The Ford Capri Laser Page

Was lucky to be offered tickets for the filming of the first episode of the new TopGear series yesterday. Spent the afternoon in Dunsfold Surrey in the BBC studio with my son. It was great to see how they film it, and how many takes each snippet of the show requires before they're happy with it. You get to watch the entire pre-filmed episode as well as the studio bit. Rob Bryden was the 'star in the reasonably fast car', he was gutted as it was hammering down & had a Very Wet time. Something different to have seen & this V8 themed episode actually looked pretty good. Hoping the new series will be better than the last.

Took some pictures of the set once filming had finished, starting with the drive in on the air strip;



Coolest burger van, in public car park.



Sneaky pic of set.



Fuzzy covert Porsche pic.



In case you weren't sure what bus to catch ..



It was a long drive for us but a great day to remember.
Rob

Nice one Rob

Been watching a few TG repeats recently. The ones around 2003 are ok but the later episodes got too stupid imo.....

andyd wrote:Nice one Rob

Been watching a few TG repeats recently. The ones around 2003 are ok but the later episodes got too stupid imo.....

Yes, the later episodes lost their way a bit. It's become a boys adventure program now, the cars are there to help them enjoy it. Nice work if you can get it though

Hi Rob,
It sounds like you had a great day!
Love that burger van.

Andrew.

Andrew 2.8i wrote: It sounds like you had a great day!
Love that burger van.

It was a good day, didn't get a chance to sample the burgers as we were running late, great truck though, very mad max

I was in the audience at Dunsfold with the old Top Gear presenters a few years back. One of the things that stuck in my mind was how few retakes they had to do. At one point Jeremy Clarkson waved to stop the cameras and pointed out that no one had laughed during his introduction of the Stig so they did that line again. That was it.

James May is great. When recording was paused for the audience to have our break outside the hangar he walked out with the rest of us and went to help the caterers, opening boxes of crisps at one point diving under a trestle table to sort out an extension lead to one of the tea urns. He then spent the rest of the time handing out cans and cups of tea and chatting to all and sundry.

Not_Anumber wrote:I was in the audience at Dunsfold with the old Top Gear presenters a few years back. One of the things that stuck in my mind was how few retakes they had to do. At one point Jeremy Clarkson waved to stop the cameras and pointed out that no one had laughed during his introduction of the Stig so they did that line again. That was it.

James May is great. When recording was paused for the audience to have our break outside the hangar he walked out with the rest of us and went to help the caterers, opening boxes of crisps at one point diving under a trestle table to sort out an extension lead to one of the tea urns. He then spent the rest of the time handing out cans and cups of tea and chatting to all and sundry.

I like James May in anything he does. The other two I can leave......

andyd wrote: I like James May in anything he does. The other two I can leave......

Not a fan of Total Wipeout then

Not_Anumber wrote:I was in the audience at Dunsfold with the old Top Gear presenters a few years back. One of the things that stuck in my mind was how few retakes they had to do

Not like that now, they did at least 4 takes of everything & one of them is a real actor ..

Caprifan Rob wrote: one of them is a real actor ..

supposedly.....

Andrew.

Caprifan Rob wrote:

Andrew 2.8i wrote: It sounds like you had a great day!
Love that burger van.

It was a good day, didn't get a chance to sample the burgers as we were running late, great truck though, very mad max

Very Duel, you mean good sir!

It is one of the three trucks used in filming.. Peterbuilt 251... if memory serves. The guy bought is a massive Duel fan. He then says "I had terrible trouble getting it over here, it wouldn't go into a shipping container!"

Hardly surprising look at the size of one of them next to the Plymouth Valiant:



On another note, the guy that delivered the truck that goes off the cliff to the studio was the guy that drove it for the gasoline company before the truck got famous.. he drove it for years and hundreds of thousands of miles. He says it lacked power, had no airconditioning and by the time it was retired from work, it "was a wore out old dog. Going off the cliff at the end was the best thing that could have happened to it"! He said the onlygood thing about it was its long wheelbase.. whic hmade it nice and comfy to drive.

Major_Tom wrote:

Caprifan Rob wrote:

Andrew 2.8i wrote: It sounds like you had a great day!
Love that burger van.

It was a good day, didn't get a chance to sample the burgers as we were running late, great truck though, very mad max

Very Duel, you mean good sir!

Thanks, I didn't realise it was actually a piece of Hollywood. I just thought it was a mean looking old truck, wish I'd known, would have paid more attention to it. Haven't seen Duel in years, believe it was Steven Spielberg's first film. Thanks for the info

Major_Tom wrote:

Only a fool breaks the two second rule. Driving that close to the car in front will only end in tears.....

Andrew.

Major_Tom wrote:

Caprifan Rob wrote:

Andrew 2.8i wrote: It sounds like you had a great day!
Love that burger van.

It was a good day, didn't get a chance to sample the burgers as we were running late, great truck though, very mad max

Very Duel, you mean good sir!

It is one of the three trucks used in filming.. Peterbuilt 251... if memory serves. The guy bought is a massive Duel fan. He then says "I had terrible trouble getting it over here, it wouldn't go into a shipping container!"

Hardly surprising look at the size of one of them next to the Plymouth Valiant:



On another note, the guy that delivered the truck that goes off the cliff to the studio was the guy that drove it for the gasoline company before the truck got famous.. he drove it for years and hundreds of thousands of miles. He says it lacked power, had no airconditioning and by the time it was retired from work, it "was a wore out old dog. Going off the cliff at the end was the best thing that could have happened to it"! He said the onlygood thing about it was its long wheelbase.. whic hmade it nice and comfy to drive.

Great info Tom. Probably my favourite Spielberg film that is, great movie.

pbar wrote:

Major_Tom wrote: Very Duel, you mean good sir!

Great info Tom. Probably my favourite Spielberg film that is, great movie.

Hi guys, was lucky to be invited up again to watch an episode being filmed. Went with my youngest son this time. Really enjoyed it, Dara O Brian & Ed Byrne were the star guests this time. Took more interest this time in the catering truck now I know what it actually is. Paul, these pics are for you ;



No wonder the driver in the film had the hump driving this

Studio picture showing roof of Hyundai i30 N hot hatch.

Female Stig, Sabine Schmitz ?

Chris Harris' own 2CV used in the episode.

The 'reasonably fast car', note spare GT86 in background.


Another good looking episode, looking forward to seeing it now, starts Sunday.
Cheers,
Rob