Top Gear Series 25 Showed There's Still Life In The Old Dog

So, that’s it: Top Gear series 25 is done and dusted. We can look back on six episodes where excuses like ‘the presenters are just getting to know each other’ and ‘they’re just finding their feet’ begin to wear thin. Bottom line: we needed to start seeing results.

Even if you’re a die-hard Clarkson, Hammond and May fan, there’s no denying that we have started seeing results under the new presenters. Matt LeBlanc has begun to take a little ownership of the lead role, Chris Harris’ wheel-twirling antics are always superb to watch, and Rory Reid injects a dose of youthfulness we hadn’t even realise the show needed. But, as it turns out, it did.

The feature duties were generally split, this season, with only a couple of challenges featuring all three guys. The V8 piece early in the series was a bit of a let-down apart from the brilliant Ken Block chase sequence, but the three-way SUV fight in Sunday’s final episode was fantastic, even if Reid’s odd ‘getting lost’ bit felt a little forced. Had Land Rover banned the show from using the car in certain ways? Was it just an attempted joke that fell a bit flat?

Importantly, every episode’s features felt slightly better than the ones before. The producers need to take a lot of credit, recognising the strengths of each and deciding not to open with the strongest. It was the wisest possible move to build the performances gradually.

LeBlanc and Harris have grown noticeably closer as professionals through the series. The jokes flow more easily, you can tell there’s a little chemistry there and they’re beginning to bounce off one another more naturally. The ‘bigfoot’ and 2CV pieces were milestones; they really stepped the duo’s combined game up.

On the other hand, every time we’ve seen a head-to-head race it has been clearly and awkwardly staged for the camera. The Lexus LS versus Civic Type R duel couldn’t have been more set up if they’d have been Matchbox toys with the same child controlling both across the kitchen floor. The same goes for some of the SUV racing at the weekend; artificially early braking, gaps left wide open, obvious throttle-lifting… if you’re not going to do it properly, why bother?

Maximum bothering is something Top Gear is going to need to do next time out. It has become more of a car person’s car show. While The Grand Tour fannies around making us laugh, the BBC show has moved more into car geekery. But with that comes a hyper-critical audience that will pick up on these staged ‘races’ like a drugs dog faced with a suitcase full of cocaine.

On location the three have been increasingly good to watch. Awesome, top-drawer camerawork has made series 25 as pretty as any series of any car show ever made, but simply watching the three guys has become good fun. I keep half-expecting the languid LeBlanc to start calling Reid ‘Junior.’ Things are more relaxed for them out in the wide world.

The studio segments are still the show’s weakest link. The script is usually dull and often lifelessly delivered, the presenters are artificially warm and smiley, and the interviews still leave me cold. It’s when the shot cuts indoors that you can sense the unwanted, meddling hands of BBC management and humourless people in suits. For series 26 they’d do better to back off and let the creative talent do the work it needs to.

Series 26 arrives later this year, and we’re looking forward to it. With a few tweaks and a longer creative leash in the studio, Top Gear could quickly become really great again.