List of Top Gear episodes

The original host lineup.

Review: Clarkson reviewed the Citroën Berlingo, which he said was an affordable small car with character and great storage space.

Review: He also compared the Pagani Zonda and Lamborghini Murcielago. He loved the Zonda and called it the king of supercars. Clarkson then introduces The Stig, whose sole purpose is to post lap times. The Zonda achieved a 1:23 around the track while the Murcielago had a 1:29.

Review: Hammond reviewed a Mazda 6, Mazda's attempt at a sports sedan. It was surprisingly tight, but still not an amazing sports sedan.

News: Ford GT40 Concept, Fiat Stilo Estate, new Nissan Micra, Smart Roadster, Bentley Continental GT, and Clarkson's opinions on Formula 1.

Challenge: The Stig had to drive fast enough to be undetected by a speed camera. After attempts in a Honda Civic Type R (129 mph) and a Mercedes CL55 AMG (148 mph), he finally did it at 170mph in a TVR Tuscan S.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Harry Enfield who sets a very slow lap of 2:01 in the Suzuki Liana

Challenge: Clarkson looks into biodiesel, and tests the usage of biodiesel with a Volvo 740.

Hammond and the RS 1800

Review: The Stig tests the Ford Focus RS on the track against its main competition, the Subaru Impreza and the Honda Civic Type-R. The Impreza completes the track in 1:39 and the Civic finishes in 1:38.06. Surprisingly the Focus RS beats the competition out in a time of 1:33.8. Clarkson then drives the Focus RS on the empty roads of Wales. Aside from a generally positive review, Clarkson claims that at times the differential makes the car uncontrollable and does as it pleases.

News: Mazda unveiled the RX-8. VW announced the unpronounceable Touareg.

Main Review: Noble M12 GTO Despite the cars atrocious turning radius, wonky brake lights, and windows that don't completely go down Clarkson loves the car for its amazing handling, great power, and most notably its complete lack of under steer. The Stig puts the Noble around a wet Top Gear track in 1:32.9.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Jay Kay, leader singer of the band Jamiroquai, plays a game with Clarkson trying to identify bits of cars. Jay Kay correctly identifies two of the four cars while neither were able to identify the other two. He then completes his lap around the track in 1:48.1.

Review: Hammond gives a look back on his childhood dream car, the 1977 Ford Escort RS1800.

Challenge: Hammond wanted to see how many motorcycles a double-decker bus can jump over.

Main review: Mini Cooper

Review: Clarkson and Hammond discussed the "Best Looking Car of all Time", Hammond backed the Porsche 928 and the Lamborghini Miura SV, whilst Clarkson chose the Citroen DS, and, to the surprise of everyone, the Aston Martin DB7

Dawe's Review: Jason Dawe takes a number of cars to a primary school to get the kids verdict. Their favourite was the Lamborghini Countach

Challenge: Grannies attempt to do a donut in a Honda S2000

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Ross Kemp, 1:54.

Power Lap: The Zonda takes on the Westfield XTR2 in a race, the XTR2 beat the Zonda by .3 of a second. However, Clarkson refused to post the time on the board as the car was deemed "An uncool bed spring with a bike engine".

Main review: To celebrate the release of the new James Bond film a race between the two classic Bond cars, Aston Martin Vanquish v Ferrari 575 (featuring Damon Hill in the 575)

Test: The boys raced mid-range 2.0-litre four-door family saloons around the track in the "Mid Range Olympics", the fastest was the Ford Mondeo.

Dawe's Review: Dawe reviewd the Nissan Skyline.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Steve Coogan, 1:53 (wet).

Main review: Mercedes S-Class. After a short history lesson (which includes such facts as 97% of the world's governments own a S-Class and No African leader would be seen in anything less than a S-Class) and noting "firsts" that now appear on many family and economical cars (like Anti-lock brakes and airbags), Clarkson fails to test drive the car after it refuses to heed his commands. He then goes for a test drive in an Audi A8 and notes that the Audi is more of a sports car than a luxury car.

Ross cutting over Hammerhead.

News:

Dawe's review: Dawe looks at used Peugeot 206s.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Jonathan Ross is penalized for cutting over Hammerhead, and receives a time of 1:57(W)

Review: Hammond goes to Germany to "test drive" a Maybach 62 and gushes over the numerous features of the car.

'Review: Clarkson then test drives a Bentley Arnage and thrashes the car on the Top Gear track. The Stig takes the luxury car to a time of 1:40.

Challenge: Make an 'average' car into a 007/Bond car, for less than 300 pounds. The result makes a parody of many of the associated mods that grace many James Bond cars.

Lap Time: The Stig takes the Honda NSX on a wet track. He posts a time of 1:33.20.

The Stig takes a lap in the Honda NSX.

Clarkson's review: Clarkson drives the Renault Vel Satis through Swindon.

News: Nissan's return to motorsport, Mazda MX-5, 2 Fast 2 Furious/Hyundai Elantra, Renault Vel Satis

Hammond's review: Hammond drives the BMW Z4 in Portugal.

Cool Wall: Debut of the Cool Wall. The wall is split between Seriously Uncool, Uncool, Cool, and Sub-Zero.

Challenge: Dawe is with the "Grannies" while they learn how to handbrake park in a Mini.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Tara Palmer-Tomkinson is reminded of her previous appearance on Top Gear and is grilled on her driving habits. Time of 1:54 is posted.

Insider Trading: Suzuki Liana, Used car plcs, car trade-in financing.

Dawe's review: Dawe looks at used Volkswagen Golfs.

Clarkson's second review: Clarkson drives his personal Mercedez-Benz SL55 AMG around the track very carefully. Hammond notes to Clarkson that SL55 is the 4th gayest car. The car is then stolen by Hammond and given to the Stig for a lap. The Stig posts a time of 1:33.

Hammond's review: Hammond drives a Saab 9-3, following the government guidelines for "commuting in an eco-friendly manner."

News: Daihatsu Copen, BRABUS Mercedez-Benz SL55 AMG, Cars with a 5-star safety rating

Clarkson and Parfitt look for Buses on the M4 motorway.

Dawe's review: Kids and supercars: Ferrari 360, Pagani Zonda, Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R, TVR Tuscan, Lamborghini Countach.

Also shown/reviewed: Peugeot RC, Cool Wall, Ford TH!NK, diesel engines, Toyota Prius, LPG cars

Clarkson's review: Clarkson drives a Lotus Elise badly, and then gets a lesson in how to do it properly. The Stig

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Rick Parfitt recalls his love of Porsches and his Boy racer exploits. He sets a time of 1:52.

Insider Trading: Fiat Stilo, Ford Ka, Isuzu Trooper

Challenge: Fastest Faith, Part 1: A search for the "fastest faith" starts, with the contestants being a Catholic Priest, a Jewish Rabbi, a Buddhism Lama, an Anglican Priest, a Bishop also from the Church of England, and a follower of the Hare Krishna. Each driver drove a highly tuned Subaru Impreza WRX STI. The car was spun by the rabbi and the Hare Krishna, giving them 5th and 6th place respectively. Fourth place went to the Lama, third to the bishop. The Catholic priest was beaten by the Anglican priest for best time.

Gambon clips the last corner.

Main review: Audi RS6, Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG, Maserati 4200GT.

Supermini Comparison:Ford Fiesta vs. Citroën C3 vs. Honda Jazz vs. Nissan Micra vs. MG ZR

Challenge: White-Van Men raced a Ford World Rallly Transit van.

News: New Citroën Berlingo, Astra, Audi TT DSG

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Michael Gambon's driving style at the last corner causes it to be named after him. 1:55 Wet.

Also noted: A Lada Riva is modified by Lotus.

Main review: Renault Espace, Volvo Estate XC90, Subaru Forester 2.0 XT,

Challenge: The Stig raced around the track against an aerobatic plane.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Gordon Ramsay, 1:50.

Challenge: If you stripped a body panels of a car, would it go faster? A stripped off Jaguar cut its time by 7 seconds.

Main review: Off roaders: Toyota Land Cruiser, BMW X5, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Range Rover

Review: Lotus Esprit

Review: TVR T350C

Challenge: Fastest Faith, Part 2: The search for the "fastest faith" continued with a Muslim Imam, a Rastafarian, a Druid, and a Seventh-day Adventist. The Adventist pastor was unable to fit in the car, giving him 4th place. The Rastafarian, who was jokingly warned to "keep off the grass," turned in the top time, beating the druid and the imam, who got 3rd and 2nd respectively. The Rastafarian also beat the Anglican priest from the earlier challenge.

Plus 2002 review and Top Gear awards.

Best of Top Gear: A review of the series.

Main review: Smart Roadster - James May's old Bentley

Challenge:

Hammond used a drag racer with a jet engine to incinerate the car he considered to be the worst of all time, an automatic, mid-eighties Nissan Sunny. At the end of the show he also used the racer to burn a caravan. New presenter - James May - makes his first film about his Bentley.

Main review: Rolls-Royce Phantom

Challenge:

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Chef Jamie Oliver who was set a challenge of cooking salad in the back of his campervan whilst being driven by the Stig (couldn't do it). Wanted to beat Gordon Ramsay in the Suzuki Liana, came exactly the same time, 1:50

Main review: BMW Z8 Alpina

Challenge:

Star in a Reasonably priced car: David Soul off Starsky and Hutch, who was the first American and first guest to break two Suzuki Lianas. He posted a time of 1:54 despite having coasted the last 300 yards due to having broken the car.

