Top Gear (1977 TV series)/Ferrari: The Italian Legend
| Ferrari Special | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Prod. code |
NBMT330Y (1993) NBMW141T (1996) |
| No. |
290 (1993) 369 (1996) |
| Runtime |
28:57 (1993 original) 29:27 (1996 version) |
| Prev ep. |
Series 30, Episode 7 Series 35, Episode 14 |
| Next ep. |
Series 30, Episode 9 Top Gear Live |
| Airdate |
28th October, 1993 6th June, 1996 |
Ferrari: The Italian Legend was a Top Gear special originally aired on the 28th October, 1993 as a standard episode and the eighth of Series 30. Three years later, the episode was re-edited, incorporating footage of the Ferrari F50 and F355 which had both come out since the special first aired in the place of some earlier footage. This version was aired on the 6th June, 1996 after being postponed[1] from the week prior. Ferrari: The Italian Legend was originally broadcast in 576i at a 4:3 Standard aspect ratio on British television channel BBC Two.
Presented solely by Jeremy Clarkson, it is both Top Gear's 290th and 369th episode overall, or 281st and 360th if discounting the 1977 regional series. It was the 25th programme to be broadcast in 1993 out of a total 34, and the 16th programme to be broadcast in 1996 out of a total 32.
Synopsis[edit | edit source]
As narrated by Jeremy Clarkson:
In Italy, the religion is Catholicism. But the God is Ferrari.
1996 version[edit | edit source]
For 1996, the episode was updated. The Ferrari 348 segment was removed and replaced with one for the newer F355, whereas the F1 segment was considerably abridged in order to replace it with one for the F50. A title card was also added to the beginning of the episode, when in the past it had been left blank.
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- For many years, this special was erroneously attributed as a 1996 production due to the revised version of the episode being the only extant copy.
- It was also mistakenly attributed as premiering in 1994, as that is when it was first broadcast[2] as a standalone special.
- For a time, the 1996 version of the episode was actually available on BBC's iPlayer service. It was the only episode of pre-2002 Top Gear to be digitised for streaming in this manner.
Goofs[edit | edit source]
- At the end of the F355 segment, corresponding footage for the scene where Clarkson is having a toast was not reshot, and this includes several close-ups of the black 348 that the new car obviously isn't.
- When the time came to update the episode for 1996, the title and closing sequences were updated to match the then-current intro sequence, however, the on-screen graphics weren't, instead using the pre-1994 "green rectangle" motif.
- Due to Gerhard Berger leaving Ferrari at the end of 1995, this means his on-screen graphic had to be hastily redone to state he drove for Ferrari from 1993 - 1995. The font used is noticeably different from the actual one used through to the end of 1993.
