The truth about Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May’s on-screen reunion has been revealed, after rumours swirled they were working on a new TV project.
It had been claimed that the former Top Gear co-stars were getting back together just months after they ended The Grand Tour, with new Amazon Prime project The Not Very Grand Tour in the pipeline.
Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May’s The Grand Tour finished months ago (Picture: PA)
However, Metro now understands that the show won’t see all three of them returning, and will instead feature James and Richard looking back on old clips.
The BBFC has described the programme as ‘a motoring comedy documentary series’ with a 12 rating due to ‘moderate sex references’ and a language warning.
As well as ‘infrequent implied strong language’ (‘f**k’), the first episode is also expected to include ‘milder terms’ such as ‘c**k’, balls, ‘s**t’ and ‘Jesus Christ’.
Regarding the sex references, the BBFC warns: ‘A man comically suggests another has achieved an erection from the excitement of driving a fast car; there is mild innuendo.’
There are also ‘additional issues, including a joke aimed at French police offers, and a quip about horse poo.
Standard for the trio, then.
They first hosted Top Gear together in 2003, with their time on the motoring show coming to an end in 2015 when Clarkson was sacked for an ‘unprovoked physical and verbal attack’ on a producer.
He later apologised and agreed to pay damages, while May and Hammond followed Clarkson and quit the show soon after, saying they came as a ‘package’.
At the time, May said he thinks the time is right for a brand new motoring show because he, Clarkson and Hammond are ‘too old’, which was echoed by Clarkson branding himself ‘unfit, fat and old’.
The stars then moved over to Amazon Prime series The Grand Tour in 2016, though fans were left devastated when it came to an end last year with two emotional specials.
According to the BBFC, The Not Very Grand Tour will feature the team ‘celebrating the combustion engine’ and also looking back at footage from their past adventures and test drives.
The first episode is titled The Glory and The Power, and will be landing on Amazon Prime Video on April 18.
Further details of the reunion show, including how many episodes it may include, have yet to be announced.
But it’s bound to follow in the footsteps of Top Gear and The Grand Tour, as The Not Very Grand Tour director Phil Churchward worked on both.
May had previously offered some hope about the three reuniting on another project after the end of The Grand Tour, saying: ‘I wouldn’t rule it out, but you do have to bear in mind that we’re all getting on a bit.’
In the final Grand Tour episode, the hosts emotionally recalled their two decades of TV together.
They returned to Kubu Island in Botswana which featured in their Top Gear special backin 2007, with Clarkson saying: ‘We were now on our final drive together heading to our favourite place in the world.’
He adds: ‘We’ve travelled thousands and thousands and thousands of miles and had thousands and thousands and thousands of adventures.
‘And we’re going to end up right where we started.’
Hammond then added: ‘Never thought that what we do together would go on as it has.
‘I was excited when I got the job way back, very excited.
‘But I never dreamed it would grow into a career and life-defining adventure. And occasionally, nearly career and life-ending adventure.
‘I can’t pretend it isn’t going to be a wrench ending this, because it is.’
‘It just remains for me to say thank you very much for watching. Thank you It means a lot,’ Clarkson added as they reached their final stop, before it ended on the trio recreating a scene from 17 years earlier.
In 2023, the BBC officially made the decision to ‘rest’ Top Gear for the ‘foreseeable future’, after Freddie Flintoff’s horror crash in December 2022.
The Grand Tour is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video with The Not Very Good Tour landing on April 18.