Main review: Clarkson briefly looks at a Jaguar R Coupe prototype, May shows the 1953 Le Mans Jaguar C-type and Hammond drives a 1960s Jaguar Mark 2.

Review: The new Jaguar XJ is cunningly tested by Clarkson, looking at how far he can drive it before he gets bored. He managed to get all the way to Duncansby Head before saying "Oh dear, I seem to have run out of country."

Review: Clarkson drives the Jaguar XKR-R, a racing version of the Jaguar XKR, before looking at the Aston Martin DB7 GT.

Main review:

Challenge: Can a Ford pit team change an engine faster than four women can get ready for a night out? They can, a lot faster

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Anne Robinson, 1:57

Main review: Clarkson drives the Subaru Impreza STi against the Mitsubishi Evo 8 in Scotland but, depite having a lot of fun, is unable to give any reason to choose one over the other. The Stig drives both around the track where the Mitsubishi comes out fastest with a lap time of 1:28.9 (faster than the Lamborghini Murcielago). Clarkson also tests the Vauxhall VX220 Turbo. The Stig posts a time around the track 1:31.3. Richard Hammond goes on a track day and has a great time. A track time shoot-out of track-day specific machinery follows (Radical SR3, Ariel Arom 2, Caterham R400, Westfield XTR2, Lotus Elise Sport 2)

Challenge: To set a land-speed record for a caravan

Main review: Clarkson tested the Koenigsegg CC8 which, with a top speed of 242 mph (389 km/h) was at the time the world's fastest production car. Clarkson did a speed run on the test track. The record was 170 mph (274 km/h) set by the Pagani Zonda. This was broken, with the Koenigsegg managing 174 mph (280 km/h). Clarkson later commented how he felt nervous before the run because engineers from Koenigsegg had asked him if they could put tape around the windscreen; he thought that the tape was to keep the windscreen from flying off.

Car Safety: Hammond test drives the new Renault Megane in London and then brings it to the Top Gear test track where they simulate a crash test with a real driver.

Challenge:

Main review:

Challenge: A "race for the universe" between the Cyberman from Doctor Who, the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker), Ming the Merciless from Flash Gordon, Darth Vader from Star Wars, a Klingon from Star Trek and Daleks from Doctor Who.

Star in a Reasonably priced car: Jodie Kidd, 1:48.

Main review: Vandenbrink Carver (a three-wheeled bike with tilting tandem cockpit), Hammond and Clarkson try to fit in it at the same time

Review: Volvo S60R

Review: Vauxhall Signum

Review: GM Hywire

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Patrick Stewart, 1:50

Main review: Bentley Continental GT

Other Reviews: Overfinch Range Rover, VW Phaeton W12 Sedan

Challenge:

Star in a Reasonably priced Car: Alan Davies, 1:54 (mildly damp).

Best of Top Gear: A review of series 1 & 2.

Main review: Ford GT, filmed in Detroit

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Singer Martin Kemp, comparisons between him and Ross Kemp discussed: Both on Eastenders, both moved to ITV, both called Kemp and both set a time of 1:54.0

Challenge: Can you do a lap of the M25 in a diesel Volkswagen Lupo

Skit: The original (black-suited) Stig goes 109mph in a Jaguar XJS on the HMS Invincible, flying off the deck.

Main review: The team visited the Isle of Man to test four BMW sports cars, the M1, M3, M5 and M3 CSL. Volvo Jumping Caravans, BMW Z4 vs. Porsche Boxster vs. Honda S2000

Skit: New "white Stig" is introduced

Challenge:

Main review: Bentley Continental GT

Other reviews: Clarkson reviews the Saab 9-5 and May reviews the Subaru Legacy

Challenge: The Stig drives a Saab 9-5 vs a Harrier Jump Jet

Using a swimming pool, Hammond showed the dangers of being in a car that is sinking in water; and demonstrated that you should open the car doors as soon as it strikes the water, rather than waiting for the car to fill with water and the pressure to equalize.

Main review: Hammond tests several new Mini Cooper S. The powerful Works Cooper S, the Hartge Cooper S, Digi-tec Cooper S and the sporty BBR Cooper S.

Documentary and Review: Due to the 40th anniversarry of car company Lamborghini, Hammond and May test some classic cars. Hammond tests the 1967 Miura, commenting on its controversial styling and engine positioning; and the improved 1971 SV version. May tests his childhood dream car the 1980s Countach, remarking on its unforseen awkwardness and unpracticallity.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Comedian Rich Hall set a time of 1:54.0

Review: Clarkson tests the new Lamboghini Gallardo. Stig sets a lap time of 1:25.8.

Main review: Clarkson tests the 1.3 litre Wankel Mazda RX8 228 bhp coupe on the track, saying that despite the mixed styling it performs well and for £22,000 is good value for money. The stig sets a lap time of 1:31.8, being the same as the Nissan 350Z coupe and the BMW M3, to which Clarkson remarks that the Mazda be the better car performance and handling-wise.

Documentary/Review: Hammond looks at several cars deemed to be good investments as future 'classic' cars. These include the Volkswagen Corrado VR6 and the Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Cosworth.

Challenge: The team set the challenge of finding the best wig for a fast drive in an open top convertible.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Sony BMG executive Pop Idol/X Factor judge Simon Cowell joins the leaderboard with a time of 1:47.1.

Review: May reviews the new Fiat Panda citycar, car of the year.

Challenge: How tough is a HiLux Toyota Pickup truck? Clarkson performs a number of tests on the robust vehicle including drowing, rammed into buildings and a tree, and set fire to. The car still works afterwards.

Main review: Holden Monaro

Review: Citroen C2

Challenge: James May places a Toyota Hilux on a tower block being demolished, it survives.

Main review: MG XPower SV

Challenge:

Review: Clarkson reviews the new Porsche Cayenne Turbo and tests the off-road abilities in Bovington, Dorset. It is a brilliant car, only to have faults with the practicality, price, and looks.

Review: Hammond reviews the Mclaren Mercedes SLR in South Africa. Critcisms include plastics in the interior, too firm a ride, and the brakes.

Main review: Hammond compares a Nissan Micra to a Boeing 737 (BBJ-2)

Other reviews: '60s Mercedes SL280, Audi TT v6, Aston Martin Lagonda

Challenge: 'Top Gear Generation Game' 5 of Richard Hammond's more modern cars versus 5 of Clarkson's older cars, the old cars win 3-2

Star in a Reasonably Priced car: Comedian Johnny Vegas who doesn't have a driving license, comes in 1:58.6, beating Harry Enfield and Richard Whitely who both have driving licenses

Main review: Honda NSX, Which the team 'auction off parts off the set to pay for', including a Calendar of Milton Keynes Roundabouts and an e-mail asking for Hammonds signed photo signed "love Stuart".

Challenge:

Best of Top Gear: A review of the series.

Review: Jaguar XK RR vs Aston Martin DB7 GT

Challenge: Capt Slow has the Hilux placed on a tower block.

Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car: Martin Kemp

Review: May reviews the new BMW 5 Series

Review: Hammond reviews the Porsche 911 GT3, and then Stiggy takes it around the track

'Skit: The Death of the Stig

Review: May reviews Aston Martin Vantage

Review: Clarkson is jetted off to Detroit, and begins his doomed love-affair with the new Ford GT

Challenge: The Hilux survives the demolition of a tower block, and drives, triumphant, into the studio

Main review: Lotus Exige

Challenge: In a race to Monte Carlo Hammond and May take the Eurostar and TGV, while Clarkson drove the Aston Martin DB9. Clarkson wins.

Challenge: Clarkson undertook a challenge to see if he could evade being caught in missile lock from an WAH-64D Apache attack helicopter while driving a Lotus Exige. The helicopter failed to lock in on the Exige when remaining within the confines of the test track. However, when allowed to move further away, the helicopter acquired lock within seconds.

A hypnotized Hammond thinks his Porsche 911 has just been rammed by Clarkson.

Main review: The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is taken round the track. Ends up with the fastest time at 1:20.9 and also the fastest automatic ever.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Paul McKenna hypontises Hammond.

Review Jeremy Clarkson reviews the Alfa Romeo 166 V6 Selespeed, which he unashamedly loves and praises, and then takes it to a near-abandoned village in West Yorkshire coal mining country.

Review Richard Hammond reviews the Cadillac Escalade.

Challenge: Richard Hammond finds out if a nun can drive a monster truck.

Clarkson crash tests his £1 Volvo.

Main review: Cars for track days, Porsche 911 GT3 RS versus Ferrari Challenge Stradale. Both cars are heavily stripped down with minimal amenities. Clarkson remarks that the Porsche is very plain, while the Ferrari is very complex, and finds the Ferrari is the more astonishing track car. Both cars scored a Power Lap time of 1:22.3 in the hands of the Stig.

Review: Richard Hammond reviews a 1968 Dodge Charger 440 R/T and was tempted to buy one, but found out it won't fit in his garage. Jermey promptly tells Hammond that the Charger is rubbish and the Dodge Challenger is the right Dodge muscle car to buy.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Jordan, 1:52

Challenge: The presenters are asked to buy road-legal cars for less than £100. Clarkson buys a Volvo 760 (2.8 V6 GLE), May an Audi 80 1.8E and Hammond a Rover 416GTi.

Main challenge: Clarkson tries to find out if he can drive a diesel Audi A8 from London to Edinburgh and back again on one tank of fuel (The round-trip distance between the two cities is 800 miles). So he tries to drive the car economically, and manages to complete the task even though the fuel tank is visibly empty for the last 30-40 miles.

