Top Gear: Polar Special Top Gear Uk Special Episodes
| Tiptop Gear: Polar Special | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Nigel Simpkiss |
| Presented by | Jeremy Clarkson Richard Hammond James May |
| Country of origin | United kingdom |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Andy Wilman |
| Running time | Tv set cut 60 minutes Extended cut 75 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC Ii |
| Picture show format | HDTV 1080i |
| Original release | 25 July 2007 (2007-07-25) |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Top Gear |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Top Gear: Polar Special is a special edition episode of BBC motoring program Top Gear that was first broadcast on 25 July 2007 on BBC Two. The episode follows presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May in their successful attempt to exist the first people to reach the 1996 position of the North Magnetic Pole (in Canada) in a motor vehicle. They did not, even so, reach the bodily position of the North Magnetic Pole at the fourth dimension.[1] For added drama and competition, they race against presenter Richard Hammond who travels by canis familiaris sled, the traditional means of transport effectually the Arctic. This was the kickoff episode ever aired in HDTV.
Summary [edit]
At Resolute, Nunavut, Clarkson and Hammond announce their intention to travel from the pocket-sized village to the 1996 location of the magnetic northward pole. Hammond will travel via dog sled, aided by American explorer Matty McNair, while Clarkson and co-presenter James May attempt to beat them, travelling by motor vehicle, a feat that had not before been achieved. Clarkson chooses to use a Toyota Hilux, modified for arctic conditions past Arctic Trucks, to show that Arctic exploration tin can be quicker and more luxurious than via traditional methods.
Preparation [edit]
Clarkson and May's modified Hilux, a 2nd Hilux and a Toyota Land Cruiser for the picture crew started in December 2006.[ii] During the vehicle testing phase, the presenters were sent to Austria for common cold-weather grooming by an SAS veteran,[3] who taught them basic survival skills. Before deviation, they spent a further two nights of survival grooming out on the sea ice in Canada. Due to their constant tomfoolery, they were shown sobering images of the dangers of freezing conditions and received a stark warning of the dangers they faced from polar explorer Ranulph Fiennes.
The Expeditions [edit]
At 13:00 on 25 April 2007, both expeditions set out from Resolute towards Bathurst Island, an uninhabited isle where they would be making camp for the kickoff day. Hammond and McNair moved at a steady pace during the initial days of their expedition, beingness stopped only by the presence of a polar bear following them, while Clarkson and May drew ahead past taking advantage of satellite navigation to ensure that their road took them over smooth ice. Problems before long developed for the Hilux, though, when information technology nearly fell through thin ice and had to be rescued past the support team, resulting in the need to plot a longer but safer road.
Three days subsequently starting out and having reached firmer ice, the motorised trek's speed reduced drastically as they began encountering difficult terrain. From this bespeak on, the expedition had to rely on their guides to scout ahead for a safe routes, with some routes proving impassible, forcing the team to backtrack. All-encompassing delays over the next two days saw the sled team take hold of up, although Hammond admitted that the concrete and mental strain was already starting to take its toll on his health.
Clarkson's anger at being delayed led to poor decision making and harm to the vehicle, causing further delays and straining the relationship betwixt Clarkson and May. However, they eventually passed through the boulder field and regained the lead on the sled team, encountering a crashed C-47[4] near Isachsen.[v] Meanwhile, Hammond and McNair'due south relationship became more strained equally Hammond began to realise that they were unlikely to win. This was confirmed on the morning of 2 May 2007 when the GPS arrangement in Clarkson and May'due south Hilux read 78°35′7″North 104°11′9″W / 78.58528°North 104.18583°W / 78.58528; -104.18583 and confirmed that the team was finally within i mile of the 1996 location of the North Magnetic Pole ( 78°35.7′N 104°eleven.9′W / 78.5950°N 104.1983°W / 78.5950; -104.1983 ).[half-dozen] Annotation that this was in northern Canada, 800 miles from the actual North Pole and a few hundred miles from the actual N Magnetic Pole in the Arctic Ocean at the time of the trek.[1] Following their victory, Clarkson and May contacted Hammond and revealed that they had reached the stop line. Hammond never made information technology to the destination, as it felt barbarous to make him go along "just and so Clarkson could gloat",[four] so instead, he was collected forth with the other presenters to be evacuated past airplane.
For the finish credits, in homage to Sir Ranulph Fiennes, each person who had been involved with the filming of the episode had their first name replaced with the words "Sir Ranulph" (east.g. "Sir Ranulph Clarkson, Sir Ranulph Hammond, Sir Ranulph May").
Note that the finish line, near an old atmospheric condition station, was called "The Due north Pole" for entertainment purposes only; the actual North Pole is 800 miles further north, and the actual North Magnetic Pole at the fourth dimension was a few hundred miles further due north.[i] The magnetic pole wanders, and is shortly 1000 miles[ citation needed ] from the 1996 position. The "expedition" was undoubtedly a hard claiming, but the 300-mile bulldoze took place entirely inside the territory of Canada, only about 150 miles further North than Canada's Northernmost town, Grise Fiord,[seven] and further s than a number of permanently inhabited places. The mural depicted is not the polar ice cap, but the frozen sea among the islands of Nunavut, Canada. Still, the events depicted should exist understood every bit an actual polar expedition.
