Top Gear Australia
| Top Gear Australia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Motoring |
| Presented by | Warren Brown Charlie Cox Steve Pizzati |
| Opening theme | "Jessica" |
| Composer | Dickey Betts |
| Country of origin |  UK Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 5 |
| Production | |
| Producers | BBC Worldwide Freehand TV |
| Production locations | Bankstown Airport, Bankstown, NSW (Studio) Camden Airport, Camden, New South Wales (Test Track). |
| Running time | 60 minutes (including commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | SBS TV |
| Release | 29 September 2008 – present |
| Related | |
| Top Gear (current format) Top Gear US | |
Top Gear Australia is a motoring television series on SBS TV based on the BBC series. It premiered on 29 September 2008 at 7:30pm AEST[1] and the first series will run for 8 episodes.[2] A second series was announced following the release of ratings figures for the premiere and favourable comments from advertising buyers.[3] The second series will air early in 2009.[4]
Top Gear Australia is also the name of a licensed version of the British Top Gear magazine.
Presenters
SBS made an open casting call for presenters, resulting in over 4000 applications.[5] The hosts chosen for Top Gear Australia are:
- Warren Brown, cartoonist and motoring columnist for The Daily Telegraph
- Charlie Cox, MotoGP commentator for the BBC, and a former radio presenter and ex-racing driver
- Steve Pizzati, advanced driving instructor, race driver and freelance motoring journalist
Marketing prior to the first episode stated that the presenters would be joined by The Stig's "Australian cousin"[6] but in the first episode was introduced as just The Stig. Steve Pizzati suggested that The Stig have an "Australian" name, such as "Stiggo", but the other presenters refused. Unlike the UK series, he was not credited as a presenter.
Production
Mirroring the UK series, the studio segments were recorded at Bankstown Airport in Sydney. An exact copy of the UK studio at Dunsfold Park was constructed in a hangar. The power laps and "Star in a Bog Standard Car" were recorded at Camden Airport with parts of the runways and taxiways used as a test track.
Top Gear Australia uses the same theme music as the UK series, a version of the The Allman Brothers Band's "Jessica".
Segments
Top Gear Australia features segments that mirror those seen on the BBC series, including build challenges and test drives. A significant difference is that speeds and power are quoted in metric units and prices are quoted in Australian dollars.
Power Lap
A test track around Camden Airport is used for power laps. The track includes nine corners, one of which was named Clarkson Corner in the first episode.
Lap times
1:08.80 - Ford GT RHD
1:09.46 - Nissan GT-R (180 km/h speed limited)
1:10.44 - Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 AMG Black Series- 1:11.69 - Porsche 911 Carerra S PDK
- 1:11.87 - Audi R8 (wet track)
1:12.28 - Lotus Elise
1:12.56 - HSV W427- 1:13.40 - BMW M3
- 1:13.72 - Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG
- 1:14.90 - BMW 135i
- 1:44.66 - Hummer Stretch
What Were They Thinking?
The presenters discuss "stupid" ideas in motoring history and put pictures of them on a board.
Featured cars
Star In A Bog Standard Car
The Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment is mirrored with the name "Star in a Bog Standard Car". It is identical in execution. The car used is a Proton Satria Neo.
Lap Times
- 1:26.07 - Steve Bisley
- 1:27.44 - Shannon Noll (wet track)
- 1:30.10 - Jack Thompson
- 1:34.19 - Vince Colosimo
- 1:37.41 - Julia Zemiro (first time driving a manual car)
Stunts
Aping its BBC counterpart, the show is set to include features where the hosts undertake various stunts some of which may antagonise members of the public. In October 2008 it was reported that Pizzati and Brown caused a traffic jam in Toorak, Victoria when they drove a tractor through the Melbourne suburb — a reference to the colloquial expression Toorak Tractor, a pejorative label in Australia for luxury SUVs.[7]
Reception
Michael Idato of the Sydney Morning Herald described the first episode as "unsteady on some of the corners" and "a little too tricked up for its own good", noting "a distinct lack of detail, presumably to position the show away from car geeks".[8]
Stuart Martin, motoring writer for the Adelaide Advertiser said a franchise was "always going to have a tough job living up to the UK original" but noted that Top Gear was not an overnight success and urged viewers to "give the locals a chance to find their niche".[9]
The first episode debuted with an audience of 933,000 viewers[10], SBS's highest ever ratings for a locally produced television program, coming third in its time slot and beating Australian Idol.[3] The figure was slightly higher than any season premiere of the BBC version aired on SBS.[3]. Viewing figures for Top Gear UK shown in the same timeslot, for the previous three averaged 903,000[11].
