Top Gear (series 7)

Main review: Hammond addresses the fictitious complaints of viewers that want a mid-level supercar in the £235,000 bracket. The answer: the Ascari KZ1, a British supercar (although designed by a Dutchman with an engine from the BMW M5. The Stig then takes the car to a 1:20.7, below the Porsche Carrera GT.

News: The three look at the Mini Cooper Estate Concept from the Tokyo Auto Salon. Clarkson mocks BMW's attempt to make a "quintessentially British" car by making references to Nazi Germany.

Challenge: Hammond, May, and Clarkson went head to head to compare the new Aston Martin V8 Vantage, the BMW M6, and Porsche 911 on the Isle of Man.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Trevor Eve shows Jeremy sign language he learned while making Children of a Lesser God, lap of 1:48.0 but the Stig believed he could have gone faster if the wheel hadn't broken off the Liana.

Poll: How reliable is your car? According to the poll, 10 of the bottom 13 cars were of French origin. The top 3 were all Japanese: the Lexus RX (3rd), the Lexus IS (2nd), and the Honda S2000 (1st place).

Main review: Clarkson reviews the Porsche Cayman, which is cut short by the director's expression of disgust at Clarkson complaining about mostly everything about the car (which he bought as an investment, to Jeremy's own disgust). Clarkson was so sure that it was merely a Boxster Coupé that he refused to call it anything but a Coxster. The Stig posts a 1:26.7 for the Cayman.

News: Hammond shows one viewer's attempt to get directions from Nottingham to Bideford, while avoiding the M5 motorway via the RAC plc website. The route took her into the Atlantic Ocean, into France, and crosses Ireland twice.

Documentary and Review: Hammond explains the history of British racing green, with a run in a Bentley Blower, and a 1903 Napier and reviews a recreation of a Vanwall F1 car.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Ian Wright discusses why footballers like David Beckham, Wes Brown and John O'Shea would buy a Lincoln Navigator. Lap of 1:47.8.

Challenge: Hammond and May play with life-size radio control cars made from real cars. After each had a turn at the controls and in the passenger seat, one rode in the car while the other attempted to navigate it through a quarry floor course, and keep a caravan from being crushed by a wrecking ball. The two then raced against the British Under-15 Radio Control Champion on a new course, ending with them trying to jump another caravan, and (of course) failing.

Challenge: Clarkson, in an Audi RS4, competed against the climber Leo Houlding to see who could make it to the top of the Verdon Gorge in France. After he loses the hillclimb challenge he challenges the climber to descend faster than he does, whereupon the climber base-jumps to the bottom. Clarkson thinks the RS4 is a landmark departure from the usually tepid fast Audis, and hails the lightweight, high-revving V8 as one of the best engines ever made.

Main review: Clarkson reviews the Ford Focus ST (jokingly referred to as the ASBO), bringing a modern touch to British motoring. With as much power as the hot Renault Megane from last series, Jeremy lavishes the car with praise. The Stig takes the car to a 1:34.9 time, on a slippery and foggy track. If under normal conditions, it would have been the fastest hatchback yet tested.

News: Top Gear announces that they won an International Emmy for the Non-Scripted Entertainment category. Clarkson explains that he was unable to go to New York to receive the award since he was too busy writing the script for that episode.

Star in a reasonably priced car: British transport minister Stephen Ladyman injures the Liana when he loses control of the car and goes backward into a tyre wall. Despite this setback, Ladyman posts a time of 1:48.8. Ladyman reveals that he is a petrolhead and owns an Alfa Romeo despite his staunch law-and-order stance on speed cameras.

The Cool Wall: Clarkson and Hammond argue about the positioning of the cars presented for the Cool Wall for the whole segment, starting with the positioning of the Aston Martin V8 in the fridge, and the Vauxhall Astra VXR and Mercedes SLK55 AMG in the "Cool" region (Hammond moves the Mercedes picture in the "Uncool" section). In the end Clarkson and Hammond literally fight over the placement of the BMW M6, the fight going into the crowd. Hammond eats the card, which May cites shortly after - "Hamsters eat cardboard!".

Road Trip: All three presenters each took a favourite supercar - a Pagani Zonda, a Ford GT, and a Ferrari F430 - on a trans-France road trip to the recently completed Millau Viaduct, a similarly fantastic example of engineering skill as explained by Clarkson. Notable events included their creation of a serious traffic jam in the backstreets of Paris attempting to leave a car park; the problem was that, owing to the angle of the slope onto the road combined with the low bodies of the cars, the fronts were scraping the ground and they could only escape (very slowly) after improvising a shallower ramp and removing front spoilers. Also, May for once defied his "Captain Slow" nickname, driving the Ferrari F430 faster than Hammond in the Pagani Zonda and Clarkson in the Ford GT on a twisting mountain road, describing the car as "Ballerina's point shoe" compared to the others' construction-site boots.

Two fast times highlight this episode of Top Gear.

