Jeremy Clarkson was left fuming with envy after seeing a particular scene from the new-look Grand Tour before its release, producer Andy Wilman has revealed.
Wilman, who worked alongside Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May on Top Gear before helping create The Grand Tour, discussed the new series during an appearance on TellyCast.
The latest incarnation of the Amazon Prime Video show features a new presenting trio, with Thomas Holland and James Engelsman of Throttle House joined by trainspotter-turned-mechanical engineer Francis Bourgeois.
Original trio's reaction to reboot
While Clarkson, Hammond and May have stepped away from presenting duties, they will still feature in the forthcoming six-part series. Wilman explained that the original trio were not shown complete episodes of the reboot before its release. However, they were given compilations of footage so they could see what the new team were doing.
He said Clarkson, 66, wanted to see some material because neither he nor his former co-stars would have wanted to publicly support a version of the show they believed was poor.
“They didn't see anything but version two,” Wilman said. “Jeremy wanted to see stuff because, and the other guys saw stuff, because they weren't going to endorse something that they thought was s***.”
Clarkson's verdict on new hosts
According to Wilman, Clarkson's reaction was positive when he eventually watched footage featuring the new presenters. “He was like, 'Oh, they're good. They're good, they're good,'” he recalled.
Clarkson also met the new hosts and gave them his approval, but one particular sequence apparently prompted a rather different response from the former presenter. Wilman recalled an episode filmed in Malaysia, which opens in Singapore at what he described as an “amazing” location.
“And he turned to me, he went, 'Why the f*** didn't we do this?'” Wilman said. “And I'm like, 'Alright, you know, what are you going to do, fire me?'”
New series launch
The producer said Clarkson appeared to be “quite jealous” of some of what the new team had managed to achieve, although he stressed that the reaction was ultimately a positive one. “So he was quite jealous of some of the things,” Wilman explained.
Wilman also confirmed that Hammond and May were pleased with the direction of the new series and were willing to return for appearances alongside Clarkson. “Richard was happy. James was happy, and then they were happy to do their cameos,” he said.
The new presenters have also spoken warmly about the support they received from their predecessors. Bourgeois, 26, said Clarkson, Hammond and May had been “so warm and open” towards the new trio. “It’s that transition point where they know it’s going into nice, right hands, to have them, and to have their blessing is an absolute superpower,” he told the Press Association.
The reboot arrives almost a decade after The Grand Tour first launched following the trio's departure from the BBC's Top Gear. May previously said they had “exhausted” the subject. The new six-part series sees Holland, Engelsman and Bourgeois tackle road trips and challenges in locations including the US, Malaysia and Angola. The new series of The Grand Tour launches on Prime Video on Friday, September 4.
