a poofteenth” was completely unnecessary, and coming from a diverse broadcaster such as SBS certainly disappointing. Jeremy Clarkson once apologised for calling a car “a bit gay” -it seems the locals are formatting plenty from the UK.
We all know The Stig isn’t really The Stig. There’s only one Stig, guys. Studio segments were somewhat overcooked with commentary, no doubt the show will gain more confidence to allow itself a little breathing space.
For a first episode, Top Gear Australia was nonetheless an impressive first lap for a show with such a high bar.
Top Gear Australia airs Mondays at 7:30pm on SBS.
42 Responses
I agree with most of the charitable comments so far, and the main review too. I will give it a chance for it to get into its groove. Once it finds its own feet, strikes the right balance between the UK concepts and the AU approach, and the hosts drop the try-too-hard nervous façade, it will start to be more watchable.
Hopefully it will find a good audience so it gets that chance.
I’ll give it a few more episodes. Taped segments were definitely better than the studio pieces. Hopefully Charlie Cox will relax a bit. Lap segments were hard to follow and the actual track doesn’t seem all that interesting. I don’t hink it needs to move too far away from the original, plenty of Australians are whinging about how different the American version of Kath and Kim is. I think the main difference should be injecting Australian cars and conditions into the original format. Personally I’d be pushing for “Stigo” rather than “The Stig”
My friends and I are all big fans of the British Top Gear (I’m talking about 10 I work with) and we ALL unanimously found the Australia version very average.
The fact that the three local guys appeared to deliberately imitate Clarkson, May and Hammond was poor form and there were plenty of moments of `cringe’ factor.
They all came across as gun-ho yobbos. Veyr low brow
Let’s face it, the BBC version of Top Gear is successful for a reason – the hosts. The should would be great if it was about toothpaste as long as the Holy Trinity were the hosts.
And cmon, for the first show, having an actor like Vince Colosimo as your special guest? Couldn’t they get someone actually semi-famous?? What was wrong with trying a V8 Supercar driver or someone of a similar ilk? It was nothing more than a tacky cross promotion of Colosimo’s upcoming SBS show.
I’m afraid from where my and a lot of other Top Gear fans are sitting, the show was a big big letdown, as Paul just said.
Maybe not TOP Gear…more like stuck in second
Its the whole ‘Australian touch’ thing I don’t get. The show never required an Australian touch. The original version caters for a world audience in that most of the cars they drive are a) available everywhere and b) we can’t afford anyway! The fun of the show was watching 3 guys who like cars but really know very little about them drive around, give us there opinion and have a bit of fun. That coupled with great production values made for a great show.
Why did we feel the need to have an ‘aussie stig’ (saying he came from the dream time…oh my….) or see ‘aussie’ cars in ‘aussie’ places. I much prefer to see a beautiful German car driving through Germany – or any where else in Europe!! Top Gear never needed to be altered for an Australian audience. All SBS had to do was show the entire episodes of the real version (I mean the full hour ones not the cut down 50min version) and fast-track them.
Over all it was enjoyable but like any new show it’s hard to judge from the pilot alone, Maybe to point of airing the “Classic” Top Gear of late was to give a more direct comparison compared to the more slick current season.
I will watch again and maybe the Ford v Holden next week was to grab viewers who were thinking of not coming back? I will be back but not just because I can’t stand the other shows on at the same time, I liked the Aussie Top Gear.
BTW I liked the Mini Moke bit, my first car was a Moke, maybe they should have tried cleaning it up and getting the engine running after it’s swim.
Why do we need this pale immatation? It’s a bit pointless and the hosts are totally annoying.
An original car show called “Big Donk” would have been better.
TG UK took a few series to bed down into its current state and they were not compared to anyone, faced very little commercial pressure (there is zero advertising on the BBC in the UK) and were allowed to evolve.
If TGA makes it to series 4, it will be huge and brilliant by then, these 3 will definitely improve upon a solid start as the series progresses.
Don’t be too quick to judge and condemn, give these blokes an aussie “FAIR GO”.
