The long-awaited return of the famous trio, Clarkson, Hammond and May is finally here with the three car show presenters doing what they do best, and that is entertaining us with their outrageous challenges and their natural born chemistry that seems to just flow effortlessly.

 

In mid-2015, The Grand Tour was announced by Amazon Prime starring the trio formally from “Top Gear” to produce a factual car program released weekly on Amazon. This announcement led many to beg the question of whether the three could pull off this new show.

 

After a long anticipated wait, the first episode of The Grand Tour was released on 18 Nov 2016 and it surpassed all Amazon show rating to become the highest rated primer for the company. I may be speaking too soon but I think this gives us a hint as to whether or not they could pull this off.

 

10 episodes into the first season, it seems like the flow of the show is rather similar to that of “Top Gear” with similar elements such as introducing a celebrity to guest star in each episode. In an unexpected twist however, they decided to “kill” off the celebrities before they reached the studio and call it “Celebrity Brain Crash”. This is unlike Top Gear where Clarkson would interview the celebrity about their car history and they would then set a timed lap around the test track.

 

Another thing that is similar is “Conversation Street” which was formally known on Top Gear as “The News” where the presenters will talk about random cars and news in the motoring world.

 

I honestly feel that there is too much Top Gear in The Grand Tour and things like “Celebrity brain Crash” in every episode is a little annoying and completely pointless because it has nothing to do with motoring and it fails to be comical as the same thing happens every week.

 

That being said, I believe they will evolve in subsequent seasons to become something that is truly out of this world. Even when “Top Gear” started out, it took them several seasons till they found the proper momentum and flow to become the most widely watched factual television program in the world.

 

Now for a closer look into what is new in The Grand Tour. Firstly, the astronomical budget of $1.2 million to $4.9 million per episode was announced by Amazon Prime and I feel that it would really widen the possibilities of what the trio can do for future episodes.

 

The location has seen a huge change from Top Gear as well. Previously hosted in the United Kingdom (UK) under the BBC, The Grand Tour will now be hosted worldwide with over 200 countries in a roving tent that acts as their studio. I feel that the change brings the show to a whole new global audience because fans from around the world will be able to see the show live without having to go to the UK because Amazon is bringing the show to them.

 

With everything brought to another level, the challenges the trio do in the show take a step up as well in terms of how ridiculous and entertaining they are. Some of these challenges so far include making a car out of mud, racing cars through the set of Game Of Thrones and driving self-made beach buggies through the Namibian desert.

 

All things considered, I believe The Grand Tour earns itself a solid 7 out of 10 in my opinion with no doubt in my mind of it increasing in subsequent seasons.

 

With that, I believe that the $11 per month to subscribe to Amazon prime is well worth it to catch the entertaining trio every week.