Series 9 of Top Gear starts with Richard Hammond returning to the show after his accident in the Vampire dragster. He's been driving the rocket powered car during the filming season and been in the hospital a good long while. He managed to survive pretty much OK but it's a chilling reminder that fast cars are dangerous. Jeremy Clarkson and James May welcome him back with a fancy stairwell and some dancing girls, then it's business at usual.
The series first aired January to March 2007 and there were 6 episodes. A Best of Series 8 aired March 1 2007. The 9th series was followed by two specials. The guys spend a good bit of time in England but they do get to Scotland, the USA, Germany, Canada and the Magnetic North Pole.
In the first episode the trio attempt to make road repairs in a day instead of a week. It doesn't go so well but it might have if the system was set up for 24 hours working. The cost was higher but that might be worth it for certain roads. It sure helps with driver frustration to have less road work.
James takes the Bugatti Veyron to it's top speed, 407 km or 253 miles per hour. I wouldn't want to go that fast in a car. The trio take a trip from Miami to New Orleans to see if it's better to buy a cheap car for their trip instead of renting one. Since they are in the south they rile up the locals with provoking signs on their vehicles. They gave away their cars at the end of the trip.
Richard and James try to turn a Reliant Robin into a space shuttle. It launches but sadly it blows up in a really nice explosion. The guys buy British cars and turn them into stretch limos. That doesn't go so well either. At least there were no explosions, other than from the clients they were transporting in their limos.
Guest star in reasonably priced cars include Jamie Oliver, Hugh Grant, Simon Pegg, Kristin Scott Thomas and Billie Piper.
I also watched the two specials that appeared after the 9th series aired.
Top Of The Pops aired March 16 2007 and it was like a Top Gear and Top Of The Pops mash up. With the trio there to mash things stuff gets broken. McFly has to write a son with sofa, Hyundai and administration in the lyrics. They can't use love, baby or heart. There are some other musicians appearing and Adrian Edmondson appears with Supergrass. I didn't find it as entertaining as their regular episodes.
Polar Special aired July 25 2007 and in this program the trio travel to the Magnetic North Pole. Richard takes a dog sled and races James and Jeremy in a specially outfitted Toyota Hilux pick- up truck.
The truck wins the race and Richard quits without getting to the pole. It was a pretty amazing trip. That Toyota had tires that were specially made for it. They cost $2500 each. The truck had more than $100,000 worth of adaptations, including a swing down toilet seat.
All in all a good series and a great special. Sadly most of these aren't available on DVD here in the US. I watched them on YouTube. I could buy better looking copies off of the streaming services but I haven't.