AFTER LAST WEEK’S episode delivered a mild upswing in viewers for season two of the love-it-or-hate-it Top Gear Australia, hopes were high that this week’s episode (the second last for season two) would build upon episode six’s ratings rebound.
Alas, no, it was not to be. While episode six managed to get 550,000 pairs of eyeballs locked onto TGA, this week’s effort only managed to drag in 510,000 viewers: a return to its downward slide in ratings.
This week we saw Pizatti and Brown take a smart fortwo and a Fiat 500 along the Oodnadatta Track (an exercise that was doomed from the outset) and a Patrol-v-Landcruiser comparo with a twist - the Landcruiser being 30 years senior to the Patrol.
But for many people the only redeeming facet of this Monday’s show was the Stig’s hot lap with an Australian-delivered and de-limited Nissan GT-R, which was pedalled to within a few tenths of Porsche’s much-worshipped GT2.
So, the numbers show that more and more people are deserting Top Gear’s Australian franchise in droves, but will they be enticed to return for next week’s episode, the finale for series two?
On offer will be a Porsche Cayenne/stockhorse race, a comparison test between the Lexus LS600hL and Mercedes-Benz S-Class and a comprehensive feature on the legendary Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 3, which will include a Stig-driven timed lap, skidpan test and a visit to the just-as-legendary Bathurst circuit.
Insiders say that this episode will most definitely deliver the goods, as all stories were produced late in the series and should address many of the concerns raised by viewers unhappy with the franchise thus far.
We’ll be tuning in on Monday to find out whether this is true, but will you?
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You know.. I enjoyed the episode this week. Until I downloaded the new Top Gear UK.. and remembered what it was like.
No comparison. TGAU sucks.
Can’t believe how TGA has fallen into the same hole as last year’s effort.
James Morrisson still has the ball, but the other two are off the planet.
Most Aussies need a car, some people are interested in their cars and some of us are car enthusiasts. Very few of us can be bothered with the juvenile rot that TGA is trying entertain us with.
I’m sad because a great opportunity to entertain and or inform all of us has been blown again.
TGAU must bite the bullet…
REGS12, What planet did you come from?? I disagree Morrisson has it.. hes a right royal idiot, and should stick to playing the trumpet. In fact they’re all idiots…
Thankgod TGUK is out on bittorrent
I watched the majority of the episode but I record it before I watch it so I can fast forward whenever the presenters are on along with the exceedingly lame Star segment.
I’ll have a look at the final episode as well but the whole two series so far has been a big disappointment.
“Comprehensive feature on the Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 3 including a Stig-driven timed lap, skidpan test and a visit to Bathurst” -
I think this will be the ultimate test - if they can’t make an engaging, entertaining and non-lame segment out of that, it’s a sure sign of failure. And it will leave a bad taste in people’s mouths, being the last in the series.
It needs to be said that SBS deserve kudos for having the balls to run with the Top Gear Australia idea in the first place. And they’ve listened to viewers and made efforts to try and make the show more palatable. But there’s still so much that’s fundamentally wrong.
I watched the GT-R lap on Skylines Australia. Looks like I didn’t miss much else. Charlie Cox was a bit of a knob when he was drawing a comparison between the GT2’s lap time and the (speed-limited) R35’s. Glad to see the full potential of the R35 finally being shown, and that anomaly being rectified by the team.
I too Fast Forward through the “Star in a bog standard car”. They really need someone with some decent interviewing skills.
And Pizatti still annoys the **** outta me.
I quite often fast forward the TGUK version of ’star in a whatever car’ too. It’s just so mind-numbingly boring.
I agree with Joe’s comments too. I thought that episode wasn’t too bad in comparision with the rest, then I watched a bit of the new TGUK series - London to Edinburgh challange, and I laughed more times in 20 minutes than I have all of the TGAUS series put together!
thank god tguk is back again..
axe TGAU asap.