Vehicles [edit]
The Hilux pickup used on the expedition past Clarkson and May.
The vehicles used in the special claiming to reach the Pole were two 2007 Toyota Hilux Double Cab 3.0l diesel fuel pickup trucks, i Toyota Land Cruiser 120 and a trailer, all of which were heavily modified by an Icelandic company, Chill Trucks. The Hilux was chosen for its exceptional durability, as demonstrated in an earlier episode of Top Gear.[8] One Hilux was rigged with cameras for the presenters, and the others were used past the picture show crew, 2 commuter/repair experts, and ane polar skillful.
All vehicles underwent the same all-encompassing modifications to make them suitable for the Arctic atmospheric condition, including:
- The standard wheels and tyres were replaced with bespoke wheels and 38" studded snow tyres. The tyres were able to run at pressures as depression as 0.2 bar (3 psi) for better traction over snow.
- The cycle arches were raised and extended, to protect and accommodate the larger tyres that had been installed.
- The standard 3.0-litre D-4D engine was modified to cope with the very low temperatures. Heaters were added to increase fuel and coolant temperature, a large heavy-duty battery was fitted, and the air intake was modified.
- A ninety-litre auxiliary fuel tank was fitted, along with an extra-thick sump guard.
- The gear ratio was lowered to 1:4.88.
- Two winches that could be fitted either to the front or rear of each of the vehicles were carried, in example they got stuck in the snow.[eight]
While the Hilux used by Jeremy Clarkson and James May became an exhibit because of its accomplishment, the one used by the motion picture coiffure was put into storage, until it was after re-used past James May in 2010 in his attempt to get close to the nevertheless-erupting Eyjafjallajökull volcano.
All three vehicles used for the trek.
Soundtrack [edit]
The episode was largely scored with compositions by Clint Mansell and performed by the Kronos Quartet, particularly the pieces "Lux Aeterna" and "Death is the Road to Awe", from the soundtracks of Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain, respectively. The episode also contained a segment from the soundtrack of John Carpenter's The Matter, and also features the songs "The Killing Moon" and "Never End" by English culling rock ring Repeat and The Bunnymen.[ commendation needed ]
DVD and Blu-Ray release [edit]
In 2008, the BBC released a twin DVD box set entitled Top Gear - The Great Adventures (also known every bit The Great Adventures: Polar and U.S. Special), which contained both an extended version of the Polar Special and a cut-downward version of the The states Special. [nine] The "Director's Cutting" of the extended version included an extra x minutes of previously unseen footage, which included scenes of frostbitten extremities during the grooming in Austria, Clarkson and May discovering the abandoned Isachsen weather station (left vacant since 1978), and various other changes including new vocalization-overs and an alternative soundtrack to the original BBC broadcast release.
Criticism [edit]
Clarkson drinking a gin and tonic while driving in the Chill.
Later in the special, both Jeremy Clarkson and James May were shown to be drinking gin and tonic while driving through an ice field in the Chill. The producers and May and Clarkson all claimed that they were beyond the jurisdiction of potable driving laws as they were in international waters at the fourth dimension (merely in fact the group never left the territory of Canada and were never in international waters[ten] [ circular reference ]), while Clarkson claimed that he was not driving but sailing ("piloting" a vehicle on (frozen) h2o as opposed to actual land). However, the BBC Trust establish that the scene could "glamorise the misuse of booze" and that the scene "was not editorially justified in the context of a family show pre-watershed".[eleven]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c Nair, Manoj C. "Wandering of the Geomagnetic Poles | NCEI". ngdc.noaa.gov . Retrieved xix December 2019.
- ^ "4x4 offroad article". Retrieved 5 December 2007.
- ^ "Top Gear: Polar Claiming". BBC. Retrieved 17 Apr 2014.
- ^ a b "Production Notes - Polar Special". Archived from the original on xiii Oct 2011. Retrieved three November 2008.
- ^ Chill C-47 Wreck at Isachsen, Canada, oldwings.nl.
- ^ Wishart, Jock (13 July 2006). "Magnetic North Pole Location, 1996 in Ellef Ringnes Island, Canada". Virtualglobetrotting . Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- ^ "Grise Fiord, Nunavut, drone video shows embankment in Canada's northernmost customs". CBC News. 24 Baronial 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
- ^ a b "Invincible Hilux official site". Retrieved five December 2007.
- ^ "BBC Shop".
- ^ Canadian Internal Waters
- ^ "Acme Gear rapped for booze employ". BBC News. 2 July 2008. Retrieved iii July 2008.
Farther reading [edit]
- May, James (12 July 2008). "James May: Slow down while I cutting the lemon". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 Baronial 2008. Retrieved 14 July 2008.
External links [edit]
- "Production Notes - Polar Special". Archived from the original on 13 October 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2008.
- Hilux Arctic Claiming official website
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