I have to be honest with you. Originally, I wasn’t going to review Top Gear (BBC Two, Sunday, 2 November, 8pm) even though it was the first in a new series. Nope, originally I was going to review Britannia High (or whatever it’s called) just to see how mangled my mainframe would be after watching. Ironically, Lewis Hamilton, a petrol head of the highest order, won some race or other, which meant Britannia High School Musical was delayed or quite possibly postponed, and I didn’t hang around to wait, flipping between the channels until Top Gear came on… and what a wise move it was.

Related: Our Top Gear section

When there’s nothing on, I’ve often flicked over to Dave and seen many, many repeats of Top Gear. I always enjoy watching (or re-watching) the show, but the spark had dimmed thanks to overkill. Of course, this meant I wasn’t overjoyed at the prospect of a new show. Then the new show began and I was promptly slapped right across the chops and remembered why I love Top Gear so much. From the off, it kicked, spat, gurgled, guffawed, fell over, farted, grunted, swore… everything that you miss from the staid shows of elsewhere. Punk TV is back… and how!

Once, Jeremy Clarkson was pretty keen on the details when reviewing cars. He’d prattle on about horses powers and… stuff. However, now he’s much more prone to conveying a feeling rather than getting out the Haynes manuals. Example? In his review of some Porsche or something, his entire review consisted of him screaming his head off for 2 minutes solid. No words, just “AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!” It’s this new (and improved) attitude that has seen Top Gear going from an oil stain on the drive, to something much more enticing. Like… er… doing a wheelie in a moster truck.

In fact, trucks featured heavily in last nights first-in-new-series. Once more, we all got to have a laugh at what the boys didn’t know, as opposed to what they did know (take note clipboard spods at Fifth Gear). Basically, they went and bought some big fuck-off trucks and screwed the shit out of them. Or, in Clarkson’s case, set the whole damn thing on fire. Environmentalists would have wept for a whole month if they’d seen the thick putrid smoke… but all that crying would invariably contribute to rising sea-levels… would have been Clarkson’s response no doubt.

As well as the motoring fun, the ‘magazine’ section of Top Gear continues to be a major draw. Clarkson’s (it was a Clarkson heavy episode in fairness) interview with fellow Yorkshireman, Michael Parkinson was a real treat. Worth your entrance fee alone was Parky telling the tale of his dad getting hammered on champagne on first class on a plane (a treat from his son) and offering to do the washing up after the meals.

All in all, it was a rip-snorting return from quite possibly the most entertaining show on the box. It doesn’t require any thinking, any emotion involvement… it’s Jackass meets Tiswas for those with a sense of the absurd and those with a sense of humour. One drawback though… just what was that thing on Hammond’s head?