there were shortfalls. Nigel Mansell has something to say, but his delivery wasn't the best. I think that the producers might want to take stock and ask themselves whether a chat show + taped segments format can be shot in a public place - most chat shows have multiple takes and are pretty tightly scripted - and this was clearly neither of those. Picking Obree was both clever and brave, and I think it pretty much came off.
And again....how many people who know their stuff would make decent presenters? Turn the thing around and spool back to the horrendous Gadget Show ep which had brakes on the wrong side of the forks and presenters riding £10k road bikes with trainers on. So, whatever the shortcomings of Rob Hayles (and, yes, his commentary was dire) at least he knew what he was on about. And Obree's comment about the course was spot on - there's a problem with the Road Race course, and my guess is that the risks that Hayles spoke of will be turned in to blood and tears.
So.......more scripting, which means better preparation. That's not easy - I don't know what the budget was, but I do know that Cash in the Attic was pumped out for £22k an episode for a 43% share, so I would imagine that there's not a lot of time and not a lot of choice about the presenters.
Gary Fisher was good value - he spoke in sentences, he was happy to be there, he steadied Obree a little, He's in pretty good shape as well.
And, sorry, but Hemingway was just great. I'm not a helmet wearer, but his contribution was pithy, precise, and probably pitched right on the attention span cusp.
All in all - a decent start. I suspect that Century TV's intention is to make it a multi-platform effort, and
CRC's sponsorship probably points the way forward - in five years time only the biggest broadcast shows will be paying more than broadband output.