This was way better than any of the tripe served up on the commercial networks
It’s like when Hollywood remade the French movie “Nikita” as “Point Of No Return”. And even more like when Hollywood imported the actual director of Dutch movie “The Vanishing” to remake it in the States as “The Vanishing” with a happy ending. Or like when Hollywood remade Fawlty Towers. Or Kath And Kim. Is there any point, aside from someone making a crapload of cash out of viewer gullibility and someone else’s ideas?
I watched this disaster with my mouth agape and that’s all that kept popping into my head – “what is the POINT?”
A reported $300,000 per episode to do a kind of parallel-universe Top Gear with all the humour and life sucked out of it? Just to “Australianise” it? Yeah, nice use of the SBS budget, guys. And all just for a spot of “Australianising”. Which was made perfectly clear in this episode. “God’s own”… “Grouse”… “Flat out like a lizard drinking”… the cliche-ometer was running overtime. Did nobody notice that the UK Top Gear is NOT hosted by cor-blimey bogans?
But then, Charlie Cox is not a bogan. Ohh no. (Nor, to be fair, are the other two). He seems to know his stuff, but when confronted with a camera seemed to instantly transform into a scripted and studied Jeremy Clarkson impersonator – vocal inflections, hand gestures and all. And not a very good one. I get no sense of connection at all with the presenters, and haven’t laughed once.
The whole thing is is a pointless waste of time and money. Top Gear is a British show. Always has been, always will be. If people are clamouring for something “more Australian” in car shows – which they don’t appear to have been at all – then why not just create something original?
Oh, and the VIDEOgraphy was reasonable, but appeared to have been done to a style guide from the BBC, along with lots of wacky angles, closeups, jump-cut editing and a TON of post-production processing. It didn’t have, for me, any of the wow factor of the original show’s best visual work.
Well Episode One is over, Thank God! How pathetic, Clarkson, Hammond & May morphed into the bodies of 3 Australian Motor Sport presenters. Before tonight I’d never heard of them and given the mirror image of the BBC set, filming etc. I would prefer th original every time.
If they expect the Australian audience to continue watching, they need to alter the format and presentation to give it that Australian touch rather than simply having three blokes read the lines used by the UK team,
And surely we can come up with our own name for “The Stig”.
In y opinion this was a huge letdown.
I am sorry but the nerves were definitely evident. They just were not comfortable and relaxed enough in the hosting segments. I think the hosts are all fine, but need to just relax and not quite try so hard with having funny lines. Just be natural and they’d be better.
Its something however that should naturally improve every week.
I agree the track was terrible, i had no sense of it, it didn’t even really look like they were going around fast. Also the hummer joke.. would have been better to not let us know to expect something silly.
I will keep watching as there’s enough there that there is potential, but they really needed to put a more unique twist on it.
Even down to a simple tweaking of the theme music, a different set, and the hosts being comfortable to just being themselves. Honestly it even looked like they sent over wardrobe from the UK. The reason the UK hosts work well is they are all themselves. Not people playing roles.
I think in conclusions, the hosts need to not try as hard to always bring the funnies, and the production while not attempting to re-invent the show, needed just a little bit of a tweaking to make it more unique.
Another mixed review from Sydney Morning Herald, which also mentions the curious use of that word…anyway, moving on….
Urban Dictionary Defines a “poofteenth” as
1. A unit of measurement.
2. A very small degree or amount.
3. Infinitesimally small amount, smaller than a pinch.
4. Two-fifths of ****-all.
“Just add a poofteenth.”
“If only it was a poofteenth longer.”
(Language warning.)
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=poofteenth
Must admit I’ve never heard of ‘poofteenth’ (not sure of its derivation). Given all the vernacular that was flying around as a way of sounding streetwise and blokey, and given they were channelling the UK hosts, it was an understandable reaction. Happy to be enlightened, and not surprised everyone else has dropped it from common use.
The last time there was a reaction to a dubious line here was months ago, but I write how I feel, which I reckon is what most people do on their personal blogs. That’s kinda what defines ’em….
