The Grand Tour

The Grand Tour is a British motoring programme. It aired on Amazon Prime Video from 18 November 2016 to 13 September 2024. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May present it. The show picked up where their time on Top Gear left off.

The first two series followed a studio format with a travelling tent. From series three onwards, it dropped the tent and focused on specials. The trio drove across places like Mongolia, Madagascar, Scandinavia, and Zimbabwe. The final special, One for the Road, took them through Zimbabwe in three cars they had always wanted to own. The series has five seasons in total. Andy Wilman produced it, as he did with Top Gear before.

What I Loved

The specials are where the show finds its best form. Free from studio segments, the three get to do what they do best: drive somewhere far, argue about everything, and nearly die. The Mongolia special stands out, with vast empty landscapes and real hardship. The Mauritania episode has some of the most striking filming the trio have ever done.

The final special hits hard. You feel the weight of an ending. Three old friends driving together for the last time, knowing it, and trying not to say it. The cars they pick tell you who they are. The humour still lands, but quieter moments carry more feeling than anything they did before.

Why You Should Watch

If you liked the trio on Top Gear, this gives you more of the same spirit with a bigger budget. The specials look stunning. Amazon let them go anywhere and film with care. Each one runs between 70 and 90 minutes and feels like a proper film.

You do not need to watch in order. Pick a place that interests you and start there. Fans of travel, cars, or just three friends being stupid together will enjoy it. The final special works as a farewell not just to this show but to 22 years of the three of them on screen together.

Favourite Quote

"And on that terrible disappointment, it is time to end not just this episode, but this series, and in fact this show, forever."

Clarkson says this at the close of the final special. It echoes his old Top Gear sign-off but lands with real weight. A simple line that marks the end of an era.

Takeaway

Good friendships outlast any job or format. The show proves that people watch for the people, not the cars. Growing older does not mean growing dull. Saying goodbye well matters. And the best road trips are never really about the road.

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