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Top Gear – Series 12, Episode 8 (Vietnam Special)

Top Gear - Series 12, Episode 8 (Vietnam Special)

The last episode of Series 12 was the highly anticipated Vietnam Special. News of Top Gear filming in Vietnam was revealed exclusively right here on AUSmotive back in early October. At 75 minutes, this episode is the longest Top Gear special to date.

The challenge set to the Top Gear trio was to get from the south of Vietnam to the north in just eight days. They had 15 million Vietnamese dong each to fund their purchase of suitable transport. Turns out all those millions don’t go very far, and the lads were left with no choice but to go for motorcycle power, despite Jeremy’s protestations. The usual hijinx followed, with the added comedy value of seeing Clarkson struggle on two wheels.

As an overall episode, though, it didn’t reach the highs of the USA or African specials, for example. That said, the Vietnam Special was a thoroughly enjoyable journey to watch, with the usual standards of Top Gear cinematography doing a great job of capturing Vietnam’s inspiring scenery.

A few captures from the episode are shown below. Australian readers beware—the pics below may be considered spoilers if you want to wait until this episode airs on SBS in a couple of months time. I just want to know what happened to the Red Stig?

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Top Gear in Vietnam

*updated—15 December* Confirmed by Jeremy Clarkson at the end of Episode 7 last Sunday, the Vietnam Special will go to air in the UK on Sunday 28 December.

*updated—12 October* Pics of the Top Gear team filming in Vietnam have now surfaced on Facebook. There’s a few more included below, or follow the link from Gaz in the comments section for more [Edit: The Facebook album is no longer accessible]… Extra pics have been removed at the request of the original photographer. For all the latest on this episode, keep an eye on the FinalGear forums.

Series 12 of Top Gear (UK) is expected air on UK screens in November, so it was with great anticipation I heard some interesting news about what to expect in the new series. As this article is being written the Top Gear crew are in Vietnam preparing to film their next in-country challenge. Firm details are sketchy, but it is expected that Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May will be using motorbikes, instead of cars, taking a route from Ho Chi Minh City in the south before finishing up in Hanoi in north, with a visit to the World Heritage site of Halong Bay along the way.

Top Gear is developing quite a body of work for its in-country challenges, with the United States, Botswana and Japan just some of the locations the lads have tackled. No doubt this Vietnam Special, with the potential of seeing the three hosts riding motorbikes, will provide great entertainment. I understand there’s a very interesting powered watercraft waiting for the guys, which is bound to see one of them taking a swan dive.