News: Top Gear Season 17 Episode 5/6 Details Revealed

From Wikipedia,

Episode 5 - Jeremy Clarkson tries out the new Lotus T125, and an updated version of the classic Jensen Interceptor. Also, the team employs all manner of second-hand military equipment to knock down a row of derelict houses, aiming to complete the job in less time than a team of demolition experts.

The star in the reasonably priced car will be Bob Geldof.

Episode 6 - Jeremy Clarkson and James May set out for the seaside in a pair of electric cars, the Nissan Leaf and the Peugeot iOn, stopping off in Lincoln along the way. Richard Hammond meets an extraordinary rally team in which everyone is an amputee with a military background, and finally the new Lamborghini Aventador is taken out on the track.

The special guest will be Simon Cowell, quite astoundingly making his
third appearance on the popular motoring show (his first in series 3,
and his next in series 10).

News: Top Gear Season 17 Coming Soon to Nine

Australian Top Gear fans can rest easy- the show's seventeenth season, which began just over two weeks ago in the UK, will finally have an airdate in Australia.

Today Nine have begun airing their "The best is still to come" promos, which feature a montage of the second half of the year's shows, including Underbelly: Razor, Hamish and Andy's Gap Year, Top Design and Bear Gryll's Worst Case Scenario.

There is also a mention of new Top Gear, though, which tells us it isn't far away.

It won't be seen for the next two weeks but my tip is....

News: Top Gear Season 17 Episode 4 Details

From TVRage, we have the latest synopsis for the seventeenth season of Top Gear. Quite significantly, Rowan Atkinson will be making his first appearance on the show (presumably he will be promoting his latest flick Johnny English Reborn).

News: Top Gear Season 17 Episode 2 and 3 Guests, Challenges, Reviews

After Episode 1 of Season 17 featured Alice Cooper in the "Reasonably Priced Car", as well as a tribute to the Jaguar E-Type and reviews of the Marauder, BMW 1 Series M Coupe and Mini John Cooper Works WRC, the hijinks for episodes 2 and 3 have been revealed.

Opinion: Can Nine Reclaim Some Glory?

Channel Nine is currently undergoing a resurgence of sorts, after a very lacklustre start to the year.

After heavily promoting the fourth series of The Block in its new 7PM timeslot, it has proven a decent new alternative in its first week on air.

Of course, its strong first week figures will be slightly inflated due to the massive publicity push, but it has arguably begun to turn around Nine's fortunes.

And let's face it, any old show that can pull half-decent figures for Nine (we're talking over a million) will be more than welcome on its schedule, as its first half of the year has certainly been one to forget for the network.

After starting the year touting itself as the "Home of Comedy" it put forth its first offering in the form of Ben Elton Live From Planet Earth. And we all know how that one ended:



Low ratings combined with the worst critical reception to a show in recent memory made for a genuine, out-and-out stinker of a show.

Faced with failure, Nine felt it had no choice but to flog the hell out of its imports in Two and a Half Men and Top Gear, two programs that had done very well for the network in 2010.

However, repeating these "hit shows" ad nauseam led to viewer fatigue, and pretty soon they began turning off in droves.

Today, Top Gear is nowhere to be seen on Nine's main channel, with Two and a Half Men pushed late into the night. You can find it now at 10:30PM on a Tuesday night.

Continue reading after the jump...