The Burma Special was a two-part special episode of the BBC motoring show Top Gear which saw the three presenters using a trio of derelict lorries to travel across Burma, also known by its modern name of Myanmar, to Thailand in order to construct a bridge over the River Kwai, in reference to the 1957 movie starring Alec Guinness. The special aired as the penultimate and final episode in Top Gear's twenty-first series, on the 9th of March, 2014 and the 16th of March, 2014 respectively. The special aired in two parts like 2013's Africa Special which preceded it, and 2014's later Patagonia Special, which succeeded it. The combined runtime of both episodes is 125 minutes, or 2 hours and 5 minutes.
The Burma Special faced controversy after its airing when viewers complained that Jeremy used a racial epithet in the second part of the episode when referring simultaneously to the gradient on their bridge and a local Thai man crossing it.
Lorries[]
Lorry | Make/Model | Driver |
---|---|---|
Isuzu TX Dump Truck | Jeremy Clarkson | |
Isuzu TX Farm Truck | Richard Hammond | |
Hino FB110 | James May |
Part 1[]
The first part of the Burma Special aired on the 9th of March, 2014. It was the 168th episode overall.
Jeremy Clarkson arrives in Rangoon first with an Isuzu TX, wearing a tie. James May then arrived in a Hino FB110, complete with a crane that Jeremy repeatedly tells him is not a lorry. James then comments about the tie, Jeremy saying it is because he is a modern lorry driver, not one with egg on his vest and possessing pornography. Richard Hammond soon arrived, also in an Isuzu TX, with egg on his vest and pornography in his glove compartment. They inspect the lorry to see it was used to carry grain and drugs before Richard notes Jeremy's lorry has large hanging paint chips. A producer then arrives with a challenge: Drive to the River Kwai and build a bridge. So the boys hit the road. But first they had to pass through the capital of Burma, Rangoon. However, navigated by James who guided everyone into the small streets where Hammond's lorry in particular was having trouble, due to low wires of electronic wiring. Jeremy even crashed into an apple stall and when he tried to pay for the damage, the lady shop assistant refused the money. After a few hours they finally drove out of town, but James took a wrong turn and drove the wrong way the whole time. When they later realized this, James suggested they go back and start again. but Jeremy said they would take a shortcut over the hills to the original route. So they drove over the hills where James' lorry kept breaking down, leading to James' anger. When they crossed the hills they had another problem as the lorries were running out of fuel. So they stopped and Jeremy went to find fuel while James and Hammond waited. When Jeremy came back he told the boys that he hadn't found any fuel but said the next village had fuel and he had hired horses to get to the next village. Unfortunately they didn't get there because the horses were unruly and Hammond even fell and broke his wrist and had to be in hospital for a few days. When he returned from the hospital early the next morning, Jeremy told him that he hadn't had much sleep because James had been snoring so he had to lift his tent with the crane and put it up to get some sleep.
More to be added
Part 2[]
The second part of the Burma Special aired on the 16th of March, 2014. It was the 169th episode overall. The boys continued their journey on very bad roads. They met a lot of soldiers along the way. A few long hours later they arrived in a part of Burma where they said they were the first from Western. They were even invited to a party there. So the boys took a bath and went to celebrate. Jeremy and Hammond had fun, Hammond liked the local whisky very much and Jeremy ate the local cuisine. James didn't enjoy it much though because he was alone. The next morning they all woke up, but Hammond was hungover and not feeling well. But they continued on their journey and after many hours they arrived in Thailand, and then drove to the place where they were to build the bridge. They were immediately informed that work on the bridge would start at 5:00 a.m., which shocked them because they had expected to get some sleep. At 5:11 in the morning they started work. Hammond and Jeremy wanted to measure the depth but Hammond complained about the temperature of the water. After that they divided the work and the work. Despite the fact that the work was supposed to start at 5:00 the next day Jeremy didn't get up until 9:40 ( we can see that he has an iPhone 4S). After a very hard work and after 15 days they accomplished their task but not Quite because all three trucks had to cross the bridge with it. James crossed without any problems, Jeremy also but Hammond almost destroyed the whole Bridge but also crossed and the boys completed their task..
Errors[]
- At some point during the bridge building in Part 2, when Richard says ‘Spiky things’, his watch is on his right wrist while the bandage was on his left. This may have been a mirrored shot.
Trivia[]
- Series 21, Episode 7 was the first and only time in Series 21 that viewing figures broke 7 million, and it was a feat that would be achieved two final times during the show's successive Patagonia Special.
- The Burma Special is the fourth Top Gear special to be filmed in an Asian country, after Vietnam in the Vietnam Special, India in the India Special, and Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine in the Middle East Special.
- The Burma Special was followed by the Patagonia Special which means that four special episodes of Top Gear aired consecutively in 2014.
- Airing of the show courted controversy when Hammond and Clarkson made racist remarks about Thai people.
- May brought along a mountaineering tent for this special, which was twice suspended in the air by his lorry's crane by Clarkson due to May's snoring.