![the grand tour s01e01 the grand tour s01e01](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tAgCjQ5fdcI/maxresdefault.jpg)
![the grand tour s01e01 the grand tour s01e01](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QQGBSaUVIJQ/hqdefault.jpg)
Some very familiar elements include the testing of a BMW M2, though instead of the traditional Stig, the show invites NASCAR driver Mike Skinner to do the honours around a new test track. I can’t really say any more here as that will ruin the joke.
![the grand tour s01e01 the grand tour s01e01](https://i.imgur.com/T8pZ32T.png)
Additionally, the “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” is now “Celebrity Brain Crash”, in which a celebrity is given the same response test as the RAF while driving a car…though for this episode, it doesn’t quite go as planned. Gone is “The News”, replaced with a strikingly similar substitute called “Conversation Street”. Even though the Beeb barred them from using many of the trademark elements of Top Gear, fans will notice little difference between the old programme and the new. The first episode kicks off in Los Angeles, California with some sad music playing as Jeremy recreates his sacking and then promptly flies to the States, where the music picks up again as he is reunited with Hammond and May, all driving to the desert location of their studio tent. Though different, this is a nice setup that enables the show to really go on tour as it will this season to places such as Johannesburg, Dubai, Loch Ness, Stuttgart, and more. We also have a table as opposed to the couch, chairs, and coffee table of the former programme. The tent is set up very similarly to their Top Gear studio but with understandably marked differences, though one of the most striking is that the stage is now at the back instead of in the centre. Unlike Top Gear which was located at the Dunsfold Aerodome, The Grand Tour follows its name by having each episode hosted in a different location all over the world, a feat aided by their new studio tent. And now, nearly eighteen months after we last saw Clarkson, Hammond, and May on our screens-they’re back! Spending weeks upon weeks to come up with a name (they were also barred from using the word “Gear”, making the naming a bit difficult), they settled on The Grand Tour. Barred from conventional television channels in the UK per their contracts, the ambitious-but-rubbish presenters found a home on Amazon Prime’s video streaming service. While that was meeting mixed-to-disappointing results, Clarkson, Hammond, and May shopped themselves around. Then, in a true show of loyalty, co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May announced that they were sticking with their mate and wouldn’t be coming back either.ĭespite an enourmous fan campaign to get him rehired and even garnering some support from 10 Downing Street, the BBC remained adamant that it would not have Clarkson back and proceeded to do Top Gear with a new team that featured Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc. Auntie Beeb decided not to have Clarkson back for another year, effectively firing him from the BBC and Top Gear. With his contract up for renewal, the BBC decided that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Clarkson reported himself for the incident and apologised to both Tymon and the BBC, but the damage was done.
![the grand tour s01e01 the grand tour s01e01](https://mediacloud.theweek.co.uk/image/private/s--qRnj7SQD--/v1604797557/theweek/2019/01/screen_shot_2019-01-18_at_10.39.12.png)
As you may know, the long journey to this week’s premiere of The Grand Tour began in March 2015 when Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson punched producer Oison Tymon over a hot meal at the end of a long day of filming. Petrol heads have reason to rejoice this week as everyone’s favourite motoring trio has finally come back to television…sort of. Anglotopia’s Grand Adventure – Land’s End to John O’Groats.Great Britons Book: Top 50 Greatest Brits Who Ever Lived.101 Budget Britain Travel Tips – 2nd Edition.ltimate List of Funny British Place Names.British Slang: Tea Time – British Words for Tea and Tea Related Culture.British Slang: Your Guide to British Police Slang for the Telly Watcher.British English: The Top 50 Most Beautiful British Insults.