Skit: Hammond and May attempt to play darts by firing cars from the edge of a gorge towards a large horizontal target. After one attempt each, May decides to place a caravan over the bulls-eye. Hammond destroys the caravan on his final attempt and wins the match.

Main review: The Porsche Carrera GT is given a run round the track against the automatic gearbox time of 1:20.9 from the McLaren 2 weeks ago, and beats the SLR by 0.9 seconds, with a time of 1:19.8. Clarkson is taken by surprise by the car's qualities while comparing it to other German fast cars.

Challenge: Can a Ford Sport Ka with satellite navigation beat the racing pigeon? May forgot to use the postcode and wasted 25min just to get to the right place. The pigeon won with 30mins to spare, even without May's mistake.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan who came second at 1:47.3, but proved he can play a frame of snooker (with four reds instead of 15 and the rest as normal) faster than the Stig can drive his car around the track.

Hammond's Golf being hit by lightning.

Main review: Clarkson, May and Hammond tested the BMW 645i, Jaguar XK-R and Porsche 911 on Pendine Sands in the rain. Clarkson successfully made an allusion to the nature of each car, and also had each presenter matched to their cars "You've (May) got the Business jet (the 645i), I've got the Tornado (The Jag) - where's Hammond with the Messerschmitt (the 911)."

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen, who manage to break the car, 1:53.4 which Clarkson moves up to 1:53.2 because there were two people in the car.

Challenge: Hammond demonstrated that it was safe to sit in a car struck by lightning by sitting in Volkswagen Golf in a huge lightning generator.

Clarkson reviews the most popular car in Japan, the Nissan Cube, and generally makes fun of its styling, poor performance and handling. Quote: "They really have thought of everything. For instance when you put the key in the ignition (does so) it beeps to tell you that you've just done that!"

May drives a modernized Jaguar XJS that actually works, unlike the original ones.

Hammond looks at the Cadillac CTS, which is not available in Britain. He tests it on some windy roads, referring to "corners: an American car's natural enemy." The results are favorable but Clarkson disagrees, saying, "Cadillacs are for pimps and pensioners."

Main review: Clarkson reviews the Renault Clio 182. He likes it even though he considers it unrefined, cheap and unsafe. They conclude that it is like a puppy dog - just plain fun despite its poor manners.

Challenge: Hammond investigates: "Could you run your car on poo?" The answer is yes, but the savings are not worth it.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Radio presenter Terry Wogan, 2:04.

Main review: Clarkson drives the Mercedes CL 65 AMG.

Challenge: Hammond and May pose as minicab drivers to test the Renault Scenic and the Ford C-Max.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Lionel Richie, who breaks the wheel off of the Suzuki Liana

Review:Spyker C8

Main review: Clarkson takes a look at the Toyota Prius, and then promptly ignores it. May tests the Maserati Quattroporte, trying to figure out if the car wants to be a luxury saloon or a performance car.

Obituary: Hammond bids a fond farwell to the Rover V8 engine. Hammond then sends off the engine by entering a Touring car race in an unmodified Rover SD1.

An issue with height.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Martin Clunes took the Liana around the track, with a time of 1:50.0.

Challenge: To see if Diesel technology has caught up to petrol technology, Clarkson and Hammond race on the track, with Clarkson in a Skoda Fabia, while Hammond raced the Mini Cooper.

Skit: Hammond makes fun of motorists that block yellow boxes.

Review and Challenge: Clarkson reviews his dream car, the Ford GT. He makes numerous comparisons with the Ford GT40, and graphically illustrates that he barely fits into the GT, while part of his head lies above the door of the GT40. Hammond and May ridicule the GT, on its fuel economy and lack of ease of getting into the car parked in a parking stall. The Stig drives it on the track, clocking a lap time of 1:21.9.

Skit: In a possible response to the US television show Mythbusters failed attempt to replicate their Jet Taxi myth a few months back, Hammond takes Virgin Boeing 747 G-VAST and demonstrates the power unleashed by two of its four engines at takeoff thrust.

Main review: Clarkson drives the new Jaguar X-type estate. Hammond and May go to the Isle of Lewis and Harris, where fewer convertibles are bought per capita than anywhere else in the UK. They go there to test convertibles, of course.

Challenge: Can you parachute into a moving car?

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Sir Ranulph Fiennes, 1:51.

Review: May tries to get a sofa in a Volvo V50.

Review: Hammond tests the new Corvette.

Review: Clarkson finds out how good the BMW X3 is.

Skit: Olympic Games for cars: Long Jump

Challenge:Is the new Peugeot 407 any good as a pace car?

Review: Clarkson reviews the Porsche 911 Carrera S. He declares that it is the laziest design job ever. However, he also says that this is a car for keen drivers; a 911 from the old school. The Stig sets a power lap time 1:28.9, on an extremely wet track.

Restoration Rip-Off: May introduces James Dean's Lotus Ten, one of only seven made.

News: Top Gear is up for a National Television Award. They show the new Ferrari F430. Clarkson has to eat his hair because of a bet he made that the new Vauxhall Astra would not look like the concept. Chef Antony Worrall Thompson begins fixing a hair omelette for Clarkson.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Bill Bailey talks about owning a 2CV, and his fondness for wrecking hire cars. He sets a time of 1:53.4 in the Liana, on a wet track.

Challenge: An old ice cream van attempts to jump over four bouncy castles. The van manages to clear none of the castles.

Review: May reviews the Vauxhall Monaro, Clarkson reviews the Chrysler 300C, and Hammond reviews the Jaguar S-Type R. They take the cars to Pendine Sands, and driving each of the cars around for a bit on the beach, they come to the conclusion that the Monaro is the best of the three. Clarkson then eats a bite of his hair omelette.

Review: Hammond looks at the Ford Focus, comparing it to the Vauxhall Astra, and the VW Golf. He decides that the Focus is the best of the three, apart from the styling.

News: May goes on a rant about Bill Bryson. Ferrari gives the Pope an F1 Car. They discuss the new BMW 3 Series.

Restoration Rip-Off: May introduces the Adams Probe 16 from A Clockwork Orange, one of only three made.

Review: Clarkson reviews the Ferrari Enzo. He muses that supercars today may be approaching engineering perfection, but the cars from fifteen years ago are more fun to drive. The Stig sets a lap time of 1:19.0.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Geri Halliwell talks about all the cars she has wrecked. She goes around the track, in the wet, in 1:55.4.

Challenge: A world champion all-terrain skateboarder is pitted against a Group N Mitsubishi rally car. The car loses soundly. They then switch out the rally car with a Bowler Wildcat, and the Wildcat wins by a considerable margin.

Cool Wall: The Vauxhall Monaro is declared to be cool. The Porsche 911 is uncool. The Mercedes SLK, and the Ferrari Enzo are very uncool.

Review: Clarkson compares two trios of supercars: three older supercars, the Jaguar XJ220, the McLaren F1 and the Ferrari F40, and three newer supercars, the Pagani Zonda, the Porsche Carrera GT and the Ferrari Enzo, coming to the conclusion that the simplicity of some of the older cars makes them more fun, even if they are slower around a track. Clarkson is very critical of the attitude of current supercar makers, claiming that they "held back" with cars like the Porsche Carrera GT, but is also critical of the McLaren F1, saying that driving it resembled trying to recapture control of a rogue nuclear missile.

Main review: The new Viper writes its own name.

Challenge: Clarkson tries to drive a Land Rover Discovery up a mountain in Scotland. The summit he finally reaches is that of Cnoc an Fhreiceadain (Watch Hill), above Coldbackie, and not Ben Tongue as widely reported at the time.

Various: Hammond finds the world's maddest car, in Switzerland. It's the Rinspeed Splash, which becomes a hydrofoil boat.

Restoration Rip-Off: Keith Moon's 1938 Chrysler Wimbledon

Main review: Pagani Zonda S Roadster, which Clarkson says Hammond fell in love with and that girls who came there showing their bare midriffs there were wasting their time

Challenge: Hammond and May spend 24 hours in a Smart ForFour to see if the brochure claim 'designed like a lounge' makes the experience tolerable. They find it handles well, that it turns heads well enough to get people to buy them food, Hammond goes for a wee in it and they sleep in Britain's most haunted village, Pluckley

Skit: Hammond and May attempt to play conkers with 6 caravans, appearing to take great skill in their choice of caravans for the game. Hammond ends up as the winner of the game.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Jimmy Carr, who comes faster than anyone else at 1:46.9

Review: Aston Martin Vanquish S, which Clarkson tests in a race against Steve Coogan in a Ferarri F575

Main review: Morgan Aero 8 GTN. Lap time: 1:25.9

News: Hammond finally gets a Dodge Charger, more precisely, a 1969 model.

Restoration Rip-Off: The Fender Stratocaster guitar and the Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing both celebrate their 50th birthdays this year, so as a result, instead of talking about a restored car, May talks about the reasons why the Gullwing is the first supercar, with songs performed with the Stratocaster playing in the background.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Actor Christian Slater takes the Liana around with a lap time of 1:51.4.

Down to Earth Board: The presenters show the excellent charcteristics of the Subaru Legacy

Challenge: Hammond starts a people carrier race series, with the inaugural race featuring two Renault Espaces, a Toyota Previa, a Toyota Spacecruiser, a Mitsubishi Space Wagon, and a Nissan Serena. The Espaces win the race.

Challenge: After much practice, Clarkson took a diesel Jaguar S-Type around the Nürburgring in just under ten minutes. His instructor, Sabine Schmitz, exclaimed "I could do that in a van". She then took the Jaguar out and recorded a lap time almost a minute quicker on her first try.

