Editing Top Gear (2002 TV series)/Series 1/Episode 8

{{Infobox Episode
|episode = Episode 8
|image = [[File:TG_2002_S1E8_-_Super_Saloons.jpg|300px]] A group of super saloons, as featured in the episode.
|prodcode = GFGA008E
|number = 8 (since 2002), 557 (since 1977)
|length = 59:05
|viewers = 3.43 million
|previous = [[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Episode 7|Series 1, Episode 7]]
|next = [[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Episode 9|Series 1, Episode 9]]
|airdate =
UK: 8th December, 2002
| airdates    =
WO: 1st January, 2003<br>
NL: 14th November, 2003<br>
PR: 28th December, 2004<br>
PL: 9th April, 2005<br>
RU: 7th August, 2005<br>
BE: 30th July, 2006 (BBC Prime)<br>
FI: 28th January, 2007<br>
AU: 12th April, 2008<br>
KO: 25th May, 2008<br>
CZ: 25th April, 2009<br>
HU: 24th June, 2009<br>
''Data may not be 100% accurate.''
}}

{{TG 2002 Episode|episodename=Series 1, Episode 8|airdate=8th December|year=2002|xth=eighth|series=[[Series 1]]|number=8th|number77=557th|number78=548th|prognum=9th|totprog=11|resolution=576i|aspratio=16:9 Widescreen|tvorstream=British television|channel=BBC Two}} {{TG 2002 Episode Starring|hosta=Jeremy Clarkson|hostb=Jason Dawe|hostc=Richard Hammond|stig=[[The Stig#Black Stig|The Stig]]|star=[[Michael Gambon]]|waswere=was}}.

This episode is best-known for an incident which occurred during Gambon's lap in the [[Suzuki Liana]]. Approaching the final corner, at that point named [[Top Gear Test Track#Corners#Gambon|Carpenters Corner]], Gambon understeered in the damp track conditions and bounced off the outside of the previous corner, upsetting the car's balance. In an attempt to stabilise the car, Gambon then overcorrected, clipping the inside of Carpenters and momentarily sending the Liana onto two wheels. This incident resulted in the corner being renamed in Gambon's likeness from [[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Series 2|Series 2]] of ''Top Gear'' onwards, which became its permanent name thereafter.

==Synopsis==
{{TG Intro|narrator=Jeremy Clarkson}}
*A Knight in our Reasonably-Priced car.
*Maserati's new Coupé takes on our track.
*And lock up your door mirrors; we set out to find Britain's fastest white van driver.

Series 1, Episode 8 begins with Jeremy Clarkson apologising<ref>[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2149878/Jeremy-Clarkson-BBC-Countryfile-facing-police-probe-disturbing-protected-barn-owls.html Daily Mail - Police probe into BBC Countryfile over claims protected barn owls were disturbed during filming at Jeremy Clarkson's Oxfordshire farm: "Ten years ago he apologised on Top Gear for ‘joking’ that he would kick one of the birds to death for fun."]</ref> for comments made during the previous episode where he alleged that he was going to kick a barn owl to death. The trio then deem their attempt to be ‘green’ a failure, and vow that this episode would be ‘scarlet’ instead. Panning to a [[BMW M5 (E39)|BMW M5]] in the studio, Clarkson then opens into a segment on super saloons, which he starts by revealing a graph comparing the amount of power 400 brake horsepower generates on a scale of double-decker buses. He implies that if condensed to a height of 6 inches, 400 BHP would cover an area the size of Belgium. It's then revealed that [[BMW]] are no longer the only manufacturer producing such a car, as the [[Jaguar S-Type#S-Type R|Jaguar S-Type R]] has come out with a 4.2 litre supercharged V8 also producing 400 BHP. However, [[Audi]] have also come out with their equivalent, and have moved the goalposts.

