It’s probably safe to say that, consciously or not, Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond have been mailing it in for some time now. And the trailer for their next big adventure feels like one of their laziest efforts yet.
This time Clarkson, May, and Hammond are in Madagascar. Do they build some wacky cars to navigate rocky and muddy terrain? Yes. Do they have a pointless drag race? Yes. Do they seemingly treat the locals as props? Yes, the trailer for the new special — called A Massive Hunt — hits all the familiar notes.
All of which is not to say that I won’t watch this; I’m sure I will, as it will likely be mildly diverting, and ever since they’ve gone to Amazon they’ve had the budget to at least make everything look very good.
But I’m not looking forward to it. Seamen, their first special since getting rid of the studio and committing to four adventure films a year, is 90 minutes long, which is about 60 minutes too long. Its title is a gross and unfunny joke. The whole adventure consists of lots of boats, and not a ton of cars. It feels forced, like how this trailer for A Massive Hunt also feels.
Instead, might I suggest you watch some other content from the Top Gear/The Grand Tour universe, which are the videos that James May makes for DriveTribe, the platform founded by Clarkson, Hammond, and May. In many of the videos, May is simply in his basement, building a bike, or talking about his Mirai, or explaining why he is selling his 1977 Ferrari.
Or you can start with the following simple one from March, which is James May talking shit about various YouTubers cars. There is something quiet and less chaotic about these videos that have the opposite effect of The Grand Tour, which is big and loud and kind of weirdly stressful.