Main review: Volkswagen Golf V GTI. Clarkson compares it to the previous versions and especially to the Mark I GTI, claiming that the Mark V is a return to "the true spirit of the GTI" (this leads to the naming of this as the "2004 TG Car of the Year").

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Cliff Richard, 1:50

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car 2: Army veteran and blind land speed record holder Billy Baxter. Clarkson guided him around the track and he came in at 2:02, faster than Terry Wogan and Richard Whitely who both have sight. His name on the board is written as "Blind Man".

Challenge: How much Porsche can you get for £1500? The presenters each have to buy a Porsche for less than £1500 and put it through a series of tests. Hammond buys a van-engined 924, May buys a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder 944, and Clarkson buys a broken-down 928. Clarkson wins in the end by selling his car as spare parts and as "furniture", although the better car, it seems, was May's 944.

Main review: The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8 MR FQ400 takes on the Lamborghini Murcielago. The Evo was driven by Clarkson whilst the Lambo was driven by James Kay, the British touring car champion. It was shown that Lambo could not shake off the Evo after several laps. It came down to the final lap where the Lambo spun out. Afterwards, the Stig posted a time of 1.24.8 for the Evo.

Challenge: The long age answer of 'which boxster is the best' is answered. The Porsche Boxster or the Mercedes Benz SLK 350? In the end, the Boxster won the bragging rights.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Roger Daltrey, lead singer of The Who, 1:49.7.

Review: Clarkson reviews the Toyota Prius admiring the quietness but not the overall fuel efficiency when compared to diesel cars.

Review: Hammond reviews the Ford Mustang.

Lancer Evolution versus Bobsled.

Challenge: Are today's showroom cars faster than race cars from "not that long ago"? Three pairs made up of one classic racer and one showroom car race against the clock in the Stig's hands:

• Ford Focus RS against a 1970's Ford Escort rally car; the RS takes the win with ease.
• Noble M400 against the 4-times Le Mans winning car, the Ford GT40; a photo finish sees the GT40 win by half a second.
• Mitsubishi Evo 8 FQ against the original Audi Quattro rally car; the Evo wins and makes it 2-1 for the showroom cars.

Main review: Can a Renault F1 car get around the track in under a minute? The Stig was given the car and it went around in exactly 59 seconds.

Challenge: Can a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Rally car beat a bobsled? May was in the car, driven by Henning Solberg, with Hammond in the bobsled. The bobsled won with 59.68 seconds whilst the Evo came in under 1.02.24.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Comedian Eddie Izzard, who did it in 1:52 and suggested swearing Sat-Nav.

Challenge: Hammond and May, using a plane, raced Clarkson who drove a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti from London to Verbier in Switzerland. Clarkson won again but this time only by minutes, overtaking the others on the road of their destination.

Main review: Ariel Atom, from a company in Somerset. The Stig takes it around the track in 1:19.5

Review: Hammond tests the Mercedes G55 AMG.

Review: May tests the new BMW 1-series, and decides that its much too expensive.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Trinny (1:54 in the wet) and Susannah (in 1:55.6 in the wet)

Comparison: May and Clarkson go out to review a collection of cars from the Pacific Rim: Cars from Malaysia and Korea. Among these are the Kia Rio and the Hyundai Accent, in a 3-cylinder diesel version. They conclude that none of them are worth buying, due to being "built like white goods." This is followed by a demonstration of a custom vehicle constructed from used home appliances.

Best of Top Gear: A review of recent series.

Review: The Porsche Carrera GT, from Series 4, Episode 4

Challenge: Hammond and May go minicabbing.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Sir Ranulph Fiennes, from Series 4, Episode 9

Challenge: Can you parachute into a moving car, from Series 4, Episode 9

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Joanna Lumley, from Series 5, Episode 3

Review: May reviews the Vauxhall Monaro, Clarkson reviews the Chrysler 300C, and Hammond reviews the Jaguar S-Type R. They take the cars to Pendine Sands, and after driving each of the cars on the beach, they come to the conclusion that the Monaro is the best of the three. from Series 5, Episode 1

A Comic Relief special, presented by Hammond and May, with competitors Clarkson, Jodie Kidd, Patrick Kielty, Jimmy "Carrnage" and Darren Jordon.

Served as the pilot upon which the short-lived BBC Three series was based.

Main review: Clarkson tests the Mercedes CLS55 AMG

Challenge: Clarkson attempted to see whether a Challenger 2 tank could lock its main cannon onto a Range Rover Sport.

Hammond and May played a football match using the new Toyota Aygo.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: James Nesbitt

Main review: Clarkson tested the £412,000 Maserati MC12.

Challenge: The team was asked to buy a 2-door coupé that wasn't a Porsche for under £1,500, mirroring a competition they had in series five where they each had to spend £1,500 to buy a Porsche. They were then set a series of challenges to see who had got the best deal, scoring points for each challenge. The challenges included trying to get to 140 mph (225 km/h), having to drive at 30 mph (48 km/h) over Belgian cobbles with a bucket of water on their lap, and an endurance race set on a farm. The winner turned out to be May, with a Jaguar XJS. Hammond bought a BMW 635CSi, while Clarkson went for a turbocharged Mitsubishi Starion. May, however, offered to give the title to Clarkson if he admitted "I'm a clot and I ruined my car", as he had installed a highly uprated turbocharger without any change to the cooling system, during the endurance race; The result was the engine coolant boiled repeatedly, destroying hoses and putting Clarkson out of the running.

Main review: Aston Martin DB9 Volante

Challenge: None

Clarkson's Ford GT finally arrives and is shown in the studio alongside Hammond's dream car, a half-timbered Morgan. They talk about the sacrifices needed to make in order to enjoy owning "the car of your dreams".

Review: May drives the Maserati Bora and Clarkson reviews the Wiesmann MF3 and the TVR Tuscan. They also present the new Batmobile in the studio.

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Christopher Eccleston, who opts for an automatic (as he is only qualified to drive an automatic car), 1:52.4

News: Clarkson's Ford GT and all the problems it has caused him during the week, starting from the engine not working when he wanted to set off home in it, continuing with the alarm starting off with no reason and the tracker device sending SOS calls while Clarkson was in the car. Clarkson concludes by threatening the people at Ford if they don't mend his car, after mocking the courtesy car they gave him.

Main review: The guys hand over duties to their mothers to review a range of new small cars including the Renault Modus, Honda Jazz and Peugeot 1007. They're tested by seeing how much space there is, how fast they are (to which Hammond guesses May's mother is The Stig) and how easy they are to get into. Their mothers' decision is the Honda is the best, while the presenters favour the Renault.

Review: Clarkson tests the Cadillac CTS-V and mocks the claim that it handled like a European car (after development had been done, surprisingly for an American car, at the Nürburgring), before racing it against an Audi S4 driven by the Stig. Surprisingly, the Cadillac wins.

Review: Hammond tests the new BMW 3 Series and describes it as "a great piece of machinery"; he also talks about the 3-Series outselling the Ford Mondeo, this diminishing the "snob value" of the badge.

Challenge: Can a 3-ton stretched limo jump over a wedding party? The party was consisted of an outdoor wedding setting, a few caravans and the guests' cars. The limo clears the wedding setting, but smashes into the caravans.

Damon Hill appears as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car.

Main review: Clarkson returns to the 60's to define cool with the Aston Martin DB5 and Jaguar E-type (a modernized version). The Stig takes both of them around the track; the DB5 claims the slowest time ever at 1:46, while the modernized E-type sets the same time as a V6-engined Audi TT.

Challenge: Snipers of the Irish Guards try to shoot Clarkson, as he drives the new Mercedes SLK55 AMG and Porsche Boxster S around a deserted village.

Greatest Driving Song of All Time: For the remainder of the series, May will be presenting five songs the viewers nominated to find out what song is the "Greatest Driving Song of All Time." This week, it is Golden Earring's "Radar Love".

Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car: 1996 F1 World Champion Damon Hill tries to disprove the claims that he is the Stig, then talks to Clarkson about the 2005 United States Grand Prix 6-car fiasco; they discuss the bad tastes in cars of people that "have lived at 300mph" (Hill's car at the moment was an Audi A3). Hill's time of 1:46.3 starts the F1 drivers' board.

Main review: Aston Martin's DBR9 is given a race around the track after a long list of endurance tracks.

Challenge: A race from Heathrow Airport to Oslo with Clarkson driving the Mercedes SLR, while Hammond and May took a flight to Newcastle, and then a ferry to Kristiansand. Initially, it looked hopeful for them as they planned to complete the trip by speedboat; however, in heavy seas, they broke down in two speedboats and had to complete the journey by bus. They eventually arrived more than five hours after Clarkson.

Greatest Driving Song of All Time: Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild"

Main review: TVR Sagaris

Challenge: Hammond goes to the Nürburgring to see if Sabine Schmitz can do a lap of the infamous track in a Transit van in under 10 minutes.

Attacking the Nürburgring in a van.

Challenge: Clarkson races a Fiat Panda against a marathon runner around the London Marathon circuit during the morning rush-hour.

Greatest Driving Song of All Time: Deep Purple's "Highway Star"

Main review: Ferrari F430

Challenge: Clarkson' Hammond and May take some convertibles to Iceland. Specifically the Crossfire, Nissan 350z and the Audi TT.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Tim Rice.

Greatest Driving Song of All Time: Meat Loaf's "Bat out of Hell". In addition, this song has been ridiculed by the presenters.

