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In the first of our two-part series on television’s most famous trio of presenters, we covered their time at Top Gear.
Though the moments to recall are just too many, we had to really cut it down and focus only on five.
This is same with the vehicular lunacy that was The Grand Tour.
After three seasons not only the series came to an end, but also them presenting and giving us very informative matters (read: entertaining) on all things motoring.
Fortunately for us, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May made it clear that they are not done with Amazon, and they’re definitely not done entertaining us.
They’ll be back.
Reflecting over three seasons, the three men came together to create some very memorable moments. Much like Top Gear, it’s hard to put everything in a ‘top five’ list. But we tried, and this is what we came up with.
1. The floating tent
1. The travelling tent
In the first season of The Grand Tour the hosts did not have a studio. Instead they travelled the world in a tent!
From the USA to England, to Finland and Australia, and even South Africa!
They’ve been everywhere and the crowd consisted of a global audience; something that’s never been done in a motoring series before.
Every episode of the first season was filmed in a different location and the tent would have to be setup at each location.
In the episodes, during their moments of banter, the three presenters would film segments in the country they were hosting the tent in; taking jabs at politics and mannerisms of the people in said country. It was good. In fact, it was television magic.
Perhaps a bit offensive (at times) but oh so brilliant!
2. Celebrity brain crash
The Grand Tour was in many cases was seen as a family show. Despite the crude jokes and frequent use of sexual innuendos, it was a good pastime for many a motoring family.
Bu-u-u-t each of the first seasons' episodes featured a bizarre celebrity death scene.
In the season premiere, Jeremy Renner was scheduled as guest but apparently decided to make a grand entrance. Get it? Grand Tour, grand entrance? Sigh...
The Hollywood star planned a big jump from an aeroplane and then land at the studio by parachute. Renner gave the camera a thumbs-up and took the leap but his parachute failed to open and he tumbled to his apparent "death".
Always prepared with a backup plan, the trio had Armie Hammer take Renner’s place but he was attacked by a poisonous snake and was "killed".
A third guest, Carol Vorderman, was in the tent, but when the trio turned to her as a final backup, she was found dead. Inexplicably killed.
In the second episode, the one filmed in South Africa, Charlize Theron was the guest celebrity and decided to walk to the tent. Sadly, she was attacked by a lion… and died.
Other guests over the first season included Simon Pegg, Jimmy Carr, Tim Burton , and a drunk Kimi Raikkonen.
3. James pushes Hammond
At the start of the second season, Hammond was tasked with driving the Rimac Concept One and partaking in the Hemburg Hill Climb event in Switzerland. Hammond did a stellar job taking the electric sports car up the hill, but when he got to the top he could not bring the car to a halt.
What transpired was a nasty crash that left him with a fractured knee. Not to let his Grand Tour duties slip him by, Hammond returned to film the next episode in which he and May, using public transport, raced against Clarkson, in a Ford GT, to see who can could reach Niagara Falls first.
The cherry on the cake was May, being his clumsy self, failed to take care of his partner during the early parts of the race. But towards the end, with a possible victory looming, he planted Hammond in a wheelchair and proceeded to push his stricken team mate. Whilst running! Fair to say, May nearly collapsed from exhaustion at the end of the race.
4. Lamborghini Urus, S03E05
In the third and final season Clarkson took the new Lamborghini Urus for a spin, around a racetrack. But this is not your ordinary racetrack.
It’s a temporary one made on a frozen lake in Sweden and this is where Clarkson decided to test the Urus' sports SUV capabilities. And to find out, he pits it against a Porsche 911 driven by the series’ racing driver, Abbey Eaton. Clarkson proceeded to chase down Eaton around the racetrack - shaped as male genitalia (no really) - but could not pass the 911. It wasn’t so much that the episode was ground breaking, because it wasn’t, but it was highly entertaining.
5. The final moments
At the end of the third season, in episode 14, Clarkson proceeded to draw the curtain on their illustrious career. Unexpectedly, the big man became emotional and fought against the tears as he bid The Grand Tour tent farewell. They’re closing this chapter in their lives.
They’re finishing up and walking away from this. After a montage of what they’ve done over the last 17 years, one audience member remarked “Don’t stop!”, which garnered cheers and applause from the audience. To which Clarkson responds: "We’re not." And Hammond chirps in: "We can’t! We’d have to get jobs!" The show as we know it will come to an end, but because Amazon loves them and they love Amazon, according to May, they will continue doing big adventures, road trips, and specials! When one door closes, another opens. Beware, world, Jeremy Clarkson is ready with more insensitive insults. And we can’t wait!
