The Grand Tour boss hints at major change to format in final ever episode: ‘Nothing exploded’
The Grand Tour’s final instalment will soon be hitting screens, with beloved trio James May, Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond bidding farewell to their lengthy TV career together.
Executive producer Andy Wilman talked about how the final episode would see a big change from previous shows, detailing it will be a “gentle film”.
The presenting trio formed a close working relationship through BBC’s Top Gear, which they hosted together from 2003 to 2015.
The final episode of their Amazon Prime show, titled One for the Road, brings to an end the decades-long project of the car enthusiasts.
“For this last film, they just wanted to drive cars that they’ve never driven before and that they’ve always wanted to drive,” explained Wilman.
He continued: “James has banged on about the Triumph Stag since 2003, when he joined.
“Hammond has always loved a Ford Capri because he thinks he’s Lewis Collins, and then Jeremy has always loved a Monte Carlo. Also, he wanted a connection to the car he drove in Botswana last time.
“So we got the cars, and that was their choice – nothing to do with the office, no discussion.
“Then, the final thing that we all agreed on was that it should be a gentle film. Some newer or younger fans may be like, ‘Hang on, nothing’s exploded.’
“There might be a feeling that if it’s the final film, it should be like Avengers: Endgame, where you use up every last bit of moneyand everyone dies and stuff like that.
“You know, you go all out with it. We thought of things to do and then threw them away: like, no, it’s going to be a gentle film.”
Commenting on the ending to their iconic chapter together, which will see the three heading back to Kubu Island, where they filmed a Top Gear special way back in 2007, May expressed concerns with “insulting” viewers.
“We haven’t been back to Kubu Island since our first special, and it still looks exactly the same,” he reflected, adding: “I suppose it has done for thousands of years.
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“Throughout the whole experience of Top Gear and then The Grand Tour has been there wasn’t a point in the intervening seventeen years where I sat and thought whimsically about Kubu Island.
“But then, when it happened, I thought, ‘We’ve come a long way.’ We’re all older and struggled to climb up the rocks a little bit!
“I mean, Hammond hasn’t changed. He’s even wearing the same clothes in our film that he did originally, as far as I could make out.”
The presenter went on to confess: “It’s me and Jeremy who look a bit stupid, but we’re older than him, and Jeremy’s even older than me.
“I was a bit worried when we were filming because I thought it could either become too fatuous, which would slightly insult the viewers, or it could become too mawkish, which would be a bit cringey. But it’s turned out pretty well, I think.”