Main review:E60 BMW M5

Review: Clarkson drives three hot hatchbacks, the VW Golf GTI, RenaultSport Mégane, and the Vauxhall Astra VXR. Clarkson thinks the Astra is too powerful for a front-wheel drive car, which cannot transfer its excessive power efficiently, resulting in large amounts of uncontrollable torque-steer. He likes the Mégane, but would still buy a Golf instead.

Challenge: Hammond and May play a game called "Road Test Russian Roulette", which involved them having to test cars while driving the cars' owners (which are supposed to be drunk) back to their homes. They try to avoid telling people that some parts of the car are rubbish, instead talking about spices and that part of the car. Clarkson tells them that they've cocked it up because of this approach.

Challenge: A new world record was set for the number of complete sideways rolls in a car. A stuntman managed to make a Ford Sierra estate complete 6 rolls - and survived.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Chris Evans, 1:47.6

Greatest Driving Song of All Time: Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now"

Main review: Clarkson tests the BMW 5 Series diesel version. It's compared to the petrol version, which are few and far between. The Stig takes it to a 1:31.8 time.

News: Clarkson reveals that radar guns are now being pressed into service to catch speeders on rivers.

Challenge: Hammond goes back to Iceland to race a modified off-road vehicle against a Snowmobile over Lake Kleifarvatn.

Greatest Driving Song of All Time: A retrospect of the five finalists.

Mark Webber is ridiculed as being The Stig.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Big Brother host Davina McCall tries to invite Clarkson onto Big Brother and admits she owns an eco-unfriendly Range Rover, she also tells about her shoes and how the Stig said they were slowing her down and made her do a lap barefoot. She gets a 1:57.1, slower than the completely lost Jonathan Ross in wet conditions.

Review: May takes the Bentley Continental Flying Spur to Dubai, as he can think of no other place to respectfully test the car. May defies his Captain Slow nickname by bringing the Bentley to 180 MPH on roads specially closed off for him.

Star in a reasonably priced car, take two: Mark Webber complains that the wet conditions would hurt him, despite Clarksons reassurances that he could've gotten 4 seconds faster in dry. His time of 1:47.1 is disputed after Clarkson suggests that he could have gotten a 1:43 in dry conditions. Afterwards, Clarkson gives Webber a shirt proclaiming I AM THE STIG.

Review: The Trio reviews several off-road toys, including a Quad Bike, the 8-wheeled Argo Cat, a Hovercraft, and others in a bid to find out, which one of them is fun?

Main review: Hammond tested the Vauxhall Monaro VX-R and was taught how to drift in the same car by D1 Grand Prix driver Yasuyuki Kazama, despite Kazama not speaking English (he had to teach using hand signals). Kazama then took the VX-R and showed Hammond how to drift properly.

News: It is revealed that Vauxhall has discontinued the distribution of the Monaro VX-R, making the former segment irrelevant.

Challenge: James May tries to re-create the Top Gear theme tune using car engine noises. Ranging from the supercar Ferrari Enzo to a classic Chevrolet Corvette to modern cars like the Suzuki Swift and the Mazda RX-8 and even a construction dumper, May's result is childed by Clarkson, who compares it to "a fat shop assistant farting."

Star in a Reasonably Priced Car: Timothy Spall talks about his movie roles with Tom Cruise, and manages to take the Liana to a respectable 1:51.1 time.

Greatest Driving Song of All Time:

• Rankings:
  1. (WINNER) Queen - "Don't Stop Me Now"
  2. Golden Earring - "Radar Love"
  3. Meat Loaf - "Bat out of Hell"
  4. Steppenwolf - "Born to Be Wild"
  5. Deep Purple - "Highway Star"

Review: Clarkson reviews the Ford Lightning, and mentions the uselessness of a truck in England. From claiming it's made from old shovels and the interior is rubbish to getting something stolen from the bed of the truck, Clarkson closes his argument by mentioning how these trucks often appear to crash in police chase videos.

Cool Wall: Clarkson and Hammond could not be bothered to put up the BMW 3-Series on the cool wall.

Review: Hammond participated in the Pamplona Bull Run in Spain, where he was shoved into the path of a bull by a participant, before a segment in which he road tested the Lamborghini Murcielago Roadster.

Main review: Hammond addresses the (fictitious) complaints of viewers that want a mid-level supercar in the £235,000 bracket. The answer: the Ascari KZ1, a British supercar (although designed by a Dutchman with an engine from Germany). The Stig then takes the car to a 1:20.7, below the Porsche Carrera GT.

The Stig arrives on the Isle of Man.

News: The three look at the Mini Cooper Estate Concept from the Tokyo Auto Salon. Clarkson mocks BMW's attempt to make a "quintessentially British" car by making references to Nazi Germany.

Challenge: Hammond, May, and Clarkson went head to head to compare the new Aston Martin V8 Vantage, the BMW M6, and Porsche 911 on the Isle of Man.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Trevor Eve, 1:48.0.

Poll: How reliable is your car? According to the poll, 10 of the bottom 13 cars were of French origin. The top 3 were the Lexus RX (3rd), the Lexus IS (2nd), and the Honda S2000 (1st place).

Main review: Clarkson reviews the Porsche Cayman, which is cut short by the director's expression of disgust at Clarkson complaining about mostly everything about the car (which he bought as an investment). The Stig posts a 1:26.7 for the Cayman.

News: Hammond shows one viewer's attempt to get directions from Nottingham to Bideford, while avoiding the M5 motorway via the RAC plc website. The route took her into the Atlantic Ocean, and crosses Ireland twice.

Directors disgust of Clarkson.

Documentary and Review: Hammond explains the history of British Racing Green, with a run in a Bentley Blower, and reviews a recreation of a Vanwall F1 car.

Star in a reasonably priced car: A time of 1:47.8 was made by Ian Wright.

Challenge: Hammond and May play with life-size radio control cars made from real cars. One would ride in the car while the other attempted to navigate a course, and keep a caravan from being crushed by a wrecking ball. The two then raced against the British Under-15 Radio Control Champion (to their surprise, a girl) on a new course. The course ends with them trying to jump another caravan.

Challenge: Clarkson, in an Audi RS4, competed against a mountain climber to see who could make it to the top of a gorge in France. After he loses the hillclimb challenge he challenges the climber to descend faster than he does, whereupon the climber base-jumps to the bottom.

Main review: Clarkson reviews the Ford Focus ST (jokingly referred to as the ASBO), bringing a modern touch to British motoring. The Stig takes the car to a 1:34.9 time, on a slippery and foggy track.

News: Top Gear announces that they won an International Emmy for the Non-Scripted Entertainment category. Clarkson explains that he was unable to go to New York to receive the award since he was too busy writing the script for that episode.

Pagani Zonda versus low slope.

Star in a reasonably priced car: British transport minister Stephen Ladyman injures the Liana when he loses control of the car and goes backward into a tyre wall. Despite this setback, Ladyman posts a time of 1:48.8. Ladyman reveals that he is a motorhead despite his staunch stance on speed cameras.

The Cool Wall: Clarkson and Hammond argue about the positioning of the cars presented for the Cool Wall for the whole segment, starting with the positioning of the Aston Martin V8 in the fridge, and the Vauxhall Astra VXR and Mercedes SLK55 AMG in the "Cool" region (Hammond moves the Mercedes picture in the "Uncool" section). In the end Clarkson and Hammond literally fight over the placement of the BMW M6, the fight going into the crowd. Hammond eats the card, which May cites later, Hamsters eat cardboard.

Road Trip: All three presenters created a traffic jam in Paris attempting to leave a car park in a Pagani Zonda, a Ford GT, and a Ferrari F430; the problem was that, owing to the angle of the slope onto the road combined with the low bodies of the cars, the fronts were scraping the ground. May defied his "Captain Slow" nickname and drove the Ferrari F430 faster than Hammond in the Pagani Zonda and Clarkson in the Ford GT on a twisting mountain road, all while driving across France in the three aforementioned supercars to reach the Millau Viaduct.

Two fast times highlight this episode of Top Gear.

Main review: Hammond reviews the insanely revised Pagani Zonda F, with a Carbon Fibre Body, Magnesium Wheels, Carbon Ceramic Brakes, and an improved structure. The improvements to the car help it garner the fastest power lap time of 1:18.4 by The Stig.

News: The presenters mourn the death of World Rally champion Richard Burns, who died two weeks before.

The Stig drives the Zonda F.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Ellen MacArthur pulls the fastest lap on the power board with a lap of 1:46.7

Challenge: James May drives in a competition to race the new Renault Clio through Lisbon, Portugal against a downhill urban biker.

Challenge: The group is told to buy a used Italian supercar for £10,000 and drive from Bristol to a strip club in Slough, with challenges along the way, including a lap around Castle Combe raceway, trying to beat the time the Stig took in a Vauxhall Astra diesel with a time of 1:35, the measurement of lost horsepower from their cars, an insurance estimate, a tune-up involving an oil change and repalcing the spark plugs, and trying to park in a tight space in Marlborough. Clarkson buys a misbadged 80bhp Maserati Merak, thinking it is an SS model until the horsepower test, May buys a broken-down 117bhp Lamborghini Urraco, and Hammond buys a 194bhp Ferrari 308GT4 with rust problems. In the end, none of the supercars reach Slough, as the Merak's engine blew up, and the electrical systems of the 308GT4 and the Urraco fail (the electrical system being the reason the Urraco was broken down in the first place), in addition, the Urraco caused a traffic jam outside Slough.

Clarkson in the Bugatti Veyron.

Main review: Hammond reviews the Marcos TSO GT2. Hammond likens it to a TVR, which broke down several times. The Stig manages to take it to a time of 1:28.2. During the review, Clarkson discovers a tooth-whitening kit in the Marcos, to which Hammond's reply was: "IT'S A PLANT!!!"

