Top Gear: Middle East Special
8th episode of the 15th series of Top Gear
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Top Gear: Middle East Special" is a 76-minute-long extended episode of Top Gear series 16. The film predates the Syrian Civil War and involves a 1,200-mile (1,900 km) road-trip from Erbil International Airport in Iraqi Kurdistan to Bethlehem, nominally recreating the journey of the Three Wise Men.[1] Their journey takes them across the Middle East via southern Turkey, the cities of Aleppo, Palmyra and Damascus in Syria, then Jerash in Jordan and finally the Mount of Olives.[2] The journey includes visiting an abandoned theme park, and a stop at Ein Gev on the Sea of Galilee in Israel.
Episode 8
- Andy Wilman
- Alexander Renton
- Christopher Hale
| "Top Gear: Middle East Special" | |
|---|---|
| Top Gear episode | |
| |
| Episode no. | Series 15 Episode 8 |
| Directed by | Phil Churchward |
| Presented by | |
| Production codes |
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| Original air date | 26 December 2010 |
| Running time | 76 minutes |
Planning and filming
Planning for the episode began in January 2010,[3] with the concept of the Baby Stig added later as a plot device to introduce a new Stig following the departure of Ben Collins.[4] The Top Gear convoy included support vehicles for camera crews and the production team,[5] plus a medic and a private security team.[6] Filming took place during October 2010, with the convoy negotiating the Sheikh Hussein Bridge border crossing from Jordan to Israel on 19 October 2010.[3][7][5] Subsequent filming took place in Nazareth with the crew departing via Highway 6.[8] The Kurdistan UK Friendship Association, RUS Aviation (suppliers of the Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane), and the Syrian Automobile club are thanked in the credits.[9]
Because it was a BBC production the Top Gear film crew were prevented from crossing the Iran–Iraq border.[10] During filming in Syria, presenter James May suffered a concussion having been knocked over by a tow rope,[1][11] and was collected from hospital by Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond who were wearing burqas as a disguise.[12] The film crew encountered food poisoning, landmines, and border controls.[13] May was greeted by locals using his name in Iraq and his nickname, Captain Slow, in Syria.[14] Whilst crossing Syria the presenters discovered they were extremely popular and well known.[15]
The cars purchased with a budget of £3,500 each have number plates from the country of Georgia.[16] Clarkson is driving a Mazda MX-5, Hammond a Fiat Barchetta Riviera and May a BMW Z3.[16] The team arrives sitting in their vehicles inside an Ilyushin Il-76, which opens the cargo door prior to landing and performs a go-around, before the starting location is revealed as Erbil, Iraq.[16]
Experiments were made on bulletproofing the car doors.[17] During the trip the cars were decorated in a Bedouin-style,[18] with survival equipment, and one car with bull bars and a large hookah.[18] Hammond's car was transformed to give the appearance of a nomadic tent; additionally, Clarkson and May pranked him by fitting his car with a car stereo that played songs by Genesis (a band Hammond doesn't like) non-stop.[17] May's BMW was camouflaged using inspiration from the Afrika Corps,[19] and Clarkson's Mazda received a Technicolour Dreamcoat-style paint scheme.[20] During a NASCAR-style rally race at a Roman circus, the Gladiator soundtrack is played along with music from Ben-Hur.[21] Clarkson narrates the words "Peace on Earth, and Goodwill to all men" from the Annunciation to the shepherds as the team are seen passing the West Bank barrier.[22] The episode ends with the presenters finding a miniature version of The Stig, complete with racing overalls and helmet.[23] The presenters' gifts are a gold-relief medallion, a shampoo bottle called "Frankincense" and a Nintendo DSi XL in lieu of myrrh.[16]
Broadcast
Along with the Top Gear: East Coast Road Trip it was one of two specials produced in 2010.[24] It was broadcast in the United Kingdom on 26 December 2010 and watched by 5.863 million viewers on BBC Two plus 546,000 viewers on BBC HD.[25] The following-day repeat had a 7-day total of 2.988 million viewers on BBC Two, plus 202,000 on BBC HD.[26] By the end of December 2010, it had been viewed 1.26 million times on the BBC iPlayer.[27] It was scheduled for broadcast in Australia on 8 February 2011 on Channel Nine,[28] and watched by 792,000 viewers.[29] The adventure was included in the "Top Gear – The Great Adventures 1–4" DVD box set released in 2016.[30]
After the screening of the episode the three main cars joined the World of Top Gear exhibition in the collection of the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu in England.[19][31][32] The cars were exhibited again at the ExCeL London conference centre for Top Gear Live in November 2011.[33][34] Unpainted HO scale and TT scale models were made available for 3D printing.[35]
Reception
At the time, The Daily Telegraph described it as "one of the best [Top Gear] specials yet."[24] In 2015 the Swiss magazine Watson (de) included the Middle East Special on their top-eighteen best Top Gear moments describing it as the best Christmas Special of all time.[36] In 2021, Clarkson described the Middle East Special as the best of the adventures to watch.[37]
For the Middle East Special the BBC Trust's Editorial Standards Committee reviewed two rejected appeals in June 2011,[38] two in July 2011[39] and one in October 2011,[40] noting in all instances that they were "satisfied that the decision not to proceed with the appeal was correct."[38][39][40]