The Grand Tour is back. Well, technically it is back. My heart is still trying to accept the three new people sitting in Clarkson, Hammond and May’s seats. To be honest, I am trying my best to give the new lads a fair chance. But who am I kidding? Replacing the original trio is almost impossible, especially when I am such a huge Jeremy Clarkson fan.
I even love watching Clarkson’s Farm. It has become one of my favourite British shows, despite teaching me that farming mostly involves bad weather, government paperwork and Jeremy shouting at something.
So when Jeremy appeared at the beginning of the first episode of the new Grand Tour, I immediately felt that nostalgia hit.
The episode, titled “The Next Generation,” begins with Francis Bourgeois, James Engelsman and Thomas Holland visiting Jeremy at The Farmer’s Dog. They want the old Grand Tour tent, but Jeremy is already using it for Hops & Chops, his butcher and bottle shop.
Of course he is.
They leave without the tent, but Jeremy gives them his blessing and tells us that we are going to love what they have made. My inner child immediately wanted Jeremy to follow them, take over the episode and somehow destroy an expensive car.
My adult side had to say, “Calm down. Give the new guys a chance.”
I hate it when the adult side of me makes sense.
The new hosts are not bad. Please don’t misunderstand me. James and Thomas have spent years making car content together through Throttle House, while Francis became famous as the internet’s most enthusiastic trainspotter before revealing that he is also a serious petrolhead. They know their cars and each of them brings something different. But seeing three new faces replacing my favourite trio still feels strange.
What I miss most is not simply Jeremy, James and Richard individually. I miss their history.
Those three could insult each other without saying much because we already understood their relationship. We had watched them travel together, argue together, crash into each other and abandon one another in several countries. Their sarcasm worked because it came from years of genuine friendship.
The new trio are trying to go at each other, but some of the jokes still feel planned. Right now, they feel more like co-stars than three friends who would happily ruin each other’s lives for our entertainment. Ha! Ha!
James and Thomas already have chemistry from working together, but adding Francis changes the balance. The complete trio still needs time to become natural.
Out of the three, Francis was easily my favourite.
He brings a little of that unpredictable old Grand Tour energy. He is enthusiastic, slightly unusual and genuinely excited by machines. You never feel that he is pretending to love cars just because Amazon has placed a camera in front of him.
His air conditioning stopped working in the California heat, leaving him sweating sunscreen into his eyes while driving one of the fastest cars on Earth. That misery felt like a proper Grand Tour moment. Francis also drove at more than 200 mph during filming, so the train guy clearly has more speed inside him than I expected.
James and Thomas are good presenters, but I need more from them. I want them to stop feeling responsible for protecting the show and begin behaving like it belongs to them.
The main idea behind Episode 1 was actually brilliant. With electric cars taking over every conversation, American manufacturers have responded by producing some completely ridiculous petrol-powered machines.
The boys travelled across Southern California with a Ford Mustang GTD, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution Evolution. Even the Hennessey’s name needs its own parking space.
These are loud, powerful and gloriously unnecessary cars. Eventually, the trio raced them against fighter jets in Death Valley because apparently normal drag races are too boring when Amazon is paying. That looked spectacular. The cars were stunning, the speed felt real and the production quality was properly Grand Tour.
But I still felt the episode failed to push its main idea far enough. If you are going to defend petrol cars from all that electricity SH!T, then defend them properly. Make the argument louder. Make the challenge more ridiculous. Give me something so stupid that I question who approved it.
The old Grand Tour would take a simple idea and turn it into an international incident. That stupidity was exactly why I loved it.
Still, I cannot call it bad.
The new lads have charm. Francis already feels comfortable, James and Thomas understand cars properly, and the final race proved that Amazon has not reduced the scale of the show. There is real potential here.
Maybe I am also being unfair. Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May had decades to build the friendship we now miss. I have seen Francis, James and Thomas in one episode. Expecting them to recreate that magic immediately is like expecting three strangers to become best friends because someone gave them supercars and a production budget.
So yes, the kid inside me still wants more old trio. But the adult is willing to continue watching the new trio with a fresh perspective and slightly less judgement. Slightly.
Not to miss Jenson Button showing up on the first episode for circuit time laps which i enjoyed the most. Ahem (aKi stop being brutal)
The Grand Tour is back. It does not completely feel like my Grand Tour yet, but Francis has my attention and the new lads deserve the road ahead.
Not everything can be perfect, right?
Well, I am. LOL.
aKi Malik
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