Editing Top Gear (1977 TV series)/Series 23/Episode 1

{{Infobox Episode
|episode = Episode 1
|image = [[File:TG_1977_S23E01_End_Card.jpg|300px]]Louise Aitken-Walker celebrates on the podium.
|prodcode = NBMN306A
|number = 199
|length = 30:11
|previous = [[{{ROOTPAGENAME}}/Series 22/Episode 11|Series 22, Episode 11]]
|next = [[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Episode 2|Series 23, Episode 2]]
|airdate = 27th March, 1990
}}

{{TG 1977 Episode|episodename=Series 23, Episode 1|airdate=27th March|year=1990|xth=first|series=[[Series 23]]|number=199th|number78=190th|prognum=1st|totprog=18|resolution=576i|aspratio=4:3 Standard|tvorstream=British television|channel=BBC Two}} {{TG 1977 Episode Starring|hosta=William Woollard|hostb=Tony Mason|hostc=Sue Baker|hostd=Chris Goffey|hoste=|hostf=|hostg=|hosth=|hosti=|hostlast=}}.

==Synopsis==
{{TG Intro|narrator=William Woollard}}
*Scotland's Louise takes on the world's best at Monte Carlo;
*How to reduce the number of children killed on our roads;
*The cars of the '90s on show at Geneva.

''Top Gear'' ushers in the 1990s with a brief stay at Duns, the place where famous racing driver [[Jim Clark]] grew up and home of the Jim Clark Motorsport Museum. It is also the birthplace of rallying legend [[Andrew Cowan]]. The museum contains some of the trophies Clark won during his short but illustrious racing career.

===Monte Carlo Rally===
{{Unabridged Article|articlename=Monte Carlo Rally}}
Though few British drivers have entered the event in recent years, the [[Monte Carlo Rally]] is as important a rallying event as ever, and Tony Mason was there to investigate. He takes a look at Louise Aitken-Walker, one of the event's two female entrants, who has been practicing throughout the entire winter period. Together with Swedish co-driver Tina Thörner, Louise aims to do well in this event with her Group A [[Vauxhall Astra (second generation)|Vauxhall Astra]]. [[Miki Biasion]] in his [[Lancia Delta]] would lead the rest of the entrants at the start of the rally, with team-mate [[Didier Auriol]] storming ahead during the early stages. Louise manages to maintain a decent pace in her Astra, due to an unusual lack of snow, and leads Paola de Martini at the end of the first night, placing 13th overall. Though Louise would experience some problems on the second day of the rally, she comfortably maintained her early pace and wound up finishing 11th overall, ahead of de Martini, winning the Coupe des Dames. Didier Auriol would keep the lead in the Lancia Delta, narrowly fending off [[Carlos Sainz]] in his [[Toyota Celica (fourth generation)|Toyota Celica]].

===Child Pedestrian Safety===
Woollard wraps up the prior segment by stating that things didn't go well for Louise Aitken-Walker following her triumph at the Monte Carlo Rally, as she had a big wreck the following event at Portugal where her Astra tumbled down a cliff before landing on its roof in a lake. Both Louise and Thörner escaped, and have since recovered. This segues into the following segment by means of accidents that happen closer to home, particularly traffic incidents where children were the victim. In 1988, 267 children were killed as part of 5,000 road fatalities, alongside 23,000 injuries.

===1990 Geneva Motor Show===

===Rally Quest '90===
For the third year in a row, ''Top Gear'' is running its ''[[Rally Quest]]'' programme, which allows a viewer of the show to enter in the Lombard RAC Rally completely free, with a car provided for them. Details on how to enter are contained on page 80 within the then-current issue of Radio Times, and must be returned by the 10th of April, 1990 in order for an entrant to be eligible.

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

==Trivia==
*This is the first episode of ''Top Gear'' to air in the 1990s.
*The episode survives in a wholly intact form thanks to [[List of Top Gear preservation efforts|early digitisation efforts]] made in the mid-2000s.

==References==