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Show:		8.0
Picture:		9.0
Sound:		9.0
Extras:		7.0
Score:		8.0

Director(s):	Brian Klein • Nigel Simpkiss • Phil Churchward • Chris Donovan
Starring:	James May • Jeremy Clarkson • Richard Hammond
Genre:	Documentary • Sports
Website:	http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/
Release Date:	January 12, 2010

List Price:	DVD - $25.99
Amazon:

America needs reality television like Top Gear. The fact that we don’t air this program on a mainstream network channel baffles me. Do Americans like cars? Yes. Do we like comedy? Yes. Do we watch far worse things than this on average? Regrettably, yes. Top Gear has the laughs, has stunningly good production values, and can keep audiences of all types entertained. It’s twelfth series sees an increase in runtime from last season by two episodes as well as an entire episode in the extra features. The set rounds out to about eight and a half hours of entertainment, a definite improvement over the paltry offerings in Top Gear 11.

Top Gear 12 has some of the more amusing episodes in recent memory. It starts off with a bang as the trio purchases a Lorry (comparable to a Mack truck) apiece and deck them out for a series of challenges. Now, driving one of those monsters certainly appeals to the love for all things motorized the show has become known for, but watching Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May stare in disbelief as the Stig’s overweight trucker cousin makes a Lorry drift through turns will put a smile on your face. Other notable episodes include a “purely factual” (supposedly their permits to tape in the U.S. required the show to tone down the comedy) trip to the states to investigate muscle cars, the end verdict of which is decidedly positive; James May learns to drive like a Finnish pro courtesy of Mika Hakkinen; and the guys are asked to drive a seemingly impossible distance on a single tank of gas in economy cars in order to switch on the Blackpool Illuminations.

For the car enthusiasts in the crowd, a good number of classy automobiles are showcased in the season: the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, the Bugatti Veyron, the Pagani Zonda Roadster F, the Ferrari Daytona, and the Tesla Roadster. If you have absolutely no sense of which cars should be incredible and which should be worthless just by their name, don’t worry. The starry-eyed narration of the hosts will give you more than an adequate perspective of which vehicles should make you swoon. A lot of the time however, you won’t need their help. The curves and the roars of their engine make it obvious to even the most laymen of automobile folk exactly which ones are the most impressive. Nothing instills a sense of wonder for a car until you’ve seen the Stig make it scream around the test track in an attempt to top the show’s running scoreboard.

As in every series of Top Gear, a guest is brought on for every episode to try their luck at “Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car”. This season’s guests include Michael Parkinson, Will Young, Mark Wahlberg, Harry Enfield, Kevin McCloud, Boris Johnson and (amusingly) Sir Tom Jones. It’s always sad when a star comes on the show and fails miserably, because Clarkson then attempts to give them some commendation like “Well, Sir Jones,” after he did rather poorly on his lap, “I think we can say you have the highest time on the board by anyone who’s ever sang in Vegas.” He was the only one on the board with that distinction.

The season may be longer, but it, like series 11, doesn’t have one big moment to define it. Its final episode, the Vietnam Special lacks any real pizzazz due to the rather clumsy vehicles chosen for it (motor scooters). It’s hard to get excited about a challenge where the team’s maximum speed is about 30 mph. But at least this series had a special, I guess.

DVD Bonus Features

If you remember back from Top Gear 10, the Botswana Special (which is a lot of fun) has been included in this set in its Director’s Cut incarnation. It’s just as fun, so if you haven’t seen it in awhile the jokes still get laughs. A few extended scenes and commentaries for the Botswana and Vietnam specials comprise the rest of the extras, with some deleted scenes and a photo gallery bringing up the rear.