Top Gear: The Challenges (BBC) [DVD]

What kind of job would you expect three men would do, work in the office all day, by on a telephone, down the pub (maybe) or on the factory floor? Well how about involving three men, some battered cars and a ambitious idea? Yeah that will do as Jezzer, Hamster and Captain Slow are here with 7 different challenges that can end in up in dangerous situations to the downright humiliating.We see the three this time around take on various challenges like building a Space Shuttle out of a Reliant Robin, making Amphibious Cars to the Crap 70 Cars the three buy. This is of course a great DVD as the Top Gear team attempt the most brilliant to the downright bizarre challenges set against them and no matter how many times one can watch, your bound to be left laughing.Of course, there might be some disappointment due to the fact that each challenge is split into two, it would get halfway through viewing one challenge and then moving onto the next and then only to come back afterwards. Ok the presentation and editing wasn't clearly the best of choices by the BBC, but this for being the first Top Gear Challenges DVD, it sure is worth purchasing.

I like Top GearIts not motoring journalism any more - it's three blokes who like cars trying to entertain whilst indulging in their love of carsNo factual basis to any of this - just light entertainment at it's best - you can't help but laugh at them

The revamped Top Gear format provides great entertainment as long as you don't take it too seriously. This DVD is great fun, but is let down by an unbelievably frustrating menu system in which each challenge is separated into non-consecutive chapters. Splitting the challenges up makes sense in the context of a TV show, but who thought that would be a good idea on the DVD? You can get around this by programming your DVD playlist - but that's annoying.The challenges are very funny, though, and if you like the programme this is money well spent: you get nearly 3 hours of TV here (compare that with the 60 minutes or so of last year's "Winter Olympics" DVD). The banter between the presenters is great, but watching this made me wonder for the first time how spontaneous it is - does James May really irritate Hammond enough to make him threaten to stick a fork in his neck while he's flying a plane? You decide.

This DVD is the best so far, all the funny challenges are here. The only thing is the editing, why have they split the challenges in half. You start watching one and then it cuts to another and then back to the first one!!! Why?????Apart from that - brilliant!TracieRuislip

I expect this DVD to be fantastic. I can't help but think the challenges are the funniest part of Top Gear - and that is saying something! One question, and I don't know if anyone can answer this yet - will it have the amphibious vehicles challenge on this DVD? That topped the list for me.

I cannot fault the content but it is badly edited when it said it was the challenges I did expect the challenges to be shown in thier full order like it is discribed on the back of the dvd so when they listed say the space shuttle challenge I expected it to be shown in full from start to finish but instead it skips to different scenes so ive got no idea what is going to be shown next one minuet they are showing the shuttle being planned then built but next minuet its gone on to something else so i do not know what the next scene is and its no use going to scene select as that is as clear as mud, so the challenges are fun to watch but then they are ruined by not knowing what order they are in and not being shown from start to finish as a complete lot.

Jeremy, Hamster, Captain Slow and The Stig taking part in some of the best challenges they have set on Top Gear, including a rocket launched "Robin", the first attempt at amphibious cars, and the race from Italy to London with a truffle.

More than enough reviews have said this DVD is good but suffers from abominable editing. This is the list of items on the DVD, to help you find them using skip and fast forward. The times are in: hours.minutes.seconds.0.0.0 to 0.17.12 Veyron race part 10.17.12 to 0.35.42 Crap 70s supercars part 10.35.42 to 0.51.00 Veyron race part 20.51.00 to 1.06.44 Crap 70s supercars part 21.06.44 to 1.14.08 Parkour V Peugeot. complete1.14.08 to 1.27.33 Build a limo part 11.27.33 to 1.37.44 Reliant space shuttle part 11.37.44 to 1.50.45 Build a limo part 21.50.45 to 1.59.56 Reliant space shuttle part 21.59.56 to 2.06.19 Racing a skydiver. complete2.06.19 to 2.12.40 Build a convertible part 12.12.40 to 2.20.32 Build an amphibious car part 12.20.32 to 2.30.16 Build a convertible part 22.30.16 to 2.53.27 Build an amphibious car part 2Well, you can at least see that the editing is a mess on this DVD, but the challenges are worth revisiting often, so I hope this helps.