I'm now even more confused but I have a solution/work around

this works and finishes in under 3 mins :-
    use sipr
    insert into #GridView_Temp

It's not a disk /table size problem - loads of space
MAXDOP 1  - made very little difference
yes I'm returning all the columns

I have also been trying...

file attached

SELECT

*

The view definition is dreadful - it pulls al sorts of information from multiple tables.
But I still don't understand - I run a select on the view - quick...

0 rows effected straight away
straight sqlplan is too large so zipped version attached

execution plan attached

sorry - I thought it might be the server link - It's not - it all happens on the same server 2 databases

1 with the view and the...

I've majorly simplified things - I'm doing all on one server now
Below is the sql
If I run - sipr