Aussie 'Top Gear' leaves the garage

SBS's Top Gear Australia officially started its engine last night and moved steadily off the grid, out-rating Australian Story (ABC) but finishing behind Australian Idol (10) and Two and a Half Men (Nine).

A peak of 303,000 viewers across the country watched as a new trio of Australian hosts drove across sand dunes, snowfields, air strips and into shark-infested waters.

Did you watch the show? What did you think of it?.. Go to the bottom of the page to share your thoughts.

While the format was faithful to the original program, which draws an audience of up to one million for SBS, the terrain was a world away from the English county of Surrey where the BBC series is filmed.

"Welcome to Top Gear Australia, a show made in Australia for Australians, right here in God's own," host Charlie Cox said, opening the program on a replica set of the UK studio.

The former motor racing commentator said he had been "having a ball" testing soft-roaders at the beach and in the snow with co-hosts Warren Brown, a cartoonist, and Steve Pizzati, a race driver.

The original Top Gear, presented by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, has an estimated 385 million viewers worldwide and has ignited controversy for several incidents including damaging a historic tree, tying a dead cow to a car and a near fatal accident involving Hammond.

The Australian version followed the British format with a segment featuring mystery racer The Stig, a news discussion, road tests and a celebrity time trial.

Last night's guest star, actor Vince Colosimo, confessed to having 14 accidents before he was 25 years old but avoided adding to the list of Top Gear bingles.

Despite his form, the Underbelly actor safely piloted his Proton Satria around a modified airfield in respectable time.

In stunt that would have been impossible in Europe, Brown was lowered into the sea off South Australia's Neptune Islands in a Mini Moke while great white sharks circled, lured with tuna and a leg of lamb.

"No doubt who has the right of way," Brown quipped as a shark crashed into the custom-built cage around the Moke.

Last night's news discussion was also given an Australian slant as Cox and team criticised the luxury car tax increase.

"The motorists get slugged again," Cox said, asking why there was no tax on owning expensive cats.

True to traditional Top Gear form, a range of sports cars were tested on the track including the Lotus Elise, Nissan GTR, Porsche 911 PDK — which "puts the mental in environmental" — and a stretch Hummer.

The GTR blitzed the line-up while the stretch Hummer finished last alongside a taxiing Cessna.

User comments

not a very good start to the series, hopefully the three lads and the production of the show will get better.I will watch the next few shows as im sure the presenters will improve as they relax into thier roles as presenters. steve

won't be watching again

I found the lead host to be too loud and in the end found him to very tiresome, first show nerves I put it down to. Try and relax a bit, the Stig should have had a name change to Stigo or something like that, as the whole show turned out to be to much of a copy of the real thing ,give some Australian flavour and do not copy to the letter the English version

I tried, I really did. Had I not seen it I wouldn't have believed it possible to make such a botch of the excellent Top Gear concept. Dreary, unspeakably heavy handed, crass, and that's just the presenters. Probably as pathetic an attempt at entertainment as I have ever seen. Ah well, that frees up Monday evenings.

What a load of rubbish ,how do you stuff this up ?I am a confirmed TOP GEAR addict but watching the crap we had last night was cruel and inhuman punishment

As far as first shows go, this showed potential. they had some decent cars on there (difficult considering they can't use any that the poms have already covered). But yes the presenters were like the dorky younger brothers of the Brits. If they got rid of that stupid shark bit and vince colosimo (what a tool) as the special guest then it might pan out okay. And is it just me or is the track comprised of about 3 turns and half mile straghts?

I gave the whole family a lecture about 'hard acts to follow' and 'unfair comparisons'... Decided to try hard and give this Aussie version a fair go... Oh dear, big mistake. Sorry SBS I thought it a disaster. The humour was contrived and staying with the UK format only highlighted the failings of the writers and the presenters. I kept thinking that SBS may have been wiser to have at least one reasonably well known presenter with a sense of humour. Unfortunately, Mr Cox(who ever he is) came across as arrogant, condescending and not the least bit funny. I will be interested to see if this Top Gear Australia' survives. (Might go and buy the CD's of British Top Gear and watch those when this is on...)

I thought the first attempt was OK. It takes a while to slide into a smooth format and become in tune with your co comperes speed and timing. So far so good, Warrens on the right track and after watching Peking to Paris I know he can be quicker in the wit department.

Why , why try and impersonate the compares ?? Couldn,t watch it because of that ! Use our own Aussie humour and great personalities and leave the pomes to theirs !!

Why did every sentence have to get a laugh? They just tried too hard and it lost whatever cred it may have had!

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