This DVD Set is brilliant and it's great to have these TG DVDs in your collection if you need a bit of your TG Fix now and again. The only problems as other play.com users have said in these reviews are the fact that the BBC Have cut out certain scenes for contract reasons so you may watch this and think "where was the bit when he?". And also as other play.com users have said WHY NO EXTRAS! All i ask for is maybe a few outtakes or a quick behind the scenes, no wonder this is the most pirated TV Show in the world. I Would sugguest buying this DVD But just remember that not everything you saw on the tele might not be on the DVD. That why i'm giving it four stars.

If I could give half stars on this site, then this would be a 4 and a half. It really is an entertaining boxset that Top Gear fans would enjoy. Just a slight warning, this is mentioned in other reviews, the US special has some parts edited out. This did really irratate me. The part that was edited is quite a funny part, I don't really see why it should of been edited. The show is still great, but being a Top Gear fan, I'am annoyed that it isn't the same as when I first saw it. But this is made up for on the Polar Special, which is the highlight of the boxset. When first aired, I did prefer the US special. But this directors cut really ups the entertainment. There is about 10 minutes or so added, and it is a great 10 minutes. It shows more of how isolated the Pole is and more bickering between Clarkson and May. It is defiant buy for fans, just that slight error on the US special lets it down.

I agree with you all about the editing etc, thing is the BBc doesnt really exist anymore apart from being a brand, my other half works there - for the moment and if you knew how badly its been dismatled you'd be shocked - especially as its been sold and the public havent been told or seen the profits.... This makes a huge difference to titles like this, and in the end will finish the last bits of quality programming that the BBC do. They are trying to sell off wood lane at the moment so when TV centre goes.....

In my opinion, this DVD follows the the other BBC Dvd's.. a massive let down, yes they have the episodes that we love, but there are very little extra's that we would like to see and also the original music used in the BBC 2 Programmes, are not used in these DVD's (due to music rights) the result? rubbish music inserted as a replacement and its not too good, esp are hearing all the tunes that were in the original

I also noticed that on the america special, a bit of the programme was skipped.. all of a sudden Jeremy has a care Shower, Richard has a grill on the back of the pickup and James.. well we werent told what he bought.

Overall, a good programme, but badly let down by the BBC and its useless DVD editors, who could have had a gem on their hands, but once again took the easy way Out.

i agree with all the others, the polar special is the tops but t he us one has been hacked to pieces, saw more footage on DAVE, come on bbc sort yersens out and bring out the full and expanded version of the us trip

I agree with alot of the other reviewers, the polar special is top class and being extended made it even better, however the US special is a big let down with changes and missing segments which really annoyed me I much prefered the broadcasted version, I wish the BBC or whoever puts these DVD's together would just leave them as they are, why try and change or improve something which is already brilliant from the start. Even so a must buy for any Top Gear fan even just for the Polar Special

Totally agree with what others have said, the Polar Special is first class, worth every penny but the American Special is a huge let down with the over editing, real shame, why do this ? Should at least be the same as shown on the BBC. Buy it for the Polar section, forget about the US Special.

Overall this box-set is a bit of a mixed bag, mainly because of the harsh contrast in the superb extra footage included in the "Director's Cut" version of the Polar Special that really adds to the experience.
The US Special, however, has fallen victim to an excessive amount of editing since it was aired on television. Almost 10 minutes of footage, including some of the best scenes, have been removed and most of the music has been changed, for the worse in my opinion, as well. The result of this is not only that the DVD feels lacking something when compared to the original version aired on BBC 2 , but it also leaves a rather large hole in the continuity where whoever's watching is forced to ask where on earth Clarkson's shower and Hammond's grill came from.

All in all, it is good to be able to own this box-set, but I cannot help but feel that the US Special should have been treated in the same way as the Polar Special and that the episode where they travel to Africa should have been included. Plus some special features would have been nice.

The best news about this 2 disc DVD is that the "Polar Special" is the "Director's Cut" version with about 12 extra minutes of footage. Sadly, those extra minutes still don't show us whether Hammond finally made it to the pole or not, and the disc is also befeft of any other kind of special features. A "Making of" or Director's Commentary would have really been great. A hell of a lot of logistics must have gone into making this special show, and the BBC seems to have missed out on the opportunity by not providing any behind-the-scenes features. Even without the extras though, it is still an essential watch.

While the Polar Special has added footage, the "US Special" seems to be missing some, as it only runs to 52 minutes. It would have been nice to have some extra scenes on here as well. Again, it's all completely staged and fake, but it would be nice to have someone talk about how they pulled it off and if they really drove around Alabama with those slogans on their cars. It's sometimes hard to tell with this show what is fake and what is real, a bit of behind the scenes documentaries would be really welcome.

Overall, then, "Top Gear" is brilliant - the best thing on TV by a mile. It's a shame they couldn't include the "African Special" in this boxset as well though. Jeremy Clarkson for Prime Minister!

Another outing for the best threesome on TV, and yes it would have been great to have the African Adventure on a third disc but I have no doubt it will come. Great viewing with the terrible trio on top form (especially on the US adventure). The only downside is, once again, small sections have been edited out on the US disc and maybe a few extras to sweeten the pot would have been nice (well BBC??). Overall, well worth buying.....