News: The group reviews stupid automotive accessories.

Star in a reasonably priced car: F1 and IndyCar champion Nigel Mansell takes the lead on the F1 lap board with a 1:44.6. Mansell's time proves a theory from The Stig that the Liana could garner a 1:44 lap time.

Challenge: The Stig compared the drivetrains of RR vs. 4WD on the Porsche 911 on an indoor exhibition rally track of the World Rally Championship at Millennium Stadium to settle a debate by Porsche fans.

Challenge: Hammond and May once again attempted to beat Clarkson in a race across Europe using transport other than a car. This time, as May had almost earned himself a fully-fledged pilot's licence, their chosen mode of transport was a Cessna 182 (light aircraft), hired from West London Aero Club. They were forced to make an early landing and travel the remainder of the journey by Eurostar as May was not licensed to fly after nightfall. Once again, Clarkson won by a whisker, aided by his 1001 bhp (746 kW) Bugatti Veyron supercar, reaching the top of the Natwest Tower minutes (or rather even seconds; at a certain point all three were on the same floor of the building) before the other two.

Main review: Volkswagen Golf R32 and the BMW 130i. The R32 trounced the 130i with a lap time of 1:30.4 over the 130i's 1:31.9. Clarkson also panned the BMW for its price and lack of practicality.

Challenge: Hammond and May argue about the state of driving, which sparked a time attack at Prescott Hill Climb Course with a Austin-Healey Sprite versus a modified Peugeot 306. The Stig takes the two around, with the Sprite, on a serious diet, defeating the 306 by a second.

Review and Challenge: Hammond tests the Mazda MX-5, which involved racing the car against a dog. The dog won.

Clarkson at Laguna Seca.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Little Britain star David Walliams and comedian Jimmy Carr appear, with Walliams' lap time of 1:50.7 slower than Carr's

2005 Top Gear Awards:

• Biggest Surprise - Audi RS4
• Ugliest Car - BMW 3 Series
• Best Car - Bugatti Veyron
• Best Engine Noise - Aston Martin V8 Vantage
• Best German - Sabine Schmitz
• The most ill-advised piece of facial hair in motorsport - Fernando Alonso
• Gas Guzzler - Ford GT
• Coolest Car - Aston Martin V8 Vantage (according to Clarkson), Porsche 911 (according to Hammond and the script)
• The Golden Cock - James May

Challenge: In the final segment, Clarkson travelled to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California to compare racing a lap in real life versus the video game Gran Turismo 4. Clarkson's time of 1:41.148 for the video game was substantially faster than the 1:57 time that he was able to do on the real course. The car he used on the game was a Honda NSX-R and the car he drove at Laguna Seca was the closest US equivalent, the Acura NSX, which was heavier than J-spec NSX. This section also featured a farewell to the NSX.

Best of Top Gear: A review of the series.

Challenge: Heathrow to Oslo (Mercedes SLR vs Plane, bus, ferry, speedboat, speedboat, bus... (from Series 6, Episode 6)

Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car: Davina McCall, from Series 6, Episode 10

Review: The Ford Focus ST (dubbed the "ASBO"), from Series 7, Episode 3

Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car: Christopher Eccleston, from Series 6, Episode 3

Challenge: Sideways rolls World Record attempt, from Series 6, Episode 9

Biathlon: Clarkson raced a Volvo XC90 against May in an Audi Q7, cross-country, with 2 shooting rounds mid-course (the loser had to eat "golden snow"). May used a standard Biathlon .22 rifle, while Clarkson opted for a H&K MP5 machine pistol. Despite the increased firepower, Clarkson missed every target, but managed to fell a tree behind the Range. And although May ploughed into a snowbank, he managed to dig himself out in time to win the biathlon.

Cold weather endurance: Hammond was subjected to Arctic temperatures in a Citroën C1, in a bid to see who will crack first: man or machine?

Clarkson uses the MP5 in an attempt beat May in the Biathlon.

Speed skating: Clarkson raced a Jaguar XK8 against a human skater (Introduced by May as 'Dean', actually Eskil Ervik) on an ice course.

Off-road slalom: May and Clarkson raced a four-wheel drive Land Rover Discovery and a two-wheel drive Jaguar XK8 against the clock, on five inches of frozen lake.

Bobsleigh: In a repeated segment from Series 5 Episode 8, Hammond and a bobsleigh team race against May and a Mitsubishi Evo rally car, along near-identical courses.

Ice hockey: Ten Suzuki Swifts played 5-a-side hockey, in teams captained by Hammond and May, and refereed by Clarkson.

Ski jumping Could a rocket-powered Mini jump further than a skiier from a downhill slope?

The episode ended with a ski jump on a snowmobile driven by The Stig.

Carr: Jimmy Carr takes us on a short tour of the Top Gear production offices, green room, make-up, etc.

Challenge: Clarkson, in an Audi RS4, vs. speed mountain-climbers, at a gorge in France, from Series 7, Episode 2

Carr: Jimmy tours The Stig's room, then goes to the track, where Walliams is doing his laps, and interview The Stig

Challenge: Hammond joins Sabine Schmitz at the Nürburgring, where she attempts a lap of less than ten minutes, in a Transit van, from Series 6, Episode 7

Carr: Jimmy tours the car park, commenting on the cars held therein. He then interviews May, who relates a tale of being "the other guy".

Challenge: Clarkson drives the Mercedes SLK55 AMG and Porsche Boxster S around a deserted village, whilst being shot at be an elite 8-man sniper squadron, from Series 6, Episode 5

Reviews: Hamster and Slow play "Road Test Roulette", reviewing the cars of drunk people, from Series 6, Episode 9

Carr: The crowd is interviewed, and The Stig bothered

Review: Clarkson tests the Aston Martin Vanquish S in a race against Steve Coogan, driving his Ferarri F575, from Series 5, Episode 4

The Second Hand Italian Mid-Engined Supercars for Less Than Mondeo Money Challenge, from Series 7, Episode 4

Hammond in Mazda MX-5 vs Greyhound, from Series 7, Episode 6

The Top Gear Toupée Test: The Stig drives a be-wigged man in open-topped sportscars, from Series 3, Episode 5

May in Renault Clio vs an urban biker, from Series 7, Episode 4

Clarkson in Range Rover Sport vs a Challenger 2, from Series 6, Episode 1

A new introduction graphic was introduced. This episode also saw "Top Gear dog" introduced, a labradoodle.

Review: Hammond drove a hot pink Nissan Micra C+C around Ledbury, Herefordshire, but due to the car being "the most embarrassing in human history" he abandoned the car mid-review, stating "It's not as if anyone's going to steal it, are they?"

News: Clarkson declares his Ford GT is the most unreliable car ever after an incident with two trickle chargers.

Review: May praised the newly restyled Honda Civic.

Challenge: The team were challenged to fit a working home-made convertible roof to a Renault Espace people carrier. Challenges included driving at 100mph (result: the roof blew off), taking it to the monkey enclosure at a safari park (result: the roof almost broke when a monkey sat on it) and finally to take it through a brand new car wash (that allegedly cost £1,000,000). The people carrier was quickly abandoned as the rollers collapsed the roof, showering the trio in water. The tattered & torn roof was then subsequently snagged on the car-wash mechanism and jammed the machinery, causing a fire. Whilst this was happening, the group was seen running away, soaking wet. The convertible Espace was later seen again, in 9x05's drag race, when a collision with a portacabin damaged its front end and caused its tail to fall off.

Star in a reasonably priced car: The new series saw the Suzuki Liana replaced as test car by the Chevrolet Lacetti. In order to get some times on the separate board for the new car, several celebrities set times in this episode, including Jimmy Carr, Trevor Eve, Justin Hawkins and Les Ferdinand.

Top Gear's first Power Lap crash.

In order of arrival:

1. James Hewitt (written as "Well Spoken Man") - 1:47.6
2. Alan Davies - 1:50.3
3. Trevor Eve - 1:47.0
4. Jimmy Carr - 2:08.9 (made the car spin off the track at the last corner)
5. Justin Hawkins - 1:48.4
6. Rick Wakeman - 1:55.3
7. Les Ferdinand 1:47.4

Diesel News: James May introduces the JCB Dieselmax, JCB's attempt at breaking the diesel land speed record.

Main review: Koenigsegg CCX A car that Clarkson mentions as the new way of giving up smoking. Power lap: 1:20.4. The Stig lost control of the car and hit a tyre wall while attempting to top the leader-board by attacking the corners more aggressively.

Review: Clarkson reviews the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, and notes that the car is not suitable for road usage, noting he would rather have Bird Flu than drive it everyday. The Stig takes it to a 1:22.4, putting it in the realm of Italian and German supercars.

News: The group figures out how the Police can identify drivers under the influence of illegal drugs. They devised a series of questions in relation to specific drugs.

The Stig waits for his time.

Challenge: Hammond races a man in a canoe with an engine in Iceland. Hammond use a specially prepped offroad 4X4 called a Tomcat, with the chassis of a Range Rover and a TVR V8 engine.

Star in a reasonably priced car: This week celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay set a new lap record of 1.46.38.

Main review: Clarkson tests the Jaguar XK in Yorkshire.

Skit: The group tried to see how hard it would be to host a Drive Time Radio Show. BBC Southern Counties Radio in Brighton allowed the group to take over a 3 hour block, which went downhill fast.

