Will Smith (joeygil/Bigstock.com)

Our three favourite puerile petrolheads may have failed to insult an entire nation (vis-a-vis the Patagonia Christmas special) in episode four of Top Gear, but they were highly entertaining nonetheless.

Perhaps surprisingly for Top Gear, they went on about cars for the entire show.

That's right, cars. But this topic seems to give the trio a good deal of scope for silly jokes, which is, after all, why most of our annual breakdown cover customers – and the rest of the planet – tune in.

Given the viewing figures from home and abroad, their laddish approach seems to be working well.

Who could fail to be amused by Hammond's re-creation of a famous Land Rover advert from the Seventies? There was even a moment when it could have gone rather pear-shaped, supported as Hammond was by just a winch and a rope. Given Hammond's history, it seemed all the more possible for something to go awry. Thankfully, however, it didn’t.

Clarkson and May were behind the wheels of two sporty coupes, providing plenty of opportunities for ridiculous similes ("Going around the corner is like wrestling with the tail of a crocodile," said Clarkson in a BMW).

But the piece-de-resistance was arguably Will Smith's appearance on the sofa, after getting behind the wheel of a rather low-key hatchback in the ‘Star in a Reasonably Priced Car’ segment. For such a Hollywood A-lister to be in so down-to-earth a vehicle could have gone either way – but somehow the contrast worked.

Smith’s appearance on the show is testament to Top Gear’s power.

Long may it continue.