Series 19

Hammond puts the latest Italian hypercar, the Pagani Huayra, through its paces at the Track, while May heads to Wales to tackle a stage of the World Rally Championship in the new Bentley Continental GT Speed, attempting to beat a WRC car with Kris Meeke at the wheel. Meanwhile, Clarkson builds an even smaller car than the Peel P50 the P45 and tests it before presenting it to the Dragons’ Den panel, and actor Damian Lewis takes on the snowy test track in the Kia Cee’d.

The trio set off on a road trip through Nevada and California, each convinced they have chosen the ultimate supercar. Clarkson backs the Lexus LFA, May champions the new Aston Martin Vanquish, and Hammond argues the case for the SRT Viper. Beginning in the Valley of Fire, they travel through Las Vegas and head to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for police-run drag races, visit the Civic Musical Road, and take part in an aerial game of Laser Quest at Willow Springs International Motorsports Park. The journey continues to Los Angeles, where their antics at the Sepulveda Dam land them in trouble, before concluding with a race from Palm Springs to Calexico on the Mexican border. The last presenter to arrive must cross into Mexico and review the country’s first supercar in a future episode. Meanwhile, Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood is the latest star to tackle the track in the Kia.

The producers secure a single ticket to a UEFA Champions League match at the San Siro in Milan, where AC Milan face Anderlecht, and challenge Clarkson, Hammond, and May to race from Wembley Stadium in London to Northern Italy to see who arrives first. This time, the car faces serious competition, as high-speed European rail travel has improved dramatically over the past decade, while Channel crossings have become slower. Hammond and May choose to cooperate by travelling together by train to Milan before competing against each other for the final sprint to the stadium. Clarkson, meanwhile, is forbidden from choosing an expensive or exotic supercar and instead attempts to beat them by driving a Shelby Mustang GT500, named after Carroll Shelby, who was able to see the latest Mustang before his death. Elsewhere in the episode, Clarkson tests the Toyota GT86 at the Top Gear Test Track to see whether it lives up to its reputation as a modern driver’s car, and singer Amy Macdonald is the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, completing a lap in the Kia Cee’d.

Clarkson puts three hot hatches head to head at the Top Gear Test Track to find out which is best: the Vauxhall Astra VXR, the Ford Focus ST, and the Renault Mégane Renault Sport Cup 265. Meanwhile, Hammond travels to Mexico to review the country’s first domestically produced sports car, the Mastretta MXT, following his loss in the previous episode’s race. Back in the UK, Clarkson subjects the new Kia Cee’d to a series of challenges before taking on May in a game of “Car Rugby” at Twickenham Stadium. The episode also sees Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton return to the track to attempt to beat his previous lap time in the Suzuki Liana.

Clarkson and Hammond set out to prove that elderly drivers would be safer on the road if they had a car designed specifically for them. Using a Fiat Multipla as a starting point, the pair modify it with a range of features aimed at older motorists, before putting their creation to the test in Christchurch, Dorset, where they enlist the help of several elderly drivers to give their verdict. Meanwhile, May tests the new Range Rover on the streets of London before travelling to the Nevada Automotive Test Center in the United States to see how capable it really is off-road, taking part in a ten-mile race against an autonomous military vehicle known as Terra Max. Back at the Top Gear Test Track, actor James McAvoy is the latest guest to lap the circuit in the Kia Cee’d.

The first part of the Top Gear Africa Special, in which Clarkson, Hammond, and May set out to find the true source of the River Nile. Armed with second-hand estate cars bought on a £1,500 budget, Clarkson chooses a BMW 528i Touring, Hammond opts for a Subaru Impreza WRX Estate, and May selects a Volvo 850R Estate. Beginning their journey at Lake Victoria, long believed by Victorian explorers to be the Nile’s source, the trio travel through Uganda towards Lake Edward, which they believe may hold the real answer. Along the way they pass through Entebbe Airport, battle heavy traffic in Kampala, and contend with harsh road conditions before converting their cars into makeshift mobile homes for the remainder of the expedition. When their initial theory proves incorrect, the journey takes a dramatic turn as they head south into Tanzania and the Serengeti, pursuing a new theory that the source of the Nile lies there instead.

Part two of the Top Gear Africa Special, as Clarkson, Hammond, and May continue their search for the true source of the River Nile in Tanzania. Facing increasingly hostile conditions, the presenters battle muddy tracks, punishing dirt roads, and some of the most challenging terrain ever attempted on Top Gear, all while taking in the dramatic landscapes of East Africa. Along the way, they resort to salvaging parts from each other’s cars to stay mobile, attempt to cross a river using a home-made ferry, and tackle a notoriously car-destroying road across the Serengeti. As the journey nears its end and the trio break camp for the final time, cooperation gives way to competition, with the expedition turning into a race to see which presenter can be the first to locate and reach the source of the Nile.