| "Top Gear: Middle East Special" | |
|---|---|
| Top Gear episode | |
 | |
| Episode no. | Series 16 Episode 2 |
| Directed by | Phil Churchward |
| Presented by | |
| Production codes |
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| Original air date | 26 December 2010 |
| Running time | 76 minutes |
"Top Gear: Middle East Special" is a 76-minute-long extended episode of Top Gear series 16. The film predates the Syrian Civil War and involves a 1,200-mile (1,900 km) road-trip from Erbil International Airport in Iraqi Kurdistan to Bethlehem, nominally recreating the journey of the Three Wise Men.[1] Their journey takes them across the Middle East via southern Turkey, the cities of Aleppo, Palmyra and Damascus in Syria, then Jerash in Jordan and finally the Mount of Olives.[2] The journey includes visiting an abandoned theme park, and a stop at Ein Gev on the Sea of Galilee.
- ^ "James May hurt during Top Gear stunt". The Daily Telegraph. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ Ivie, Devon (8 December 2017). "The Grand Tour's Jeremy Clarkson on the One Critic Who Got to His Head and Why He's Not Optimistic About His Legacy". Vulture.com. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
[Devon Ivie] … filming in Syria and Iraq, what, six years ago? [Jeremy Clarkson] A brief window. We were only 40 kilometers from Mosul then. We drove through Aleppo. I've never forgotten — James May got out of his BMW in Syria and there was a big crowd shouting at him, "Welcome to Syria, Mr. Slowly!" And I went off for a cup of coffee in this little shop and had a fantastic night there. You look at it now, and the cities are simply gone. Erased. … And then we went to Jerusalem. That's not going to be possible for the next week or two, for sure.