Watch Top Gear Season 22 Episode 1
Janet Denzel
The BBC may have canceled "Top Gear," but it remains one of the best car shows to watch, even in 2024. Of course, this is in reference to the "Top Gear" revival that began in 2002. The series dates back to the 1970s, but it didn't really catch on as a global phenomenon until Jeremy Clarkson and Andy Wilman gave it some extra juice around the turn of the century. It has a vibrant visual style and features such an eclectic assortment of vehicles that even the most seasoned enthusiasts can find something to learn. That's not even getting into the show's excellent sense of humor, particularly when it comes to the camaraderie between the main crew. "Top Gear" presenters regularly perform memorable stunts or race exceptionally powerful vehicles, so it's easy to see how the renewed series could get well over 200 episodes out of such exciting premises.
Whether you're considering a rewatch or wanting to get into the show for the first time, it can be daunting going all the way back to 2002 to watch every single episode. That's why we've assembled a list of the series' 10 greatest episodes (in no particular order) that any gearhead should see at least once. If these episodes catch your fancy, you can naturally peruse others and go through the remainder of the series at your leisure. It's not like there's much long-form storytelling at play, so you can jump in and out in whatever way feels most comfortable to you.
Honestly, a list of the 10 best "Top Gear" episodes could be entirely populated by its various specials. Every so often, the show would unveil a special edition episode where the presenters go on a road trip in a ridiculous vehicle. Usually, they're given a ludicrously low amount of money and have to scrounge up a car to reach the destination. They're honestly a lot of fun, but in the interest of providing a well-rounded collection of great "Top Gear" episodes, this list only contains one of these specials, and it's Season 12's "Vietnam Special."
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May are plopped in Saigon and must make their way to Ha Long City in eight days. It may not seem too bad, especially when they're initially given 15 million Vietnamese dong, but the presenters (as well as viewers at home) soon learn that's only around $1,000 USD. As such, they can only acquire motorbikes, but that simply provides a more intimate journey as they traverse the country.
"Vietnam Special" is widely regarded as one of the show's best moments. In fact, it's the second highest-rated episode on IMDb, with a rating of 9.4/10. The trio eventually returns to the country for "The Grand Tour Presents: Seamen," only they begin in Cambodia and end in Vietnam, but the special episode clearly made a mark on them and audiences for them to venture back.
The episode is precisely what the title suggests. The crew attempts to transform a Reliant Robin into an honest-to-goodness space shuttle, and the kicker is that they only have 12 days to do it. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, and that's because it largely is. When launch day finally arrives, things seem fortuitous for a brief period, but while lift-off goes well enough, the fuel tank fails to separate from the shuttle, bringing the whole thing crashing to the ground in a fiery inferno.
The episode has garnered high marks on IMDb, with one reviewer insisting it's "one of the most hilarious episodes of this show besides from the specials." It's easy to see why, as the vehicles turn out rather odd-looking, particularly the one spearheaded by Jeremy Clarkson. His motorhome has a full three stories, with the second story dedicated to a Japanese contemplation area. Of course, constructing these monstrosities is only half the battle. Once they're done, the presenters are told they must drive them for a little getaway, which is amusing all on its own.
After years of courting controversy, Jeremy Clarkson physically assaulted "Top Gear" producer Oisin Tymon. He was ultimately fired from the show, but the series carried on with other presenters, including former "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc. Some fans may have felt inclined to tune out after Clarkson's departure, but there were plenty of gems during this era, including Season 25, Episode 4.
A major driving force of the episode involves LeBlanc testing a new Dodge car called the Demon, which boasts greater acceleration than anything manufactured by the top dogs in the industry, including Lamborghini. Racing such a feat of engineering would be cool enough on its own, but the episode also sees LeBlanc help NASA land one of its research planes. Even amid all the adrenaline, there are plenty of humorous moments that stack up against Clarkson's era.
It may have taken long-time fans some time to get used to the new dynamics on the show, but this episode exemplifies everything LeBlanc and his team brought to the series. Redditor u/xiaodown praised this episode: "It took a couple of seasons, but this group has come into its own, and it's fantastic." After 25 seasons and a change in presenters, Season 25 proved "Top Gear" still had a few tricks up its sleeve.
