Starring: Jeremy Clarkson , Richard Hammond , James May
Directed by: Brian Klein , Phil Churchward
Produced by: Grant Wardrop , Alex Renton
With over 10 awards to its name and a U.S. spin-off in the works, Top Gear is showing no signs of slowing down. The fourteenth series kicks off with a driver's idea of heaven when Richard and James take an Aston DBS Volante, a Ferrari California and a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder to Romania in search of 'the greatest road in the world'.
Item Number: 15983
English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired
• Audio
Commentary for "South America Special"
• "Polar Special"
•
Celebrity Laps "Behind the scenes"
• Top Gear Featurettes:
•
Electric wind tunnel
• James's Jumpers
• James on caravans
• Lancia breakdown
Intended for use on Blu-ray Players only.
This
title is also available on Standard Definition DVD, playable on all
region 1 players.
With over 10 awards to its name and a U.S. spin-off in the works, Top Gear is showing no signs of slowing down. The fourteenth series kicks off with a driver's idea of heaven when Richard and James take an Aston DBS Volante, a Ferrari California and a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder to Romania in search of 'the greatest road in the world'. Elsewhere, James makes a rare appearance on the track as he compares two absurdly powerful limos; Jeremy and Richard settle the thorny issue of which company has made the greatest number of truly brilliant cars and Richard invents the brand new sport of airport vehicle racing. Celebrities taking a turn in the 'Star in the Reasonably Priced Car' :Hulk actor Eric Bana, Hollywood's hottest new property-Frost/Nixon star Michael Sheen and RocknRolla director Guy Ritchie, who seems to have a little trouble with his gears!
Episode 1
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May
drive an Aston DBS Volante (Jeremy), a Ferrari California (Richard), and
a Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder (James) through Romania in search of
tarmac that many hardcore drivers claim is the nothing less than the
greatest road in the world. On the Top Gear track, James compares two
absurdly powerful limosines: the BMW 760i and Mercedes S63 AMG.
The program also features Star Trek, Troy and Hulk star Eric Bana,
who does a lap in the Reasonably
Priced Car and is interviewed by
Jeremy.
Episode 2
Jeremy, Richard and James attempt to save the
planet by building their own electric car out of TVR chassis and milk
float batteries. The electric car is then driven through the streets of
Oxford, before being put through the rigors of the new car testing
process.
The Top Gear track witnesses a battle of the continents.
Representing the United States of America is
the American Corvette
ZR1, while Europe's entry is the Audi R8 V10. What will prevail:
American
muscle or European finesse?
And the Star In A Reasonably Priced Car is Hollywood's hottest new
property: Michael Sheen, star of
The Queen, Frost/Nixon and Damned
United.
Episode 3
Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond settle the
thorny issue of which company has, above all others, made the greatest
number of truly brilliant cars. They drive various models of Lancia cars
through the British countryside and have a night race against a Morris
Marina. James May has a novel solution for getting caravans to campsites
without clogging up the roads by taking the helm of a caravan airship
while being followed by Richard Hammond in a Lamborghini Balbonne.
Jeremy hits the track in a remarkable replica of a Lancia Hawk Stratos.
Chris Evans (TV broadcaster, BBC Radio 2's Breakfast Show DJ-elect and all-round petrolhead) is the Star in the Reasonably Priced Car.
Episode 4
Jeremy Clarkson travels to Belfast to conduct an
extremely thorough test of the Renaultsport Twingo 133, involving a
tunnel, a ferry and British television actor Ross Kemp (EastEnders,
Ultimate Force). Meanwhile, Richard Hammond investigates ways to speed
up your next summer holiday through the medium of motorsport and invents
the brand-new sport of airport vehicle racing. Various airport
municipal vehicles (including a fire engine, baggage carrier and
hospitality truck) race around an airfield. Jeremy compares 4x4s,
testing a Diesel Range Rover, BMW X5 and Audi Q7 on the Top Gear track.
And the Star in the Reasonable Priced Car is the award-winning
British film director and Madonna's
ex-husband, Guy Ritchie (Sherlock
Holmes, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels).