Star in a reasonably priced car: The Stig faced the challenge of going around the track in the old Suzuki Liana and he managed to get the fastest time, beating Ellen MacArthur and Nigel Mansell. Clarkson tried several times to get some kind of response from The Stig but he stayed silent, eventually walking off stage before he had been given his time

The "Toybota."

Challenge: The team were tasked with creating amphibious vehicles from an ordinary car, driving them for 20 miles, and crossing 2 miles of Rudyard Lake in Leek, Staffordshire. Hammond's Volkswagen Vanagon "Dampervan" sank early on, and Clarkson's "indestructible" Toyota Hilux "Toybota" capsized near the finish line. The winner was May, who sailed at extremely low speed in his Triumph Herald sailboat to the finish (despite the clutch failing on the ramp out of the water). However on land, Hammond's van struggled with hills and May's car (with its sailing mast) struggled with low objects, such as bridges and trees. Both Hammond's and May's cars suffered from overheating as their hull for the water blocked the engine ventilation. To add insult to injury, Clarkson's Hilux refused to start after it's capsizing, making a mockery of his reason for choosing the truck in the first place.

News: Someone sends a pair of Doggles for Top Gear Dog to use. There is also a debate about the condition of the presenter's cars from Clarkson's ribbing of Hammond for washing his car with his family to May keeping a paintbrush in his car to clean the switches on the dashboard. The conversation then swings to the dot-matrix displays on the British motorways, ending with May being ridiculed when he comments about drying his pants in his friend's microwave (which has a dot-matrix display that reads "Enjoy your meal); the comment that sparked this was that the displays had no sense of reality).

Main review: Clarkson reviews a Lotus Exige S on the Top Gear test track, beating the Stig driving a Ford Mustang. Power lap: 1:25.1

Star in a reasonably priced car: Actor Philip Glenister went around the track in 1.54.35, the show's first wet lap

Cool Wall: The Koenigsegg CCX is the first supercar to be deemed "Cool", because of its scariness and danger factor. The Lotus Exige S is declared "Uncool" because of a man in shorts liking it; the Proton Savvy is also deemed "Uncool". The Nissan Micra C+C is deemed almost too uncool for the wall (it is hanging off the edge of the "Seriously Uncool" section). The Jaguar XK is also deemed "Uncool" because of the game of golf, which influences the car's performance (in Clarkson's view). Clarkson afterwards said: "It's also p*ssing off our director, who's just bought one!"

Main review: The BMW Z4 M. Lap time: 1:26 flat. It was praised by Richard Hammond for thrilling in the most primeval way.

News: The presenters talk about banned number plates, which include "AA55 HOL," "MI BUM," and "HA06 MAS." It also talks about eBay item 4639771121.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Ewan McGregor, 1:48:00.

Challenge: Hammond races against a British army parachuter in Cyprus with a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, and as usual, the parachuter won. After the race, Hammond crashes the car with the film crew's car.

Hammond and May try out Clarkson's redesigned S-Class.

Review: The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class - the future of motoring. Clarkson tested the new S-Class both as a review and to see what features every car will have in ten years as has historically happened.

Challenge: Clarkson then went about designing his own interior of a car. He bought an old Mercedes-Benz S-Class and designed his perfect interior based upon his house. The car, dubbed "Anne Hathaway's Cottage," features a wood-burning stove, kitchen chairs, a flagstone floor and wood with a cement base, even plastered insides of the doors. James May and Richard Hammond then tested the car. No seatbelts and unsecured seats meant they went flying at first, however eventually, with May holding Hammond's seat, a 0-60 time of 35.4 seconds was established.

Lap time, take two: The Koenigsegg CCX is now equipped with a rear spoiler and is taken around the track with a new lap time of 1:17.6; overthrowing the Zonda F. The presenters were so proud of the time, they stated that not only do they present the show, but they are also designing the cars

Main Review: The Prodrive P2 concept car is put through its paces on the track. Meanwhile Jeremy Clarkson attempts to explain what active-diff and anti-lag is. A practical demonstration of the former makes Clarkson carsick, having to stop while going round a circle at 60mph. The Stig achieves a lap in the P2 in 1:24.9 seconds.

Sir Michael clips his namesake corner.

Review: Afterwards Jeremy Clarkson reviews the new Citroën C6, and is disappointed that the car doesn't seem to be mad enough for a big Citroën... but the car redeems itself as a mobile camera platform for covering horse races.

News: Jeremy Clarkson launches the 2006 Top Gear motor survey while casually panning between cameras, they talk about the Audi RS4 cabriolet, then Clarkson claims that points should be awarded to unsporting/aggressive F1 drivers.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Michael Gambon, 1:50.3.

Challenge: A "Scottish lady" (as Hammond refers to him) called Jackie Stewart claims that he can cut down anyone's driving time around a circuit by 20 seconds. But the Top Gear presenters don't believe him. So, to prove him wrong James May a.k.a. captain slow takes up the challenge. Sir Jackie manages to get May 20 seconds faster (just).

Challenge: The Toyota Aygo is challenged by the Volkswagen Fox in a game of football.

Off for a month due to 2006 FIFA World Cup coverage.

Main Review: Clarkson tests 3 hot saloons; the Ford Mondeo ST220, the Mazda 6 MPS and the Vauxhall Vectra VXR. The Mondeo achieves a laptime of 1:34.4, while the Mazda 6 an even better 1:32.2. Despite being the fastest car with a 161mph top speed, the Vectra can only manage a time of 1:35.5 due to 'catastrophic' understeer.

A pan fire ignites when Clarkson makes chips.

News: Clarkson and Hammond have a fight about muscle cars. Hammond gushes about the new 2008 Dodge Challenger while Clarkson complains about his recent trip to the United States and driving in a Chrysler 300 and calls both a BMW M6 and a Jaguar XKR muscle cars. May finally shuts them up by announcing Daihatsu is going to make a new Copen.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Brian Cox, 2:01.

Challenge: Clarkson, May and Hammond go on a caravan holiday in Dorset to try and find out more about caravaning. The trio unsuccessfully try to have fun and cause numerous traffic jams, May crashes the caravan into a bollard, Hammond and Top Gear Dog are "kidnapped" by an elderly female fan, and Clarkson accidentally destroys the caravan and its neighbour whilst trying to cook chips.

Challenge: The Stig has a go at the indoor world speed record in one of the ExCeL Exhibition Centre's halls with a Toyota F1 car. He set the pace of 81 mph, although this was only slightly faster than the 70 mph recorded by the Chevrolet Lacetti.

Main Review: Hammond and May test three people carriers: the Ford S-MAX, the Mercedes B-Class, and the Vauxhall Zafira VXR.

Review: Clarkson reviews the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder. He comments that it is not the best driver's car in the world, but it's something that could be used every day. The Stig set a lap time of 1:25.7.

Stig's name appears on the entire high score list of an arcade game.

News: MG is back, kind of. Clarkson refuses to apologise to caravan owners, after the programme received 2 complaints about Muslim comments, 3 complaints about taking a man who looks like Jesus out of the audience and 150 complaints following the previous week's caravan abuse.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Steve Coogan talks about being in a hot tub between Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Also mentions Saxondale episode involving a Clarkson-like character. He sets a time of 1:50.9 in the Laceti and becomes the first person to drive under the condition of 'Hot' as The Stig said that the heat had done something either to Coogan himself or the car of the Track. Coogan was upset when he learned that Rob Brydon (a comedy partner of his) did it faster in the Suzuki Liana.

Challenge: James May races two traceurs across Liverpool in a Peugeot 207 1.6L Diesel, from the edge of the city to the Liver Building. He, naturally, gets lost, and loses.

Challenge: Clarkson, Hammond and May race against The Stig. The trio must build a Caterham Seven kit car from scratch in a pit garage at the Knockhill race circuit in Scotland, while The Stig drives the same model up from Caterham's base in Caterham, Surrey. The team's blushes are saved when The Stig is arrested for speeding.

Review: The team decides to test some vans by being roadies for The Who. May picks a Renault Master, Hammond chooses a Ford Transit, and Clarkson gets a Volkswagen T30 TDI 174 Sportline. After The Who's concert at Hyde Park, Clarkson, Hammond and May take some of their equipment 90 miles to the site of their next show. They come to the conclusion that you should find the cheapest van that does what is needed. Subsequently, Clarkson admitted that the feature was not the greatest of ideas.

Clarkson misspells "Couriers" as "Furriers" on his £1000 van.

Star in a reasonably priced car: F1 driver Jenson Button talks about his facial hair, getting women, and why he hadn't yet won a race (Jenson went on to win his first F1 race a week later). He sets a time of 1:44.7 in the Liana and loses a £20 bet with Clarkson as he could not go faster than The Stig (who did it in 1:44.4) as he said he could.

Star in a reasonably priced car, take two: Ray Winstone, 1:51.4.

Review: Hammond takes the Noble M15 for a drive. He says that it is a civilized, comfortable, sportscar fit to be driven daily, yet is still as fun. The Stig takes it around the track in 1:22.5.

Challenge: Each presenter has to buy a van for £1000. Clarkson buys a Ford Transit, May gets a LDV Convoy, and Hammond buys a Suzuki Supercarry. They hold a variety of challenges related to what a man with a van might need. They have a drag race, a loading/unloading test, a trial to see how closely they could tailgate, a challenge to change a door on their van as fast as possible, a thief resistance test, seeing how long they can stay in front of the Stig in a police car, and seeing how many replies they get to a man with a van ad. Hammond ends up soundly winning overall, despite crashing his van in a rollover during the police pursuit challenge.

