Why Series 5 is my Favourite Series of Top Gear.

 

I discussed with some friends a while ago what the best series of Top Gear was and following that I did some thinking and rewatched every series to come to a conclusion.

And my conclusion was that series 5 was my favourite. And what I think set this series apart from almost all the other series was the structure of the series. What do I mean by that? Well, if you look at how the episodes are ordered and which films feature, the series starts off somewhat humble, we have the new Porsche 911, another Hammond stunt (how many bouncy castles can an ice cream van jump?) and the Vauxhall Monaro, Chrysler 300C & Jaguar S-Type R on Pennine Sands alongside the usual news and Star in a Reasonably Priced Car. Then as we go along, we get the Ferrari Enzo, Jeremy’s Nürburgring challenge, the £1500 Porsches and then the final 3 episodes are where we get the best bits yet. The Top Gear Awards, Ferrari 612 vs Plane, Renault F1 car and the Ariel Atom destroying Jeremy’s face.

There are also a lot of important tests in this series:

Porsche 911 ‘997- Important test of possibly the world's best drivers car.

Ford Focus mk2- The mk1 Focus was such a big game changer, the sequel had a lot to live up to. Ferrari Enzo- A potentially era defining supercar named after the founder.

Land Rover Discovery 3- The new Discovery had a lot to live up to against newer more civilized 4x4s.

Ford Mustang mk5- After years of being irrelevant, if the Mustang wanted to gain back popularity it had to be European good not just USA good.

BMW 1-Series- BMW’s first hatchback and attempt at going downmarket to target Golf & A3 buyers.

My only real critique is that whilst they left the best films until last, after episode 8 with the Ferrari vs Plane and Renault F1 car, episode 9 (which conveniently aired on Boxing Day) feels like a leftovers episode, the remnants of what they’d filmed but hadn’t used yet: BMW 1-Series, Mercedes G55, Korean & Malaysian car round up & Ariel Atom, it’s certainly not a bad episode by any means it just feels almost like an afterthought considering so much effort was put into the previous episode to be all-out challenges. If I could make any changes, the awards, Ferrari vs Plane, F1 car and Bobsleigh race would make up the last episode as then it would also be somewhat symbolic. Consider that when series 4 aired earlier in the year, the first episode had the Aston Martin vs Train race, so you’d be starting the year with a race across Europe and ending it with a rematch.

Rather than dissecting every episode, I’ll just talk about my favourite films.

Ferrari Enzo + Old v New Supercars

This was the test we’d been waiting for ever since Top Gear came back in 2002. Before the Veyron, the Enzo was the ultimate supercar. I think the little references to Pink Floyd were clever if deliberately obvious because the car was Nick Mason’s, the best one is “-and just like that you are on the dark side of the moon”. They really did the car justice, and you get the feeling you are in the presence of an amazing machine, and to cap it all, we get to see the Enzo, Carrera GT & Zonda duel the XJ220, F40 and McLaren F1. I also like the idea of comparing no driver aids to small government in politics, it’s a clever analogy. But the spectacle of seeing these amazing machines together is amazing, it’s fun to think now that cars like the Enzo are closer to the F40 than today’s ultra-high-tech supercars. Overall, this line sums the film up best “supercars today are approaching a state of engineering perfection”.

Land Rover Discovery climbs the mountain

I feel like this film really shows that Top Gear was advancing from just testing cars like original Top Gear to testing these cars to the extreme. This test could have just been driving the Discovery driving over some rutted terrain, but instead we get to see it climb to the top of a mountain, it sticks in your mind and is an awe-inspiring spectacle even if it did get stuck. Twice.

24 Hours in the Smart ForFour

A quite ingenious idea for a road test, the interior is likened to a lounge by its designer so why not have Richard and James basically live in it for a day? It’s quite a thorough test: handling, refinement, looks and comfort all in 1 test in unique ways; for example, Richard & James want lunch, they can’t get out, so they see if the Smarts radical looks attract onlookers. You feel like you’ve learned quite a lot about the car by the end and it goes back to that idea of taking road tests beyond just sitting on the bonnet and musing about the boot, you’re testing the car but in a way that viewers will remember. Plus, I get a kick from seeing Richard & James being spooked by a pizza delivery boy, catches you off guard and completely unexpected.

Jeremy vs the Nürburgring in a Jaguar S-Type Diesel

This was possibly the toughest Top Gear challenge yet. Get a Jaguar S-Type 2.7D around the 13 mile “Green Hell” in under 10 minutes and considering Jeremy is no Tiff Needel or Chris Harris, it’s a tall order. For most of the challenge, it’s Jeremy grumbling about the car and unable to get a good clean lap, it also shows what all too often happens there, people crash, badly. But on his final lap, you can really sense that emotion and will to win, the music helps build up the sense of occasion, and when he does clock that 9:59 it is a momentous occasion, you can see it in his face and in his reaction. When he later wrote about that challenge for Top Gear magazine, he’d taken quite a liking to the Jag and that perhaps finally, he’d gained a little bit of respect for the diesels he’d spent so long hating on.

Ferrari 612 Scaglietti vs Plane

I already mentioned why it was clever to have this race at the tail end of the series and it’s a very good race narrative wise. For a majority of the race, Jeremy is on the backfoot and when he get’s that speeding ticket, your pretty much convinced he’s lost. But it’s not over until its over, and as you probably already know, Jeremy snatches the lead just before the finish line in Verbier, its quite an incredible performance and when you consider the fact he didn’t like it much at the start (and you and I probably didn’t either) by the end you feel like its worked its way into your heart showing what a great piece of kit the 612 is, you feel like you’ve been on the journey all along.

And that's just the truly amazing bits, there's so much more good stuff: Zonda Roadster, People Carrier Racing, Caravan Conkers, Restoration Rip Off etc. There truly is no boring or forgettable episode in this series.

Overall, when looking back at these items in particular, they promote a lot of emotional responses and I think they showed that you could do a solid good test of car whilst also providing a memorable spectacle that sticks in your mind more than just a standard test round country lanes which was what the previous 4 series had mostly been and here comes series 5 taking tests and challenges to the extreme and plenty of classic humour thrown in as well whilst building up as you go along to even greater challenges and films; and that’s why it’s my favourite and possibly the objectively best series of Top Gear ever.