===Super Saloons===
{{Unabridged Article|articlename=Super Saloon Film}}
Using the [[Audi A6 (C5)|Audi A6]] as a base, the [[Audi RS 6#First_generation|Audi RS 6]] features a twin-turbocharged 4.2 litre V8 which develops an astonishing 450 brake horsepower. Along with a wide bodykit, the car is not only more powerful than the aging M5, but commands more of a road presence as well. Although it costs £5,000 more than the M5 (in 2002), Clarkson believes that the RS 6 is one of the best cars on the road at the time the episode was filmed. He also opines that cars such as the M5 and RS 6 are popular with middle-aged rock gods, and to demonstrate this, Clarkson takes the Audi to Wiltshire, where Pink Floyd drummer [[Nick Mason]] makes a cameo appearance under the guise of helping Clarkson to find Steve Winwood's house, where he announces his intentions to buy an RS 6 that coming Christmas. Stars such as Mason choose cars like the RS 6 because not only are they powerful, but with the RS 6's 4 wheel drive "quattro" system and a firmed up suspension, are also easier to drive. Cue the [[Mercedes-Benz E-Class (W211)#E55 AMG|Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG]]. With over 500 brake horsepower and a 5.5 litre V8 under the bonnet, the E55 AMG is even faster than the RS 6. However, Clarkson feels that the car would be uncontrollable without the assistance of its onboard computers as he can sense the traction control constantly working on the wet country roads. At the end of the test, Clarkson likens the Mercedes to Charlie Watts and the Audi to Keith Moon, with Clarkson always preferring ''The Who'', therefore choosing the Audi.

====Power Laps====
Back in the studio, however, one final question remains: which of the two super saloons is faster around the track? Jeremy believes that the E55 AMG would have easily won in dry conditions due to its higher power output and more sophisticated electronics, but the laps were done in the wet, thus evening the playing field and giving track advantage to the Audi.
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 675px;"
! style="width: 75px"|Position
! style="width: 320px"|Car
! style="width: 115px"|Time
! style="width: 165px"|Track Conditions
|- align="center"
|1
|'''Audi RS 6'''
|1:33.0
|Wet
|- align="center"
|2
|Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG
|1:35.5
|Wet
|}

The RS 6 was a full 2 and a half seconds faster than the Mercedes and was easily the more controlled of the two, with the E55 AMG powersliding and aquaplaning on the wet surface. When adjusted for optimum conditions, the RS 6 would have set a 1:29.0 lap time, putting it on par with the [[Mercedes-Benz SL-Class (R230)#SL55 AMG|Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG]] and [[Honda NSX#NSX-R|Honda NSX-R]] from [[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Episode 6|two episodes prior]]. To conclude the segment, Clarkson returns to his graph, stating that by [[2008]], cars would have 100,000 BHP underneath the bonnet, or enough power to span the distance from the Earth to the Moon. The idea of putting high-displacement engines inside regular 4-door saloon cars gives fellow host Richard Hammond an idea, and leads directly into the following segment.

===Turning a Lada into a Lotus, Part One===
{{Unabridged Article|articlename=Lotus Lada Film}}
Hammond hypothesizes that any saloon could be turned into a performance car given the right tuning, and who better to test this hypothesis out than [[Lotus Cars|Lotus]]? Previously known for their work on the [[Lotus Cortina]] and [[Lotus Carlton]], which turned the likes of the [[Ford Cortina]] and [[Vauxhall Carlton]] saloons into notorious, powerful sports cars, the engineering team at Lotus are given a new challenge; a 1997 [[Lada Riva]] owned by Paul Sherwood. General Manager Chris Arnold takes a look at the car to see what can be done, before it is taken to the company's [[Hethel Test Track|test track]] and thrashed around by test driver [[Gavan Kershaw]] to assess the car's performance. Russell Carr and his team then begin mocking up various ideas on what they wish to do to Paul's Lada, before the segment is halted so that [[The News]] can take precedence.