The episode sees Jeremy Clarkson and the other two presenters attempt to turn normal cars into something that can work on both land and sea. The real highlight is seeing all three of them attempt to get their creations to traverse a body of water, as each faces a myriad of issues. The installment was clearly popular, as it received a sequel on Season 10 where the team tries to do the same thing. Only this time, they attempt to cross the English channel.
"Amphibious Car Challenges" absolutely deserves a spot on the list of the best "Top Gear" episodes, in part because of what Redditor u/phyrephawckce has to say. "I wasn't sold on watching the show until I saw the one where they turned cars into boats," they wrote. "I know there are better episodes, but that one got me hooked because I don't think they did anything else like that up until that point." It's an ideal entry point for newcomers to "Top Gear" because of how it showcases the ingenuity and personalities of the presenters.
One of the most amusing aspects of any given "Top Gear" episode is to see how the presenters go completely left field to try to win a challenge. That's on full display in Season 11's "Police Car Challenge," where everyone's given a small amount of money to purchase a dinky car to customize into a police cruiser. The best part is none of them are really concerned about trying to get close to a realistic police car. Instead, they just want silly gadgets to make them as unwieldy as possible. They're more suited for an installment of "Wacky Races" than catching criminals.
For example, Jeremy Clarkson outfits his car with a spike strip he can deploy to halt any vehicles coming up behind him. However, in the end, Richard Hammond emerges victorious ... probably. Hammond was supposedly one point ahead, but he ate the paper before it was made official. Of course, creating custom police cars is only part of this great episode. Another portion focuses on the team recognizing that fuel prices have gone through the roof, and they handle this information in a manner befitting "Top Gear."
At the end of the day, "Top Gear" is a show about a few chaps seemingly giving in to any intrusive thoughts they have concerning cars. They rarely take anything seriously, and it makes for some excellent television.
Bullet trains are magnificent feats of engineering, so Jeremy Clarkson thought he'd test their mettle by racing one in a Nissan GT-R. Richard Hammond and James May have the far more desirable task of simply hanging out inside the train and going on a nice little journey, but even that comes with its own perils when they find themselves separated. Clarkson wins by just a hair, but it's hard to argue that Japan has some of the best public transportation in the world.
Any episode that espouses the virtue of bullet trains is all right in our book, especially since even faster models have come out since the episode first aired. Some of the fastest passenger trains in the world have exceeded 200 mph, and it would be a treat to see someone try to race one of these.
That's only part of why this episode is worth checking out, as Clarkson also puts a Ford Fiesta through the wringer to see what kind of conditions it can withstand. This involves teaming up with some Marines who mock-storm a beach with the Fiesta in tow. It looks completely out of place, which is 100% the charm of such a sequence.
Anyone interested in learning more about the history of certain cars might want to check out a related series, "James May's Cars of the People." That show can be accessed on Amazon Prime Video, Pluto TV, and The Roku Channel.
As you've probably learned from this list, "Top Gear" is an incredibly funny show, and its best episodes exemplify that humor. Few places do it better than Season 8's "Top Gear Sets a World Record with an F1 Car," when Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May go on their own holiday along with Top Gear Dog to understand why caravans cause traffic jams. The episode becomes a total comedy of errors, as they continually encounter problems, including one moment where Hammond and Top Gear Dog are "kidnapped" by a fan.
Their journey ends in the only way appropriate for the "Top Gear" presenters: The caravan burns down. But they still have to tow it to complete the trek. London's Evening Standard later reported how the blaze was staged, and even though the presenters may try to present themselves as incompetent, we'd like to think they wouldn't be careless enough to burn something to the ground through negligence.
Warning: Spoilers For One Piece episode #1071Luffy's reality-bending Gear 5th power-up has finally debuted in the One Piece anime, and while the enthusiasm of fans rushing to see it has brought down several servers and websites, the episode itself fell a little short of expectations. While the world knew for weeks that episode #1071 would contain one of the series' most important moments, websites could not handle the number of viewers excited to watch Luffy transform into Gear 5th.
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