Main Review: The Jaguar XKR goes against the Aston Martin V8 Vantage. Although the Aston is better in some parts, Clarkson claims that the Jaguar is better in other places, although it doesn't have that £73,000 feel for a high-performance luxury sports coupé with a nearly decade-old engine. Lap time: 1:34.7 in "very, very, very" wet conditions.

Hammond in the Vampire Drag car.

News: The description of Hammond's infamous crash in the Vampire.

Challenge: The presenters decide that the duration of road repairs is appalling, especially since you never see roadworkers actually working. So they decide to take matters into their own hands and resurface a stretch of the D5481 near Bidford-on-Avon themselves, to prove that the work which normally takes up a week can be done in 24 hours. It falls apart quickly, as May's sense of direction causes traffic mishaps, 1984-like speeches from Clarkson, tarmac supply issues (which include a cameraman accidentally pressing the emergency stop at the quarry), bad weather, and Mrs Thatcher speeches blaring out in the late-night/early-morning period cause problems, but the road gets finished by the 9:07 a.m. deadline.

Star in a Reasonably-Priced car: Jamie Oliver, 1:47.7 during wet conditions. Upon hearing that the slush would garner him a 4 second handicap, Oliver moved his time magnet above fellow chef and rival Gordon Ramsey.

Challenge: May attempts to take the Bugatti Veyron to its top speed on Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track. May managed to get the Bugatti to 407 kph (253 mph), later describing how smoothly the car behaved at those speeds and how disorientating the speed can be (he said that he wanted to open the door, but "fortunately I looked at the speedometer and I was still doing 70").

The Bugatti's rev counter as May was travelling at 407 kph.

News: Clarkson, Hammond and May discuss Porsche's new Cayenne, what the TVR house band sounds like, and why Prince Charles has lined his garage with petrol. Also, why undertakers will soon be out of business. The boys discuss their best and worst drives of the last six months, Clarkson was impressed with the Lexus GS hybrid and disappointed with the Volkswagen Golf GT (1.4 twin charger), Hammond was impressed with the Volvo C30 T5 and disappointed with Subaru B9 Tribeca, May was impressed with Suzuki Swift Sport and disappointed with Bentley Arnage.

Review: The team were set the challege of finding the best-looking coupés: Clarkson chose an Audi TT, Hammond chose a Mazda RX-8 and May chose an Alfa Romeo Brera. After taking them to play golf (they were asked to leave after the 3rd hole because they were too slow), they took them to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art to get an expert's opinion. Each of the presenters had 2 minutes to persuade 3 art professors that their car deserved a place in the museum. The professors opted for the Alfa Romeo Brera. Hammond decided that they were wrong and that the argument would be settled with a classic "Which one is the fastest?". After the Stig drove them round the track, the Audi TT came in at 1.31.4, the Mazda RX-8 in 1.32.0 and the Alfa Romeo Brera in 1.36.9. When Clarkson noticed that he had won, he said that he preferred the Alfa Romeo Brera, and Hammond agreed with him. Clarkson closed by saying "The Best Car here is also the Worst!"

Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car: Hugh Grant, 1.47.7.

After a holiday that ended up with a burning caravan, the three thought that going on holiday was a good idea.^[3] Their premise was to see if it could be cheaper to buy a car rather than rent so, as a result, on their trip to the United States, the three were given USD$1000 to find a used car. Clarkson bought a 1989 Chevrolet Camaro RS; Hammond a Dodge Ram 150 pickup truck; and May a 1989 Cadillac Brougham.

The goal was then to get from Miami to New Orleans, with challenges along the way.

Clarkson and May debate how to remove a dead cow from the roof of a Camaro.

Challenge 2 (0mph-50mph-0mph): At a drag strip in the heart of Florida, they all had to reach 50mph and brake as soon as they got to the speed. Ahead of them was a river, with a selection of Alligators. The closest to the watery grave was, yet again, Hammond, for failing to look up when he reached 50mph.
Challenge 3 (Roadkill): Each presenter was given money to buy a present for their car, Hammond brought a grill, Clarkson brought a shower and May brought a shirt rack, they were then told that they would be camping that night and dinner was whatever they could find at the side of the road. Clarkson found a Possum but May ran over it, Clarkson found a Tortoise but refused to run it over and set it back in a near by swamp. Hammond found a Squirrel which was collected. As Hammond and May set up camp, Clarkson went to look for more roadkill, he came back with an entire cow which he said he didn't run over, May refused to eat. During the night Clarkson and Hammond destroyed May's car's air conditioning.

Challenge 4 (Car decorating): The team had to decorate each other's cars with slogans which might lead to them getting shot at in Alabama. May painted pro-homosexual slogans on Hammond's car ("Man-love rules OK"), Hammond painted "Country and Western is Rubbish" on Clarkson's, and Clarkson painted "I'm bi," "Hillary for President" and "NASCAR sucks" on May's car. All three offended locals, and led to both the presenters and the crew members being chased out of town by friends of a gas station owner, who pelted the crew's vans with rocks, leading to a mad dash to wipe the paints off the cars.
Challenge 5 (Sell car): The team were originally going to sell the cars in New Orleans, and the winner would be whoever made the most profit. However, after seeing the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, the team decided to give away the cars for free to a Christian mission. However, while Clarkson's and Hammond's were given away, James May was declared the loser as he was unable to find any claimants for his car. Also, a lawyer threatened to sue Clarkson after she heard the car was a 1991 Camaro (it was a 1989 model), but agreed to drop the suit on payment of USD $20,000.

Final results: Clarkson declared himself the winner and declared May the loser, although no points were given. They concluded that it was viable to buy, rather than hire, a car. Also, they revealed an important lesson learned in that trip: "Don't go to America!"

Review: Clarkson takes a 720bhp Brabus around the test track. The is described to have too much power to the cars electronics.

Main review: Porsche 911 Turbo, given to Clarkson to see if it can convert him from being a lifelong Ferrari fan. While he seemed to like various details about the car, it did not.

Cool Wall: Hammond tries to add a Ducati 1098 motorcycle to the wall, which Clarkson then removes with a chainsaw.

Hammond and May's faces just after the Robin crashes into the ground.

Challenge: Hammond and May try to convert a Reliant Robin into a space shuttle. They were given 12 days to build it (4.5 months in reality)^[4] and help from the British Amateur Rocket Society. Eight tonnes of thrust were required to launch the Robin—the largest non-commercial rocket launch undertaken in Europe.

The Reliant Robin took off, everything seemed to be working until a release bolt attaching the Robin to the main booster failed to detach. The combined result spiraled out of control and crashed in a massive explosion on a nearby hillside.

Star in a Reasonably-Priced car: Simon Pegg, 1:48.5.

Public Service Video: Clarkson did a service video about Level Crossings. He showed CCTV footage of an old man jumping the light at a level crossing and put a Renault Espace on railway level crossing. The car was destroyed by the railway locomotive crashing into it. On 1 March 2007 a rerun the episode on BBC Two was replaced by a "Best Of Top Gear" compilation following a further level-crossing accident.

Main review: The new Lamborghini Murciélago LP640. The Stig took it round the track in 1:19.8

The Stig goes round the track in a Tractor

Challenge: Tractors. Clarkson, Hammond and May plant their own rapeseed bio-fuel after acquiring three tractors to test. Each presenter has to start their tractor, hook up to a four-wheel trailer and reverse out of the studio's car park. May could only start his tractor, Hammond "clipped" a Vauxhall Astra "Concept Car", whilst Clarkson gave up. The Stig did laps where the usual aim of going slower than Richard Whitely had.

The second segment sees the trio tackle sheep herding (with Top Gear dog "Tee-Gee"), bridge crossing, then ploughing and planting a crop of rapeseed using their tractors. This follows a "drag" (towing) race in which Hammond pulled a wheel-less "Top Gear Production Office" Portakabin and Clarkson chose Boeing 747 G-BDXJ, whilst May assembled a convoy of Top Gear creations containing: "Toybota" (S08E03), S Class Country Cottage (S08E04), Triumph Herald sail boat (S08E03), Transit (S01E08), "Dampervan" (S08E03), minivan (S01E08), Convertible People Carrier (S08E01) and removal van (S01E08).

Star In A Reasonably Priced Car: Actress Kristin Scott Thomas. Clarkson asked her opinion on some cars to put on the cool wall, she said Clarkson's new Lamborghini was "pathetic". Scott Thomas completed her lap in 1:54 seconds.

Hammond tries to explain the MG stretch to a disapproving Jamelia.

Review: Richard Hammond test drives the latest Shelby Mustang GT500. When tested on a dyno it had 447 BHP at the rear wheels, falling short of the advertised 500BHP (however this figure was taken at the flywheel). He also put his own classic Shelby GT390 on the dyno and it had 250 BHP.^[5][6]4

Challenge: Clarkson, Hammond and May build stretch limos to drive celebrities to the Brits Awards. Clarkson buys a Fiat Panda to chauffer BBC Radio 1's Chris Moyles, hindered by its length making it nearly impossible to manoeuvre around the city, and it splitting in half where Clarkson had shortened the car to make it road-legal. Hammond buys a MGF and, after it is stretched into a limo, has to take Jamelia to the Brits award. May buys a Saab and an Alfa Romeo, the two of which are conjoined into a limo, his case being a choice between "Sensible Swedish," and "Fiery Italian." He has to take Lemar to the Brits award. May gets lost and Lemar ends up an hour late so he leaves.^[5][6]

Star In A Reasonably Priced Car: Actress Billie Piper, who posted a 1:48.3 around the track, until it was revealed that she had actually cut the hammerhead on the lap.