Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May demonstrate their love for compact, small-engined cars with a trip to Ukraine.

With Clarkson in a Volkswagen Up, Hammond in a Ford Fiesta and May in a Dacia Sandero, the trio zoom around the Crimean peninsula absorbing some local history, visiting an old Soviet submarine pen and enjoying their manoeuvrable, economical cars to the full. Unfortunately, their carefree time is curtailed when they are challenged to a vast drive, heading north across one of the largest countries in Europe, and they must take any step necessary to fight the immense boredom of a long car journey.

Eventually, the three arrive in Kiev only to receive one final and truly fearsome challenge: to complete their journey they must drive into Chernobyl.

Also in this programme, Jeremy is on the track in a very fast and very orange supercar from Denmark, the 1086 horsepower Zenvo ST1.

Finally, the Reasonably Priced Car welcomes back singer James Blunt, who talks about his new album and attempting to beat his own lap time out on the track.

Richard Hammond is in Abu Dhabi to drive a new hybrid sports car from Porsche. It is called the 918 and it combines a 4.6-litre V8 petrol engine with a pair of electric motors to create an 886 horsepower, four-wheel drive supercar sensation. Hammond takes a nocturnal trip to the famous Yas Marina Grand Prix to see if the 918 has what it takes to beat McLaren's hybrid hypercar, the P1. Although the two cars have yet to go head to head, there is much riding on the outcome since if the German machine proves to be faster around the Top Gear track than its British rival, Jeremy Clarkson has promised to change his name to Jennifer.

Also in this show, Clarkson and James May are tasked with shooting a public information film to promote safer cycling. Along the way, the pair create some hard-hitting imagery, take a 'fact-finding' ride around the streets of London, and present their film-making efforts to an expert panel featuring bigwigs from Westminster Council and Olympic gold medal-winning cycling legend Chris Boardman.

Elsewhere in the programme, Clarkson is also the judge for a hot hatchback showdown between the latest iteration of the legendary Volkswagen Golf GTI and a powerful, rear-wheel-drive pretender from BMW called the M135i.

Finally, there is an American in the Reasonably Priced Car as Aaron Paul, star of Breaking Bad and Need for Speed, tries his hand in the Astra out on the test track.