The Grand Tour shake up as Jeremy, James and Richard film 'final special'
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have reportedly filmed their final The Grand Tour.
The fan-favourite trio launched the show on Amazon Prime Video back in 2016 following their departure from BBC's Top Gear. The news comes just days after bosses announced Top Gear was also being 'parked' for the foreseeable future.
It's thought the streaming site will 'bring in new hosts' to take over from Clarkson, Hammond and May if the show is brought back in the future, something the presenters are reportedly 'happy with'. An insider explained: "It's a surprising decision and everyone realises it very much marks the end of an era for the three presenters."
Richard, Jeremy and James launched the show in 2016 (Getty Images)"The Grand Tour is one of Prime Video’s most watched shows and Jeremy, James and Richard have a devoted following. But the guys have made no bones about the fact they're all advancing in years and they have lots of other projects to pursue," the source told The Sun. "They just felt like the time was right and wanted to go out on a high when the show remained popular."
Jeremy is still working with Amazon as his third season of Clarkson's Farm is nearing broadcast on the streamer, with a fourth expected. James has another one of his Our Man In... travelogues coming soon after its launch in 2020.
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There's still two more instalments of The Grand Tour to come before the trio's reported departure with two specials seeing them travel to Mauritania and Zimbabwe. They presented Top Gear together until 2015 after a disagreement with producers.
Earlier this month it was announced that the BBC will rest Top Gear for the foreseeable future, following a crash that left host Andrew Freddie Flintoff. Production had been halted since former England cricket captain Flintoff, 45, was taken to hospital in December 2022 after he was injured in an accident at the Top Gear test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey.
Following the horror crash, the BBC announced that it would pause production on the show, co-presented by Take Me Out host Paddy McGuinness and automotive journalist Chris Harris, as it was felt it would be 'inappropriate'. At the time, they added that there would be a health and safety review.
In a statement given to the PA news agency, the BBC said: "Given the exceptional circumstances, the BBC has decided to rest the UK show for the foreseeable future. The BBC remains committed to Freddie, Chris and Paddy who have been at the heart of the show’s renaissance since 2019, and we’re excited about new projects being developed with each of them. We will have more to say in the near future on this. We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do. All other Top Gear activity remains unaffected by this hiatus including international formats, digital, magazines and licensing."
BBC Studios also said a health and safety production review of Top Gear, which did not cover the accident but instead looked at previous seasons, found that "while BBC Studios had complied with the required BBC policies and industry best practice in making the show, there were important learnings which would need to be rigorously applied to future Top Gear UK productions".
A statement added: "The report includes a number of recommendations to improve approaches to safety as Top Gear is a complex programme-making environment routinely navigating tight filming schedules and ambitious editorial expectations – challenges often experienced by long-running shows with an established on and off screen team. Learnings included a detailed action plan involving changes in the ways of working, such as increased clarity on roles and responsibilities and better communication between teams for any future Top Gear production."
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