This 'special' sees the trio driving from the city of Batumi, on Georgia's Black Sea coast, to the Azerbaijani capital Baku, on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Each of them is driving a shiny new Grand Tourer. Clarkson is in an Aston Martin DBS, Hammond is in a Bentley Continental GT and May is in a BMW M850i. Their thousand kilometre drive will see them driving through modern cities, along motorways, down dirt tracks and through the narrow, cobbled streets of a medieval town. Along the way they visit Stalin's birthplace, do a few challenges, race each other (and a Renault 9), and play the occasional prank; although not as many as usual.
Overall I'd say this was an enjoyable episode, although I must admit I've always been biased towards the specials and mini-specials which showcase locations as much as the cars. The fact that the three cars were expensive new vehicles from top makers meant there was no question of them breaking down or being risked in some silly stunt. The places driven through were impressive, as is often the case with specials they show parts of the world most people aren't too familiar with. There were some silly moments... notably putting Stalin's head on Hammond's car; although this was used to provide an excuse for them to take an obviously staged wrong turn that took then to the 'border' of part of Georgia occupied by Russia, which was interesting in a non-car way. The race against the clapped out Renault 9, driven by Abbie, was fun even they boys got slowed down due to every reason imaginable while she never got delayed. The final drag races were fun, largely because of how they ended for Jeremy. The race track scenes where they had to drive twenty minutes after drinking three pints of water was amusingly silly... I can only wonder if Amazon has data on how many viewers had to pause after just watching it! Overall I really enjoyed this episode; a good mix of cars, scenery and humour.
Overall I'd say this was an enjoyable episode, although I must admit I've always been biased towards the specials and mini-specials which showcase locations as much as the cars. The fact that the three cars were expensive new vehicles from top makers meant there was no question of them breaking down or being risked in some silly stunt. The places driven through were impressive, as is often the case with specials they show parts of the world most people aren't too familiar with. There were some silly moments... notably putting Stalin's head on Hammond's car; although this was used to provide an excuse for them to take an obviously staged wrong turn that took then to the 'border' of part of Georgia occupied by Russia, which was interesting in a non-car way. The race against the clapped out Renault 9, driven by Abbie, was fun even they boys got slowed down due to every reason imaginable while she never got delayed. The final drag races were fun, largely because of how they ended for Jeremy. The race track scenes where they had to drive twenty minutes after drinking three pints of water was amusingly silly... I can only wonder if Amazon has data on how many viewers had to pause after just watching it! Overall I really enjoyed this episode; a good mix of cars, scenery and humour.
