Now given the very rough year Hamster has had - his inverted rocket car ride - you'd have thought he'd get to drive. But no, he was given the task of dog sledding to the pole. No wonder he said he often had a "little weep" on the way.

Last night saw the finest hour of television broadcast in the UK since Top Gear visited Alabama.

Clarkson, May and Hammond set out to reach the North Pole - yes really - with two of them driving a rugged pickup, and the other going via dog sled.

Now given the very rough year Hamster has had - his inverted rocket car ride - you'd have thought he'd get to drive. But no, he was given the task of dog sledding to the pole. No wonder he said he often had a "little weep" on the way.

So the boys took it all very lightly, joking about their training such as the nasty (and thankfully very brief) shot of what a frostbitten penis looks like.

But once heading for the pole things got tough. But for May and Clarkson it didn't get tough right away. Not long after they set off May surprised Clarkson by offering to make him a gin and tonic, "slow down while I cut the lemon."

And who could forget them sat in a tent near the pole as May offered some fois gras, quails eggs and Chablis to an exhausted Jezza.

There were a couple of odd things though. They should have explained they were following Polar Challenge rules and thus actually heading to the 1996 Magnetic Pole, and the ending of the show was a little odd.

I won't spoil things by giving away more moments. Suffice to say you need to watch the repeat on Sunday or download from the usual sources.

You can watch some clips of the show here:

http://www.topgear.com/content/news/stories/2067/