The Grand Tour (TV series)

Format

The intended format was initially for individual television films, using location shooting without studio segments, but after the title reveal it was announced that there will be studio segments shot in large tents at various locations. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos described the deal as being "very, very, very expensive". W. Chump & Sons is the production company for the programme, and Amazon.com is distributing the show.

Studio recordings began on 17 July 2016 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Recordings in the United States took place on 25 September 2016 in Southern California, with further recordings taking place in Nashville on 21 November 2016. Studio recordings in the United Kingdom took place in Whitby on 13 October 2016, with further recordings taking place at Loch Ness in December 2016. Further studio recordings took place in Rotterdam on 22 October 2016 and Lapland on 3 November 2016. Stuttgart (Ludwigsburg) was also a filming location. In November 2016, it was announced that the final studio filming location would be Dubai in December 2016.

Test track

The show has a dedicated test track called the "Eboladrome", at the former RAF Wroughton. Clarkson states in the first episode that the name is due to its shape resembling the structure of the Ebola virus.

It is designed to "trip cars up," according to Clarkson. Section names include the "Isn't Straight", "Your Name Here", "Old Lady's House", "Substation" and "Field of Sheep". In the first episode, the track was said to have been modified following the discovery of an unexploded Second World War bomb.

Cars are tested by NASCAR driver Mike Skinner, known as "The American". According to the presenters, the hiring of Skinner was a contractual obligation by Amazon.com, and that Skinner considers anything not American, front-engine and V-8 powered as "communist". While doing a lap, Skinner makes sarcastic remarks about the car and the presenters.

Prior to the first episode the Lap board had been pre-populated with ten times from a selection of cars, and the laps themselves were not shown, just the timings. The first car to be shown being driven by Skinner, with an on-screen lap time, was a 2016 BMW M2 recording a time of 1:26.2 seconds. The track is also used for general filming and testing by The Grand Tour, meaning that other vehicles—such as a Ferrari 488 used in episode one—may appear on the track, but are not timed either.

Conversation Street

The trio discuss car news. During the conversation, Hammond tends to overshare his opinions with sexual or homosexual innuendos. Clarkson is usually cut off after saying, "Can I talk about..." before either Hammond or May introduce the next segment; oftentimes, he attempts to talk about Alfa Romeo. The video introduction to the segment shows the men, in silhouette talking animatedly: in each episode the silhouettes change in various ways.

Running gags

The series includes several running gags. During the opening titles of each episode, a camera drone is destroyed. From episode three on, one of the presenters' names is always seen misspelled during the opening. In "Celebrity Brain Crash", celebrity guests are humourously "killed" in an accident while making their way to the tent. After each "death", May asks "Does that mean they're not coming on then?" to which Hammond deadpans "No James, they're not" while bluntly outlining how "dead" the celebrity is. This element of the show reflects the BBC's efforts to stop The Grand Tour from interviewing celebrity guests, as had been the focus of the Top Gear "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment.

Production

The format of segments in the programme are a result of needing to ensure differentiation from the team's previous work on Top Gear for the BBC. The show is presented from a pair of large tents on a Grand Tour around the world. The presenters sit around a trestle table, with the studio audience seated in front of them. The "Conversation Street" segment allows discussion of current events at the time of filming. Lap times are shown on an electronic scoreboard. A recurring test driver used for lap times is a named NASCAR character, portraying a stereotypical redneck accent and viewpoints, and prone to tangential speech. Any celebrity guests booked for the "Celebrity Brain Crash" segment are shown being "killed off" before they can be interviewed by the presenters.

Naming

The show's title was announced as The Grand Tour on 11 May 2016. The show's logo was unveiled by Clarkson on Twitter on 28 June 2016.

There was speculation that the show could be called Gear Knobs after a trademark application was made for that name by an associated company, but Clarkson stated in October 2015 that this would not be the title. He explained in April 2016 that the word "Gear" could not be used for legal reasons.

A short trailer was released on 8 April 2016 portraying Clarkson, Hammond and May brainstorming for a suitable name for the new series, before ending with the hashtag #TheStillVeryMuchUntitledClarksonHammondMayAmazonPrimeShowComingAutumn2016.

Another short trailer was posted by Clarkson on Facebook, yet again portraying the trio attempting to conjure up a suitable name. But this time, they end up getting distracted and completely forgetting the task at hand. Shortly afterwards, the trailer was released on the Amazon Video UK YouTube channel.

Filming

United Broadcast Facilities (UBF) in The Netherlands won the contract for the outside broadcasting tent segments. Fourteen microphones are used for recording the audience reaction laugh track within the tent. The mobile studio audio setup uses Lawo mixing desks connected via MADI for live sound mixing, recording and talkback intercoms.

In July 2016 following the completion of filming for The Grand Tour an offshore powerboat racing powerboat C-237 belonging to Sunus Racing was stopped in the San Marco basin and impounded by police near to San Zaccaria, Venice, for only having insurance during filming itself, and not afterwards.

Promotion

Following the public naming of the show, Amazon offered new customers a £20 discount for their first year on Amazon Prime during 14–16 May 2016. A trailer announcing the release date of the show as 18 November 2016 was posted on the show's YouTube channel on 15 September 2016. A second, full-length trailer, was released on 6 October 2016. Trailers have used the music "Come with Me Now" by Kongos.

As part of their marketing campaign, Amazon placed crashed Toyota Prius cars at Hackescher Markt in Berlin, in front of London King's Cross railway station, and on the Hollywood Walk of Fame outside the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Sponsorship

In mid-2016 DHL began sponsoring the transport costs of the tent and mobile studio. In June 2016, in connection with the sponsorship deal, the presenters had uploaded videos of themselves attempting to assemble DHL-branded shipping boxes. The first episode stated that "promotional consideration" had been given by the Breitling Jet Team, DHL and Samsung. Eight of the Breitling Jet aircraft took part in the opening sequence flyovers. For episode 2, the list included 5.11 Tactical. A DHL Boeing 757 was featured in the opening sequence of episode 5, the tent was located in Rotterdam, and the DHL logo is featured on part of the crash barrier at the Eboladrome.

Reception

As of November 2016 the show has received positive reviews from critics, with The Guardian saying "Jeremy Clarkson and co leave the BBC in their dust". Daily Express TV reporter, Neela Debnath commented that the first episode "resembled a Hollywood blockbuster" and added that "[The Grand Tour is] basically Top Gear on steroids". However, BBC Arts Editor, Will Gompertz said of the opening that "there is no irony. It feels uncomfortably hubristic" but once the presenters were in the tent "Normal service has been resumed" and that "It seemed to me that Grand Tour is a TV show that wants to be – and quite possibly should be – a movie" The Independent described The Grand Tour as "the best of Top Gear but with a greater budget" TheWrap reported an estimate by Symphony Advanced Media that the opening weekend viewer count for The Grand Tour was three times the size of the opening weekend of The Man in the High Castle.

Episode 2 was somewhat less favourably received by fans and critics. The Telegraph wrote about the Jordan segment: "[...] a tedious action movie segment suggested that they were in danger of losing the run of themselves slightly and that Amazon's hands-off policy towards the production had potential downsides." Radio Times said that "many of the viewers were disgruntled to say the least, branding the show as dull and not funny."

Richard Hammond was criticised by Stonewall, Peter Tatchell, and Olly Alexander, amongst others, for a comment he made in episode six where he implied that men who eat ice-cream are homosexual. It was later revealed that the comment was an in-joke for the Finnish audience as a reference to a controversial TV commercial that aired in Finland.

The Grand Tour received a nomination in the Original OTT Streamed category at the 2017 Television and Radio Industries Club Awards.