The legendary trio of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are set to bid an emotional farewell to The Grand Tour in their final TV special. The Grand Tour: One for the Road is being promoted as the trio's final TV special together after 23 years of performing, racing, arguing and shouting at each other around the world.
Their chaotic dynamics were what made BBC show Top Gear was a hit, attracting millions of fans each week and elevating the trio to cult status in the UK. After an argument on the set of Top Gear, the challenge led to Jeremy ClarksonAfter being fired, Richard Hammond and James May joined him to create a new car series on Prime Video.
From 2016 to 2019, the main series saw the trio travelling the world in a tent, interviewing celebrities, reviewing cars and taking part in car challenges. The Grand Tour then turned its attention to special car challenge editions including Eurocrash, A Scandi Flick and A Massive Hunt.
One for the Road, which airs on Friday, September 13, will see the presenters take a trip to Zimbabwe in three cars they've always dreamed of owning. Despite the departure of the original presenters, the series will continue on Prime Video with a new cast.
But why Jeremy ClarksonRichard Hammond and James May to leave The Grand Tour?, reports Mirror.
The current format of The Grand Tour is coming to an end simply because the trio feel it is time to end it. All three presenters have frequently expressed a desire to leave the motoring show on a high note, rather than fizzle out or be pushed out.
Richard Hammond shared with Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley on This Morning that they would like to end their show and on-screen partnership on their own terms.
“We always wanted to do it on our own terms,” Hammond said, reflecting on Top Gear's rapid rise to cult status.
“It started, we started working together on Top Gear 23 years ago and it was crazy,” he chuckled. “We didn’t know it would turn out like this, so it was kind of out of our control, we always wanted to make sure that when we finally formalised our partnership it would be on our terms, at a time, in a place and in a way that we chose, and we did that.”
But now that it's all done, Hammond admitted: “But after it's all done and the film comes out on Friday… it's really weird. I can't wrap my head around it.”
Meanwhile, May, 61, told The Sunday Times: “Should this end? It has to. We have exhausted our options on this issue and we always promised ourselves that we would land our legacy safely, not throw it over the edge.”
May also reflected on the passage of time, saying, “And we are old. I set out as a young man with a puffy face and shiny long dark hair that seemed to be constantly tousled by the warm breeze, believing I had a job that might last a couple of years. I parked there, gray-haired, hunched over, with an aching back, looking for my glasses to write this down.”
May concluded: “I don't regret anything; none of those 20-odd years of bad food and bad living. It was amazing. Thanks for watching.”
The team will now focus on individual projects and television programs. Jeremy Clarkson intends to continue filming his hugely successful series Clarkson's Farm, focus on the Hawkstone Brewery and oversee his new pub, The Farmer's Dog.
James May will continue to present a series of travel documentaries for Prime Video, focusing on his Wiltshire pub The Royal Oak.
Richard Hammond will continue to work on several new shows, including The Richard Hammond Seminar on Discovery+, and will also host a podcast called Who We Are Now with his daughter Izzy.