Looks like a British invasion here on the Chron with Amy’s new running friend Nigel and my best friends on Top Gear.  Top Gear is a BBC car show that’s been in existence for a fairly long time in one form or another.  The cast of characters has changed, and it went away for a while, but one constant has been Jeremy Clarkson.  And cars.  That’s two constants.  Oh, and humor.  Three!

Something else that gets more and more mature with every passing season (we just finished 14)  is the cinematography.  So it’s a bit of a perfect storm of awesome for me.  Click through for more….

I think the show is aired in the US on BBC America but it’s entirely random in terms of currency, chronology and content.  I gather that not all of the segments are present in the US broadcast.  Or maybe that was the case at one time.  Either way, as we know I rely on the internet to provide and this is no exception.  I use a wesbite called Final Gear to satisfy my delivery needs.  They’ve got every season cataloged with links to the torrents and an episode synopsis.

Over the last year or two they’ve tried to launch regional franchises but Australia is the only one still running.  They attempted a US version with Adam Carolla last year but it never went beyond the test pilot, which no one has seen.  There are rumblings of another whack at it starting around the end of this year with a rotated roster.  The success of the series rides on the presenters and so far no one else is up to the task.  I don’t bother myself with these other shows and spin-offs.

I understand the idea of torrenting is scary.  Fortunately iTunes has started selling the series but I think they only go back to season 7 or so, which I guess is fine.  The older seasons aren’t worth going back to unless you just can’t get enough.  I laugh a little when I see the early stuff because the show’s done out of a hanger on a decommissioned base of some sort.  So they have access to an adjacent road course on the old air strip for car tests and other segments.  But the initial few shows feature the brightly lit and nearly empty hanger with a few sporty cars peppered around the place and a handful of single, 40 year old virgin types hanging awkwardly around in the background admiring them while Jeremy talked to the camera.  Today the hanger is theatrically lit and packed with fans.  The show has transcended cars at this point.  Amy and I watch it together, although I’m fairly confident it’s not because she shares my lust for the new 911 GT3 RS.  The show is entertaining beyond that. Also, it’s British so she’s pretty much required.  🙂

Mmm, in addition to the regular season they also do these more epic specials.  I’ll throw one up here to give a taste.  This is not the traditional show format but it’s a nice treat.  Here’s a streamable version below of their recent trip to the north pole if you want to get directly on the dance floor, but the HD experience can be had here.  Hopefully you’re media player of choice will know what to do with it.  This may have been a better way to celebrate server space to begin with.  I wouldn’t say they want everyone in the world to host it for free, but the show’s producers are generally friendly to spreading the good word.