Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May reassemble after the 2015 Top Gear fracas, signing with Amazon for a reported £160 million and the promise of total creative latitude. The first series, launched 18 November 2016, revived the trio’s chemistry inside a roving tent parked in South Africa, Germany and California, book-ending glossy location films shot in 4K. Lawyers vet every detail to avoid BBC litigation, so The Stig, the Cool Wall and handwritten lap-time boards are replaced by a digital leaderboard, a gun-tall American in a fat suit and a celebrity segment that pretends to kill its guests.
By the end of the third series the tent is retired; from 2019 onward the show exists as occasional, feature-length specials, each a lavish road movie filmed on every continent except Antarctica. The format jettisons studio filler and doubles down on exotic machinery, custom builds and the hosts’ customary irritation with one another. Episodes run anywhere between 44 and 135 minutes, whatever the story demands.
Amazon counts 46 episodes across six series, with a further three commissioned for 2026 fronted by a younger triumvirate. The tally makes The Grand Tour one of Prime Video’s most-watched originals, clocking 1.2 billion views and 2.66 million YouTube subscribers for clips that recycle the best explosions and the worst costumes. Production companies have morphed from the presenters’ own W. Chump & Sons to Studio Lambert as budgets tighten and the old guard prepare to hand over the keys.
Production Details
Prime Video / 6 Seasons / 45 Episodes / 2016 - Present
Created by: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, Andy Wilman
Showrunner(s): Andy Wilman
Writer(s): Jeremy Clarkson Richard Hammond James May Richard Porter
Producer(s): Ronan Browne, Ben Jessop
Cinematography: Ben Joiner
Music: Paul Leonard-Morgan
Main Cast
Jeremy Clarkson as Self - Host
Richard Hammond as Self - Host
James May as Self - Host
Abbie Eaton as Self - Driver
Mike Skinner as The American
Carol Vorderman as Self
Jeremy Renner as Self
Armie Hammer as Self
Charlize Theron as Self
Simon Pegg as Self
Jimmy Carr as Self
Tim Burton as Self
