i’ve been watching top gear for what seems like ages, the program actually started out way back in 1977 – before i was born, but the real birth of the program for me is when the bbc ditched the old 30 minute program for a studio based 1 hour show in 2002.

with the new series just underway i felt i should do something special to highlight my love for all things top and gear and show you my favourite 10 pieces of top gear, courtesy of youtube.com!

10. celebrities

is it a chat show? well, every week they have a well know celebrity who is usually publicising their new film or book or play or tv program or album or… you get the idea. here’s some of the best interviews and more importantly – the best efforts around the race track in the very reasonably priced car.

johnny vegas | jonathon ross | stephen fry | sir michael gambon

9. a great car review

BMW M3 CSL: I’ve always been a fan of BMW’s – ever since my parents had a 5 series, but it was the smaller 3 series that I drawn to and the m3 was the main attraction. This is a great car test, brilliantly shot and it just shows up every other car show that tries to imitate top gear’s style.

watch

8. a nail biting race in an amazing car

Aston Martin DB9 vs Eurostar Train: Ahh, the races – this is something that many find a complete pointless part of the program, it’s just an excuse for a holiday in a nice car and too probably drive too quickly in it. but for me it’s something adventurous and exciting – the ending is almost scripted, they are so close or it could be just an extended road test. see for yourself.

watch part 1 | part 2

7. extreme car testing

bugatti veyron does 253mph: not many people will have the chance to do it, so to witness it – even if it is only on tv is great. i can’t believe that when the veyron hit it’s top speed that it was eating up a football pitch every 1 second!

watch

6. silly sporting action

car football (Toyota’s V VW’s): there’s sporting action too, football with cars, a giant ball and some neat tricks by some of the drivers – some not so neat tricks by others.

watch

5. amazing human feats

Audi RS4 Review + Mountain Race: I’ve already mentioned that I love the BMW M3, but this audi RS4 went straight on to my lottery win car wish list.

watch part 1 | part 2

4. some toys for the kids

remote control cars: this was one of the funniest things they done, why don’t people do this and charge entrance fees?

watch

3. science abuse / almost clever engineering

Reliant Robin Space Shuttle: i think a lot of people thought that this was a step too far and completely pointless, i’ve never wanted them to finish and suceed in a project so much before, when it lifted off and it looked like a proper rocket… wow.

watch part 1 | part 2

2. danger

Richard Hammond Jet Car Crash: just to show that not everything turns out well, this was actually quite serious and if he wasn’t as short as he is then it would of turned out very differently.

watch

1. the best piece of television ever

bugatti veyron vs a private plane: I could honestly watch this over and over, it’s brilliantly done – the idea isn’t original because they’ve done these races before, but what makes this special is the car. now add to that the drama of this cross continent race then you really do have a top bit of telly. enjoy!

watch part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4

top gear is great, the production quality, the writing, the chemistry between the presenters and even the music they use is all top notch – actually a lot of the cool soundtrack, breaks, downtempo, modern orchestral music is from my ipod – it’s one of the only programs that i look forward to and long may it continue!

i’ve just finished watching cars from the kings of the animated film, pixar. in my opinion it’s not their best film as it doesn’t top finding nemo, the incredibles or monsters inc but visually it is stunning. you could pause the film at any moment and there is so much detail in the frame and this is only their 7th film – they are going to keep getting better at this animation game!

one of the fun things with a pixar animation is spotting the voice talent behind the different characters and apart from the usual hollywood actors and actresses there’s some surprising people in there – including the uk’s very own motor mouth, jeremy clarkson who pop’s up as lightening mcqueen’s agent in cars.

up next for pixar is Ratatouille, a story about a parisian rat who enjoys the finer foods that’s available to him. watch the trailer here.