Main review: Hammond reviews the heavily revised Pagani Zonda F, with a carbon fibre Body, magnesium wheels, carbon-ceramic brakes, and an improved structure. The improvements to the car leave him genuinely speechless, and help it garner the fastest power lap time of 1:18.4 by The Stig.

News: The presenters mourn the death of World Rally champion Richard Burns, who died at the age of 34 two weeks before. He had made two earlier Top Gear appearances, once touting rallying as more technologically influential and interesting than Formula One, and on another occasion test-driving the Peugeot RC on the Top Gear track.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Ellen MacArthur tells what its like sleeping on her around the world sailing trip, and pulls the fastest lap on the power board with a lap of 1:46.7.

Challenge: James May drives in a competition to race the new Renault Clio through Lisbon, Portugal against the downhill mountain biker Gee Atherton.

Challenge: Each presenter is told to buy a used Italian supercar for £10,000 and drive from Bristol to a strip club in Slough, with challenges along the way, including a lap around Castle Combe raceway trying to beat the Stig's 1:35 laptime in a diesel Vauxhall Astra, the measurement of lost horsepower from their worn engines, an insurance estimate, a DIY tune-up against the clock involving an oil change and replacing spark plugs, and trying to park in a tight space in Marlborough town square. Clarkson buys a misbadged Maserati Merak, thinking it is an SS model until the horsepower test (where it delivered a woeful 80 bhp), May buys a broken-down 117 bhp Lamborghini Urraco, and Hammond buys a 194 bhp Ferrari 308GT4 with severe rust problems. In the end, none of the supercars reach Slough, as the Merak's engine blew up in dramatic fashion whilst on the road, and the electrical systems of the 308GT4 and the Urraco fail (the reason the Urraco was broken down in the first place, and having caused continual difficulty throughout the challenge). In addition, though the Urraco's final breakdown was comparitively close to the intended destination, this led to it causing a traffic jam on the outskirts of Slough.

Main review: Hammond reviews the Marcos TSO GT2. Hammond likens it to the much-loved Monaro in terms of its way of marrying muscular American power to easily controllable (if not actually nimble) handling, and also the TVR Sagaris - though when pushed, he admitted this was because it broke down several times. The Stig manages to take it to a time of 1:28.2. During the studio segment of the review, Clarkson "discovers" a tooth-whitening kit in the Marcos, to which Hammond's reply was: "IT'S A PLANT!!!".

News: The group reviews stupid automotive accessories.

Star in a reasonably priced car: F1 and IndyCar champion Nigel Mansell takes the lead on the F1 lap board with a 1:44.6. Mansell's time proves a theory from The Stig that the Liana could garner a 1:44 lap time.

Challenge: The Stig compared the drivetrains of RR vs. 4WD on the Porsche 911 on an indoor exhibition rally track of the World Rally Championship at Millennium Stadium to settle a debate by Porsche fans. The Carrera 4 was half a second faster, but according to James May the Stig said the 2WD Carrera was nicer to drive.

Main Race: Hammond and May once again attempted to beat Clarkson in a race across Europe using transport other than a car. This time, as May had almost earned himself a fully-fledged pilot's licence, their chosen mode of transport was a Cessna 182 (light aircraft), hired from West London Aero Club. After an initial shaky start because of May's insistence on lengthy pre-flight checks and a circuitous route to avoid mountains exceeding the plane's flight ceiling, they made good time on Jeremy, but were forced to make an early landing and travel the remainder of the journey by Eurostar as May was not licensed to fly after nightfall. Once again, Clarkson won by a whisker, aided by his 1001 bhp (746 kW) Bugatti Veyron supercar, reaching the top of the Natwest Tower minutes (or rather even seconds; at a certain point all three were on the same floor of the building) before the other two.

Main review: Volkswagen Golf R32 and the BMW 130i. After originally conceding that the BMW was more fun and seemed faster on a dry track, Clarkson was amazed to see that the R32 trounced the 130i with a lap time of 1:30.4 over the 130i's 1:31.9. But it fell in line with his other heavy criticisms of the lack of practicality and the price of the BMW.

Challenge: Hammond and May argue about the state of modern-day driving, which sparked a time trial showdown at Prescott Hill Climb Course, pitting a Austin-Healey Sprite representing a mostly middle-aged classic car owners club, versus a modified Peugeot 306 backed by a more youthful group. The Stig takes the two around, with the Sprite, on a serious race-focussed diet, defeating the showy and stereo-laden 306 by one second.

Review and Challenge: Hammond tests the Mazda MX-5, which involved racing the car against a greyhound at a dog-racing dirt track. The dog won.

Star in a reasonably priced car: Little Britain star David Walliams and comedian Jimmy Carr appear with Walliams' lap time of 1:50.7 slower than Carr's. Walliams also tells of his love of Aston Martin.