Subsequent episodes have failed to match this figure, and show a consistent declining trend. By the fifth episode the viewing figures had halved compared with the first show, according to ratings given in the reference[12].
Jeremy Clarkson praised the Australian version, saying "We're loving it, even though your funny accents make you hard to understand."[4]
List of Top Gear Australia episodes
| Series # | Episode # | Title | Reviews | Challenge | Guest | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Series 01, Episode 01" | Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Porsche 911 Carerra S | Soft roaders Shark cage | Vince Colosimo | 29 September 2008 |
| 1 | 2 | "Series 01, Episode 02" | Holden vs Ford Ford GT RHD | Utes at the Super Pit Smart hearse | Steve Bisley | 6 October 2008 |
| 1 | 3 | "Series 01, Episode 03" | Mercedes-Benz CLK 63 AMG Black Series BMW X6 | $500 wrecks | Julia Zemiro | 13 October 2008 |
| 1 | 4 | "Series 01, Episode 04" | HSV W427 | GPS vs Aboriginal bush tracker Holden Astra Lawn Bowls | Jack Thompson | 20 October 2008 |
| 1 | 5 | "Series 01, Episode 05" | Audi R8 BMW 135i | Car into Yacht challenge Toorak Tractor | Shannon Noll | 27 October 2008 |
| 1 | 6 | "Series 01, Episode 06" | Mercedes-Benz SL 63 AMG | Outback Odyssey | James Morrison | 3 November 2008 |
| 1 | 7 | "Series 01, Episode 07" | TBA | TBA | TBA | 10 November 2008 |
| 1 | 8 | "Series 01, Episode 08" | TBA | TBA | TBA | 17 November 2008 |
Magazine
An Australian version of Top Gear magazine titled Top Gear Australia (published by Park Publishing, a partnership between ACP Magazines and the BBC)[13] was launched in June 2008 and features an amalgam of original Australian articles together with licensed content from the British and other international versions of the magazine.
References
- ^ Knox, David (2008-09-29). "Airdate: Top Gear Australia". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
- ^ Knox, David (2008-09-19). "Colosimo first guest on Top Gear Australia". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
- ^ a b c Field, Katherine (2008-09-30). "Idol left in Top Gear's dust". The Australian. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
- ^ a b "Jeremy Clarkson Gives His Stamp of Approval to Top Gear Australia". eNews by eBroadcast Australia. 2008-10-20.
- ^ "SBS wheels out its Top Gear team". The Australian. 2008-05-29. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
- ^ "Australian Top Gear presenters revealed". BBC Worldwide Press Releases. 2008-05-28. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
- ^ Top Gear Australia causes traffic jam on Toorak Road Herald Sun, 2 October 2008
- ^ Idato, Michael (2008-09-30). "No mess, but an unsteady first lap". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
- ^ Martin, Stuart (2008-09-30). "Top Gear Down Under has a way to go". The Advertiser. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
- ^ Knox, David (2008-09-30). "TEN's tears for Idol". TV Tonight. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
- ^ http://www.tvtonight.com.au
- ^ http://www.tvtonight.com.au/
- ^ "ACP teams up with BBC for Top Gear magazine". news.com.au. 2008-03-13. Retrieved 2008-09-30.