The fifteenth series of Top Gear was aired during 2010 on BBC Two and BBC HD and consisted of 8 episodes, beginning on 27 June and concluding on 1 August. Prior to the series beginning, the show's return was advertised with a trailer that borrowed the over-excited responses of the parents of a young boy who were watching the Top Gear team filming the Motorhome challenge, from a clip that was originally published on YouTube. Following its conclusion, it was subsequently followed by two "Best Of Top Gear" specials, charting the best moments from the series.
This series was Ben Collins' final one as The Stig, as following a legal dispute with him in the latter half of August 2010 over his autobiography, The Man in the White Suit, the BBC decided not to renew his contract with the show. The series also saw the Chevrolet Lacetti being retired and replaced by a Kia Cee'd, leading to the Celebrity Lap Board being cleared for the times made in the new car.
Video Top Gear (series 15)
Episodes
Best-of episodes
Maps Top Gear (series 15)
Track Day YouTube Clips
During the second episode of Series 15, the presenters were tasked with finding a second-hand sports saloon that would be perfect for track days. The challenge of this task was for each presenter to film themselves doing a lap of the EuroSpeedway Lausitz's circuit and posting the completed film onto YouTube. Each presenters individual video was not shown completely on the show, but the full length, unedited videos can be viewed online via the links below:
- Sierra Cosworth hot lap - Jeremy Clarkson's (CossieMan2000) lap in his Ford Sierra Sapphire RS Cosworth.
- M3 lap - Richard Hammond's (MrM3MAN) "lap" in his BMW E36 M3.
- A lap of the Euro Speedway in my Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 - James May's (Mercedes1902316) lap in his Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16 Cosworth.
Criticism and Controversy
"Woman wearing Burka" comment
During the News segment of the fifth episode, Clarkson got into a discussion with Hammond, in which he joked that he had been in cab the other day and truly seen a woman wearing a burka tripping up on a pavement, upon which he could see that under it she was wearing a "red g-string and stockings". Following the broadcast of the episode, the BBC received a number of complaints regarding the joke, with the singer Lily Allen writing on Twitter that the joke was "distasteful", while a Mediawatch spokesperson said that Clarkson "should learn to keep quiet". Prior to the joke being aired, a debate had been ongoing over the use of the burka; Faeeza Vaid, co-ordinator of the Muslim Women's Network UK, criticised the joke, saying:
"The debate surrounding the burka is a serious issue which shouldn't be publicly joked about. Rather than joking about it, we should be having serious dialogue."
However, in an article written for The Week, Antonia Bland defended the presenter's joke, saying that Clarkson had done nothing wrong and that Muslim women who wore a burka had the right to "choose to wear gorgeous lingerie in private", adding that the joke proved a good example of the dangers faced by male drivers trying to concentrate on the road during Summer.
Notes
The viewing figures shown in the Episode Table above (with the exception of the first episode), are a combination of the figures from the BBC Two broadcast and the BBC HD broadcast.
References
External links
- Top Gear caught in action. Embarrassing parents. - Original YouTube video used by the BBC to advertise Season 15.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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