==Reception==
Contemporary reception to the episode was generally positive on [[PistonHeads]]<ref>[https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=226&t=23728 PistonHeads - Top Gear.]</ref>, with 8 positive reviews against 3 negative, averaging out at a score of 72.3%. This places the episode as the third highest-rated of the series of the 6 episodes that were reviewed by 10 or more users. On the whole, Series 1, Episode 8 was key in cementing ''Top Gear''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s future, as the Lada segment no doubt helped to inspire [[Cheap Car Challenge|Cheap Car Challenges]] from [[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}/Series 4|Series 4]] onwards. Furthermore, Gambon's mishap in the Liana became an integral part of ''Top Gear'' mythos, with the corner being renamed in his honour.
{{FinalGear Poll|episodename=Series 1, Episode 8|criticalreception=received in a lukewarm manner, likely due to episodes which aired later|pollposition=placing joint-fortieth in|votes=just 1}}

===Reviews===
Speaking in August 2010, Estonian critic Kadri Umbleja remarked<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20140408023219/http://www.tv.com/shows/top-gear/series-1-episode-8-407246/reviews/ (Archive link) TV.com - Top Gear: Series 1 Episode 8 Fan Reviews & Ratings.]</ref> that she felt the episode was good, but not up to the calibre that she was expecting. Umbleja held particular regard for the Fastest White Van Man challenge, in addition to Michael Gambon's lap, but was not as impressed by the car review segments. One moment Umbleja enjoyed in particular was Clarkson's car park woes he told during The News.

===Retrospective Reception===
From a retrospective point of view, this episode is perhaps the only episode from Series 1, barring the [[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Episode 1|pilot]], which is remembered in any capacity. On IMDb, the episode currently holds<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0729666/ratings?ref_=tt_ql_sm IMDb - Britain's Fastest White-Van Driver.]</ref> a weighted average score of 7.3/10 from 223 votes, a score it maintains even when outliers are removed to account for rating bombs and the score subsequently adjusted to reflect this. In addition, the score balances out to a 6.8 arithmetic mean, with a 7/10 median score. {{TG 2002 Ratingraph|pos=176th}}
{{Topgearbox Poll|episodename=Series 1, Episode 8|rank=85th}}

{{Airing History}}
{{TG 2002 Pulled|pullstatement=As ''Top Gear'' was not yet as successful as it would eventually become, broadcasts of this episode were very limited, especially in its original 59 minute form. In addition, after the later success of host [[James May]], episodes from Series 1 would become undesirable and as a result, would be pulled from the BBC World Sales Catalogue after 2009. This was likely due to the fact there were now more than 100 other episodes available for syndication.}}
===United Kingdom===
Series 1, Episode 8 would premiere on [[BBC/BBC Two|BBC Two]] on the night of the 8th December, 2002. Unlike later episodes of ''Top Gear'', the episode would not be repeated following its initial airing, though it would be edited down into a 45 minute version by [[Red Bee Media]] for usage on [[UKTV]] channels such as [[UKTV/UK Horizons|UK Horizons]], where the episode began airing approximately 2 weeks after its premiere on BBC Two.
===Worldwide===
Internationally, the episode would first premiere on [[BBC/BBC World|BBC World]] on New Year's Day 2003, 3 weeks after its UK release, although some regions<ref>[https://www.rs6.com/showthread.php/645-Audi-RS6-on-BBC-World-Top-Gear-This-Week! RS6.com - Audi RS6 on BBC World Top Gear This Week!]</ref> wouldn't receive the episode until the end of January. It would then be shown in the Netherlands on [[Veronica (TV channel)|Veronica]] from the 14th of November, 2003, 11 months later, before appearing on [[BBC/BBC Prime|BBC Prime]] at the end of December 2004, and then the likes of [[TVN Turbo]] in Poland and [[NTV]] in Russia during 2005, the latter in a similarly cut-down form to how the episode was shown on BBC World. The episode would be reshown in a handful of countries thereafter, but would not premiere in many Baltic and Balkan nations such as the Czech Republic, Hungary and Estonia until as late as mid-2009, a full six and a half years after the episode was first shown in the United Kingdom.

{{Unabridged|episodename=Series 1, Episode 8}}

==References==