It's really interesting rewatching this for the first time in 20 years. I remember watching this as a 14 year old when first broadcast and instantly liked the new format.
Some of the long standing features such as the test track, the original Stig, the studio and a star in a reasonably priced car are all introduced here, and as a kid this new format was so refreshing.
Firstly it was great having Clarkson back on TopGear, and his no nonsense opinions are present from day one.
Whilst there's signs of what's to come later on in the series, it still feels very much like a BBC consumer show. Jason Dawes is the third presenter here, and his role is basically to talk about the 2nd hand car market. How things were to change..... I wonder how he now feels having left the show after the first series?
Richard Hammond makes a good start. His usual segment in these early episodes was covering a stunt or a scientific experiment. Here he's trying to beat a speed camera. His video narrations were often quite series in the early years and it took him a while to find his forte.
It's funny seeing Clarkson doing a sensible review of a Citroen Belingo, considering he drove one recently on The Grand Tour special.
Some of the studio segments are a bit awkward, Clarkson isn't 100% comfortable and in his natural flow yet. Another thing worth mentioning is the small size of the studio audience and the brightness of the studio. I wonder if these bits were filmed as a pilot?
They're also wanting Grandma's to write in to perform donuts. They did a lot of these type segments in the early days and looking back they were quite lame in comparison to the features in later years.
Well worth revisiting this historic episode.