Episode 5
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May
attempt to prove that cars can be art by taking over an entire modern
art gallery and filling it with motoring-related works, including some
remarkable creations of their own. Formula 1 racing driver David
Coulthard assists Jeremy in creating a painting using the Red Bull F1
car exhaust and infra-red paint; James builds a sculpture from car
parts; and Richard paints an homage to John Constable's "The Haywain"
with a motoring twist. In their quest to prove that cars can be more
popular than traditional art, the presenters set themselves the
challenge of attracting more visitors to their exhibition than will
visit a more traditional gallery over the
same period - a task that
forces them to engage in some unusual promotional activities, including a
visit
to Middlesbrough Football Club. On the test track, Jeremy
drives a new British supercar, the sensationally fast and sensationally
expensive Noble M600.
And The Star In The Reasonably Priced Car is Formula 1 Champion racing driver, Jenson Button.
Episode 6
Bolivia Special (75 minutes)
Undaunted after
their epic adventures across Botswana, Vietnam and The Arctic Circle,
the Top Gear
presenters embark upon another eagerly awaited special
challenge, and without doubt this is their
toughest and most exciting
yet.
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are dropped deep in
the Bolivian rainforest armed
only with three shabby 4x4s which they
bought from the local small ads for a maximum
of £3,500 a piece.
What follows is set to be their most extraordinary journey to date as
they attempt to
drive from the heart of Bolivia to the Pacific coast
of Chile.
After facing the challenge of getting the vehicles onto dry land,
they make their way through the jungle,
trying to escape from the
deep, dark center of the rainforest by crossing gullies and rivers. They
finally
emerge only to encounter drug lords, the debilitating
effects of high altitude in the Atacama Desert and
the terrifying
sheer drops of the infamous El Camino de la Muerte (aka ‘Death Road'),
where they are
literally pushed to the edge.
The final hurdle is a range of impossibly steep sand-dunes as,
battered and exhausted, they make their
way down to Chile's Pacific
coast.
Episode 7
Jeremy Clarkson makes a film about the BMW X6.
Despite being told by the producers to keep to a
budget, he takes the
car to test in all corners of the globe and ends up conducting one of
the most
expensive road tests in Top Gear history. Richard Hammond
puts the £340,000 Lexus supercar to the test on the Top Gear track, and
James May drives the new Vauxhall Insignia VXR, accompanied by Margaret
Calvert, the designer of Britain's road signs.
It is also time for the annual Top Gear Awards ceremony, and the
atmosphere is electric as the winners
are announced, including Injury
Of The Year and Car Of The Decade.
The Star In A Reasonably Priced Car is blues musician Seasick Steve.
Jeremy Clarkson
An acclaimed broadcaster and
journalist, Jeremy Clarkson has hosted "Top Gear" since 1988. Born in
the decade of the hippie, Jeremy has shunned free love and peace,
preferring instead to drive around corners very fast, yelling "POWER" at
the top of his lungs.
Jeremy has been accused of some amazing things in his time, including destroying a mountain, destroying the environment and destroying Rover cars. In his defense, the mountain is still there, we can all still breathe and Rover would still be here if their management hadn't been so terrible.
Richard Hammond
Affectionately known as
Hamster, Richard Hammond is one of the U.K.‘s most popular broadcasters.
He began his career at BBC local radio and first graced British TV
screens on the cable channel Men & Motors. He proceeded to work on a
number of different motoring and lifestyle programs on cable before
realizing his dream of cohosting "Top Gear" in 2002.
A versatile presenter, Richard has hosted TV shows from a variety of genres, including science and nature, children's and sci-fi. Women the world over adore him, something about his puppy dog eyes, and wanting to protect him from the nasty Mr. Clarkson. Richard's hobbies include buying hopeless cars and attempting to restore them.
James May
When James was first introduced on
"Top Gear," Jeremy claimed he was "clearly a blithering idiot." The
reasoning behind this slightly harsh critique was that James' car at the
time was a Bentley T2. His first film on "Top Gear" was him telling
people how great it is to own a 25-year-old classic luxury car while at
the same time admitting it cost a small fortune to run and fuel.
James admits he was once fired from a job with a well-known magazine for putting a secret message in a supplement. It's exactly this kind of fooling around that makes him perfect for the U.K.‘s favorite motor show. James also has his own pilot's license, which has come in handy on "Top Gear" once already (although it would help more if he was allowed to fly at night).
The Stig
Some say he was forged out of steel and
fire in the devil's own pit garage, or that he trickled to the surface
of an oil pocket deep in the Earth's crust. What do we know about him?
Well, he's a seriously sick driver. He posts the lap times for cars on
the Top Gear test track, trains celebrity guests to race in the Star in a
Reasonably Priced Car feature, and performs any other crazy tasks asked
of him. But all we really know is, he's called the Stig.