While next week’s ‘One for the Road’ is the last we’ll see of these three on The Grand Tour, the show will reportedly go on.
The wistful trailer for the last episode of The Grand Tour has gearheads the world over on an emotional roller coaster, as this is truly the end of an era. With the departure of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May from the Amazon Prime series (which itself was born out of Clarkson’s ignominious exit from Top Gear) we thought that would be a wrap for the show as a whole. That’s not the case, as it happens, with Hammond noting The Grand Tour will actually continue — just with new presenters.
“We’re stepping away as the hosts, but [Amazon] Prime will be continuing it. So I can’t wait to sit on my own chair and watch somebody else do it. That’s amazing. If you’re making any show that at its heart has a subject, whether it’s cooking, dancing or cars, the primary makers of it, have to have that position in their heart. And we always did.”
The audience obviously thinks so, too, since The Grand Tour has been well-rated by viewers since its launch, with each subsequent season arguably better than the last, even as the format shifted away from talk-show like elements toward highly produced specials.
Also in his interview with UK-based Metro, Hammond also touched on whether the show’s current format would stay the same, or evolve along with the new team of presenters. “That’s for people who are making it to decide. We’ll always be on hand to talk if they want to talk to us, absolutely. But it’s not for us to shape it anymore. We’re stepping away. We made the show that we made. That show was what you get if you put us forward together and the brilliant team around us. But there’ll be a different team doing a different show, and they’ll devise the show that fits them.”
At the moment, it’s unclear who the new presenters will be, or if there’s already a short-list of trios to replace Clarkson, Hammond and May. The show will evidently carry on regardless, however, so we’ll have to wait and see how it all shakes out.
As for the final episode of The Grand Tour in its current form, the guys head across Zimbabwe in a Ford Capri, Lancia Delta Montecarlo and Triumph Stag in ‘One For The Road’, which will air on September 13.
