This Sunday (25th July 2010) saw what many (Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans included) believe was the best episode of Top Gear ever!

The show continues to be all things to everyone, but most important of all it’s just good old fashioned fun.

Kicking off with the trio of presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May scoffing at the pending end on the petroleum powered car and sneering at anything that is powered by other fuels such as used chip fat and cow manure.

We all know it’s wrong, but cannot help watching middle aged men speed around the Cote d’Azur in £100,000 automotive art or smash things up that look slightly – well normal. Caravans, 3 wheelers and British Leyland cars being top of their previous hit list.

Why am I such an avid fan? Because it makes my whole family laugh (a rarity nowadays). So many past episodes have been pure TV gold. None more so than 2008s Vietnam road trip special or the now legendary caravan site episode.

Set to follow them into the halls of fame was the sight of two of Hollywood’s biggest names, driving the Reasonably-Priced Car, all be it sometimes on 2 wheels and clearly enjoying every darn minute. Yes it was really Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, they may of had a new Movie ‘Knight and Day’ to plug but you got the sense they’d have done Top Gear just for the hell of it anyway.

Then there was ‘Captain Slow’ James May driving the world’s fastest production car at over 250mph. Surely nothing could top that?

Wrong! Just when you though they’d peaked along came a brilliant 15 minute homage to the greatest driver ever to sit in a racing car, Ayrton Senna. Brilliance, sheer brilliance.

Senna was the best for one reason, other than his sublime talent, he did not fear death and therefore could put himself and the car in that thin strip of space between sensational driving and suicidal.

After much consideration, maybe it was all too much for one show, maybe it was two shows in one. Excitement,
danger and fun all in just one hour, just great TV.

Clarkson, Hammond and May, keep it up at TG hanger!