Richard Hammond has opened up about the future of the Amazon Prime series The Grand Tour as fans eagerly await the final instalment where the trio explore Zimbabwe doing what they love best – driving cars.
The episode – which is set to drop this month – is called One For The Road, with the official synopsis reading: “In their last adventure, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May ignore the instructions of Mr Wilman and head to Zimbabwe in three cars they’ve always wanted to own, a Lancia Montecarlo, a Ford Capri 3-litre, and a Triumph Stag, for a stunning road trip through beautiful and sometimes challenging landscapes leading to an emotional ending on a strangely familiar island.”
Back in July, Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May’s career working alongside one another came to an end, with the trio signing off the dissolution of their Grand Tour producing company W. Chump and Sons.
According to the Daily Mail, three documents were filed with Companies House, which included declaring solvency, appointing a voluntary liquidator and making a “special resolution to wind up”.
Fans were left saddened to hear that the trio would no longer be appearing on their screens together, and await the day the final episode of the Amazon Prime series is dropped.
However, Hammond recently gave an exciting update on the future of the series, and admitted that despite the trio no longer heading the series, it “will continue”.
Speaking to the Metro, he explained: “It will be carrying on. The Grand Tour continues. We’re stepping away as the hosts, but Prime will be continuing it. So I can’t wait to sit in my own chair and watch somebody else do it. That’s amazing.”
He added that whilst he isn’t included in the conversations as to who will take over, he did advise: “If you’re making any show that at its heart has a subject, whether it’s cooking, dancing or cars, the hosts, the primary makers of it, have to have that passion in their heart. And we always did.
“You never had to be a car geek to watch our show. Plenty of people who weren’t did watch it, but it was important that we were the car geeks.”
When discussing whether the new version of the series should retain the same format or evolve, Hammond diplomatically said it was down to the people making the series – but that the trio were “always on hand”.
Opening up on how he feels about the series ending, Hammond stated: “It really felt like a genuine thank you. It’s from the heart, and I hope people appreciate it for that.
“I think people will feel that it’s quite simple. I think it’s beautiful. It’s been well made. It’s been beautifully edited and magnificently shot. I hope people take it for what it is, which is just us quietly saying, thank you. Thank you for coming with us for the last two decades.”
Clarkson recently commented on a poignant moment which brought Hammond to tears as they wrapped up their series, and said: “I’m not saying this in a derogatory way by any means, but James has the emotions of a stone.
“He just doesn’t do emotions, so there were no tears from him. Hammond, yes. I was surprisingly unemotional in a weird way because I can see James and Hammond any time I want to, they’re only a phone call away, and I’m sure we will.”
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Clarkson previously claimed he is “too old and fat” to continue with the adventurous show and told The Times: “I’ve driven cars higher than anyone else and further north than anyone else.
“We’ve done everything you can do with a car. When we had meetings about what to do next, people just threw their arms in the air”.
