‘New’ Top Gear Episode 2 – Evans & LeBlanc host a proper Curate’s Egg

New Top Gear returned for episode two with Mclaren F1 and 675 LT, off-road challenge in South Africa and guest starts. It was good in parts.

Chris Evans came in for plenty of criticism for the ‘new’ Top Gear last week – much of it justified – but you can’t write-off Top Gear on the basis of one episode. So how was episode two?

Just as it was with the first episode, the opening segment in the studio was contrived, scripted and unfunny, this week with Evans on a stretcher after apparently coming over all unnecessary from playing with the McLaren F1 and 675LT.

We then went to a McLaren piece with Evans doing what’s been done a thousand times before, eulogising the McLaren F1 (deservedly so), as a prequel to a look at the McLaren 675 Long Tail, a section that was much improved by Jenson Button in the driving seat – a man who really can drive and can talk sense whilst doing so. If only the BBC could afford to put Button in Evans’ place permanently.

The core of the show was a road trip to South Africa – to the highest bar in the country (well, Lesotho) – with the new Jaguar F-PACE, Mercedes GLC and Porsche Macan, with Evans accompanied by SeaSick Steve in the Jaguar, Eddie Jordan and Sharleen Spiteri in the Mercedes and LeBlanc with Tinie Tempah in the Porsche. And, on the whole, it worked.

The scenery was stunning, the filming was stunning, and the guests actually worked. Yes, we could have had a bit more about how useful the three cars actually were off-road, but the interactions were good, it was amusing and the guests (well, Jordan isn’t really a guest) clearly had a great time.

Oddly, two of the South Africa guests (and Eddie Jordan) were pitted against Damien Lewis for the Star in a RallyCross car, with Sharleen Spiteri doing the driving against Lewis. But it didn’t really work, and nor did the ‘First Car’ and ‘Best Car’ contests. Did we really believe Damien Lewis’s best ever car is a MINI Convertible?

After last week’s poor start, new Top Gear certainly showed promise this week, but the studio segments are clearly the weak link (which, with Evans’ experience, they shouldn’t be), and the real star looks like it’s going to be Joey, not the ginger one.