The Great Escapists

This is not top gear, Grand tour, or mythbusters. If you go in with that mindset it's quite enjoyable to watch. The dialogue is still Ted and the editing is rough but it's a fun time.

This show had so much potential to build on previous formats like Scrapheap Challenge, Mythbusters, Bear Grylls, Top Gear, The Grand Tour etc. Hammond and Tory are both fantastic presenters and the location is beautiful but the content is edited so poorly that it feels like a trainee swept up all the clippings off the floor and spliced them together in the dark.

The sequencing makes zero sense, there are scenes which clearly refer to earlier ones which have not yet been shown and what the hell is the part about recounting the story to interrogators? Were they 20% short on material and got as drunk as possible to come up with this idea for a filler?

All in all, I am very dissapointed but believe this series could be saved. Pull the show now, edit it properly and include more of the actual making process and you'll have at least a half decent show. As it is, it is simply not worth wasting your time. 1 out of 10 - must try harder!

I feel that this show could have been so much better if they scrapped the "acting" and just stuck to the science/engineering.

Don't get me wrong,I know that even so called unscripted shows usually have a script of some sort, but sadly the Myth Busters / Brainiac: Science Abuse hybrid show that I was hoping for doesn't materialise.

My son and I were both really excited about this because we love to watch all of Hammonds car shows and Mythbusters reruns. It wasn't as, let's say... realistic as we expected. After our initial disappointment and our expectations adjusted we just enjoyed two really fun guys goof around in a Gilligan's Island meets Swiss Family Robinson wish fulfillment sort of way. We had a lot of laughs from both scripted and genuine moments and he picked up some more science fundamentals along the way. I think they should change the concept and try again. Maybe like Monster Garage or something closer to their wheelhouse and straight forward.

OK, definitely no Swiss Family Robinson. And zero authenticity, which is disappointing. But It's filmed in a nice location and you could imagine this fitting into a monkey island computer game in a way. Shame that Hammond has to rely on using the Clarkson name for entertainment rather than relying on his own reputation. Definitely the least meritorious of the Three G. T. presenters spinoff shows bug entertaining all the same.