Last week SBS launched Top Gear Australia to the country’s media. Unfortunately, I was busy that day and couldn’t make it, haha. You can catch a few highlights from this SBS video and read a few more details at CarAdvice. Don’t forget, there’s just over two weeks until Top Gear Australia makes its television premiere on Monday 29 September.
Source: autoblog
Ladies and gentlemen start your televisions! SBS has announced a premiere date for the Australian production of Top Gear—7:30pm Monday 29 September. Series 1 will run for 8 episodes.
Many fans of the original UK version of Top Gear remain skeptical about the merits of the Australian production. However, on paper at least, I think the Aussie cast looks very promising. Snippets I’ve read in the press also give me confidence with Executive Producer Andy Wilman acknowledging they have a hard road ahead of them to keep the spirit of the original show with the new efforts here and in the US. All signs to date indicate this production will be done, and done well.
From the SBS Top Gear website: Calling themselves “the ugliest men on television” the comical Australian larrikins have tested a diverse range of cars, talked, joked and sung their way through countless hours behind the wheel, have donned wool vests, top hats and goggles for stories—although not all in one outing, and have competed against each other in amusing, and sometimes bordering on the side of ridiculous, challenges. But most importantly, they have had a “darn good time”.
The debut of Top Gear Australia is getting closer by the day. So much so that SBS has started an audience call for Series 1. If you are over 18, can easily get yourself to Top Gear Australia’s Sydney studio in September/October and don’t mind if your mug gets on the telly then this could be the gig for you! Follow THIS LINK to register your interest and you’ll be in with a chance to join Charlie, Warren and Steve for the studio filming.
Good luck!
Oh, a quick reminder that starting at 7:30 tonight SBS delves into the vault to bring us Series 2 of Top Gear UK. This is James May’s debut series and well worth a sticky beak if you’ve not already seen it.
(Thanks to Wes for the tip.)
BBC Magazines, the publishers of Top Gear magazine, have done a deal with Australian Consolidated Press to bring an Australian version of the mag to our newsstands. Edited by Ewan Page, the launch issue is on sale now. Looks like they have the finger on the pulse as far as humour goes.
Source: CarAdvice and TheGuardian (Thanks to Paul for the tip.)
Top Gear Australia’s new presenters—Charlie Cox, Warren Brown and Steve Pizzati—will be breaking the ice on set this July when filming of their debut eight-part series kicks off. In a recent interview with UK staple The Times, Matt Campbell, SBS head of content, claims the Aussies won’t be outdone when it comes to the type of stunts and races we’ve come to expect from the Top Gear UK crew.
“I think some of the sequences that we have in mind will make Clarkson, Hammond and May quite jealous,” he says. “They haven’t got the diverse range of terrain that we have in Australia to muck around in.”
UPDATE: Meet the Top Gear Australia cast (watch video)
Charlie Cox, Warren Brown and Steve Pizzati will form the Australian cast of Top Gear to air on SBS. The trio were selected after the show’s producers—including Andy Wilman, executive producer of Top Gear UK—went through an exhaustive 4000 applications. It is said the show will have an Australian flavour, although the stereotypical Australian ‘ocker’ won’t be featured. The Australian producers will model their version heavily on the extraordinarily successful UK version which stars Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
Charlie Cox, 47, is an ex-Briton with a background in motoring journalism. Forty-something Warren Brown is best known for his role as a cartoonist with The Daily Telegraph—expect him to have a sharp wit. While thirty-ish Steve Pizzati brings some genuine driving credentials to the set thanks to his experience as an advanced driving instructor and racer with Porsche Australia.