2005 Top Gear Awards:

• Biggest Surprise - Audi RS4
• Ugliest Car - BMW 3 Series
• Best Car - Bugatti Veyron
• Best Engine Noise - Aston Martin V8 Vantage
• Best German - Sabine Schmitz
• The most ill-advised piece of facial hair in motorsport - Fernando Alonso
• Gas Guzzler - Ford GT
• Coolest Car - Aston Martin V8 Vantage (according to Clarkson), Porsche 911 (according to Hammond and the script)
• The Golden Cock - James May

Challenge: In the final segment, Clarkson travelled to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California to compare racing a lap in real life versus the video game Gran Turismo 4. Clarkson's time of 1:41.148 for the video game was substantially faster than the 1:57 time that he was able to do on the real course due to the course omitting a few details of the track and Clarkson's inability to replicate digital bravery in real life. This section also featured a farewell to the NSX.

Best of Top Gear: A review of the series.

Challenge: Heathrow to Oslo (Mercedes SLR vs Plane, bus, ferry, speedboat, speedboat, bus... (from Series 6, Episode 6)

Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car: Davina McCall, from Series 6, Episode 10

Review: The Ford Focus ST (dubbed the "ASBO"), from Series 7, Episode 3

Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car: Christopher Eccleston, from Series 6, Episode 3

Challenge: Sideways rolls World Record attempt, from Series 6, Episode 9

Biathlon: Clarkson raced a Volvo XC90 against May in an Audi Q7, cross-country, with 2 shooting rounds mid-course (the loser had to eat "golden snow"). May used a standard Biathlon .22 rifle, while Clarkson opted for a H&K MP5 machine pistol. Despite the increased firepower, Clarkson missed every target. However, near the end, May crashed into a tree and had to dig himself out. Despite this, May re-overtook Clarkson at the end and won the race.

Cold weather endurance: Hammond was subjected to Arctic temperatures in a Citroën C1, in a bid to see who will crack first: man or machine? After being subjected to a temperature of about minus-40 celsius, Hammond narrowly beat the car, concluding that 'if you're going to drive to the North Pole, buy a Hammond'. (Ironically disproved in later series by his runner-up placing in the Polar Challenge)

Speed skating: Clarkson ('Torville' with no ability to walk on ice) raced a Jaguar XK8 against a human skater (Introduced by May as 'Dean', actually speed skater Eskil Ervik) on the ice course of Vikingskipet Olympic Arena. Clarkson was terrible at this event as his Jag had no grip whatsoever, being lapped twice by Ervik.

Off-road slalom: May and Clarkson raced a four-wheel drive Land Rover Discovery and a two-wheel drive Jaguar XK8 against the clock, on just about five inches of frozen lake. May declared himself the winner as he was the fastest, but was disputed by Clarkson, who claimed his run to have been more graceful and interesting.

Bobsleigh: In a repeated segment from Series 5 Episode 8, Hammond and a bobsleigh team race against May and a Mitsubishi Evo rally car piloted by Norwegian Henning Solberg, along near-identical courses. Hammond won by 3 seconds in the end.

Ice hockey: Ten Suzuki Swifts played 5-a-side hockey, in teams captained by Hammond and May, and refereed by Clarkson. At one point, Hammond's team were winning 2-0, but a biased Clarkson intervened and successfully helped May to 2-2. The result was 5-4 to Hammond's team.

Ski jumping Could a rocket-powered Mini jump further than a skier from a downhill slope? The answer is...................No.

The episode ended with a ski jump on a snowmobile driven by The Stig.

In the end credits, everybody was named Björn (except for Hammond, May and The Stig; who took the names Benny, Agnetha and Anni-Frid respectively).

Carr: Jimmy Carr takes us on a short tour of the Top Gear production offices, green room, make-up, etc.

Challenge: Clarkson, in an Audi RS4, vs. speed mountain-climbers, at a gorge in France, from Series 7, Episode 2

Carr: Jimmy tours The Stig's room, then goes to the track, where Walliams is doing his laps, and interview The Stig

Challenge: Hammond joins Sabine Schmitz at the Nürburgring, where she attempts a lap of less than ten minutes, in a Transit van, from Series 6, Episode 7

Carr: Jimmy tours the car park, commenting on the cars held therein. He then interviews May, who relates a tale of being "the other guy".

Challenge: Clarkson drives the Mercedes SLK55 AMG and Porsche Boxster S around a deserted village, whilst being shot at be an elite 8-man sniper squadron, from Series 6, Episode 5

Reviews: Hamster and Slow play "Road Test Roulette", reviewing the cars of drunk people, from Series 6, Episode 9

Carr: The crowd is interviewed, and The Stig bothered.

Review: Clarkson tests the Aston Martin Vanquish S in a race against Steve Coogan, driving his Ferrari F575, from Series 5, Episode 4

The Second Hand Italian Mid-Engined Supercars for Less Than a Second - hand Mondeo Challenge, from Series 7, Episode 4

Hammond in Mazda MX-5 vs Greyhound, from Series 7, Episode 6

The Top Gear Toupée Test: The Stig drives a be-wigged man in open-topped sportscars, from Series 3, Episode 5

May in Renault Clio vs an urban biker, from Series 7, Episode 4. The biker was faster by 10 seconds.

Clarkson in Range Rover Sport vs a Challenger 2, from Series 6, Episode 1