Ben mate, it was a Maybach not a Bentley – the guys at Bentley would most certanly be insulted
Anyway, back to the show, I though it was pretty solid effort for a first episode and defently managed to push across it’s ‘Australianism’ – shall be even more evident next with the FPV Vs. HSV battle
The hosts were pretty calm, though Steve was a little annoying in parts (eagerness to speak?) but otherwise a pretty decent effort
Of course the UK Top Gear is still the best, but with a good season to iron out the wrinkles and fix what needs fixing then the boys will well and truely be onto a hit
I felt that it was a good first try, but the lead presenter did not have enough “light and shade” – possibly nerves, given it was in front of a studio audience, and there’s a lot at stake in the first show. He was seemed to “shout” all through the show. A bit more chilling out would help. And I thought the affable cameraderie amongst the three was more than a trifle overblown. Too much forced chortling. But I’ll look forward to seeing how things develop.
I also doubt the wisdom of giving free rein to guest Vince Colisimo’s misplaced pride in recounting his pathetic early driving/crashing record.
But the camera work was great. I was left to wonder thoug if the petrol, oils and other liquids were removed from the Moke before its dunking in the ocean. Would the provision of such detail spoil the macho aura of TGA?
While I agree that for most part the production values were excellent, I personally thought the segments that used the track were absolutely dismal. The camera coverage was pretty poor and the editing just didn’t work. All the laps shown just came off to me as either confusing or boring and at worst even made even the fastest of cars look slow! I wished they also shown a layout of the track instead of jumping right in.
Still, it was a pretty good debut. The other segments were very enjoyable and I can excuse the fact that the team haven’t quite gotten into the swing of things yet. I know I’ll be watching next week.
Just awful, what was the point in the Bentley segment? 30 seconds of car footage, they didn’t get to drive it! And the Porsche wasn’t going over the speed limit, where is the fun in that?. Charlie Cox copying Clarkson’s personality and mannerisms was cringe inducing. I will not be watching again, time to start downloading UK stuff to watch instead next Monday.
The ” poofteenth” line isn’t a homophobic insult- it’s an old, old old expression for a little bit- not meant to be insulting.
I’m the most tolerant person on the world, and have nothing against gay people, have many gay friends- but the continual ‘on-the-search-for-anything-possibly-interpretable-as-anti-gay’ references in every second article on TV Tonight are getting a bit tiring!
Not worth a mention in a review really!
Otherwise, I agree with your comments- the show worked very well- hopefully the hosts continue to adapt the show bit by bit to their own talents and style.
CBC, you can’t really compare the best thing Top Gear has ever done to this first episode. The first ep of the original TG (original as in the current version, not the old original) was no better than what we saw tonight, took a year or two before it really got good.
Top notch first up effort.
Not a huge fan of car shows but this was more like entertainment, information plus a bit of skylarking thrown in.
SBS could be on winner here, just need to tone it down a tad as the 3 hosts did go over the top a tad.
Unlike most others, I have dived right into this without ever watching an episode of UK Top Gear. I have only really read about the UK versionon the net. I didn’t want to avoid it, it just wasn’t on my “101 TV shows to watch before you die” list.
I found this highly entertaining and was excellent for a pilot. One thing I hate about some TV shows is that some cast members are almost a carbon copy of another cast member on the same show. First couple of minutes in I could clearly tell the 3 blokes apart, which is a pretty great feat.
There were some hiccups, but they were minor and didn’t detract from the overall experience. Considering I hardly ever watch SBS (except for Skins and an occasional Mythbusters), this is replacing Border Security for me. This along with City Homicide at 8:40, 10 minutes after Top Gear finished, Monday nights are pretty sweet now!
I think its really hard to live up to the original. After watching the UK’s Polar Special the snow & dunes of tonight’s show seemed a little half baked. Moke vs Sharks was particularly pointless… Things can only get better… right?
Granted this is numero uno, but I still had to look away for too many cringe moments. It’s a shame that Charlie (obviously taking the reigns) has the least personality of the three. I suppose that comes from having the most presenter training?
Cinematography was nice- a hard job to get rid of that harsh Aussie glare. But the scripting really let this one down- leaving the presenters with flat jokes and boring banter.
And Ford v Holden for Ep 2? I thought it would take at least 5 eps before we had to endure that.
I think it was a great start for the team. Hopefully they will become more comfortable as they continue. The cinematography was brilliant, I was really impress by the look and locations. Next week should be good.