Jeremy Clarkson has received some rather glowing and heartfelt words from longtime collaborator and The Grand Tour producer Andy Wilman ahead of their final-ever special.
For the last time on September 13, Clarkson will reunite with James May and Richard Hammond for one more episode of the hit motoring show as the trio head to Zimbabwe.
The special, titled One for the Road, was filmed last year and brings to an end the presenting trio’s 22-year working relationship as well as their collaboration with Wilman.
In fact, the quartet received a rather handsome payday earlier this year when they officially dissolved their production company W. Chump and Sons.
Each of the stars already has plenty of work commitments in the pipeline and Wilman does too as he continues to collaborate with Clarkson on his hit Amazon series, Clarkson’s Farm.
And when discussing the success of the foursome’s 22-year collaboration, Wilman had nothing but high praise for what each presenter brings to their joint projects – particularly Clarkson.
“It doesn’t happen without Jeremy; he’s the tentpole,” Wilman said ahead of One for the Road’s release. “That can come across in a bombastic way, but he is the driver of where we go and what we do.
“They’re all funny, but you need a triangle in these things. You cannot have a democracy, and he is naturally the leader, the tip of that triangle,” his tribute continued.
“He undermines himself, but he’s also the engine room,” Wilman went on before turning his attention to Clarkson’s co-stars: “I think James is the viewer to a degree in that he’s observing laconically, and he’s slightly distanced from all the irrational nonsense.
“It’s almost like he’s got half a foot in the living room, and it’s not a show he really likes. He’s the closest thing to a viewer going, ‘What are they doing?’ and he goes off and does his own thing a fair bit too. He’s just as funny as the other two, but he’s more laconic.”
Wilman similarly had kind words to say about Hammond as he remarked: “And then Hammond comes out with the best one-liners. He’s like Norman Wisdom or Buster Keaton in that it’s so natural.
“He’ll absolutely say he’s a TV presenter as opposed to the others who might say they’re a motoring man or a journalist or something like that. And he can do great ad-libs.
“He also understands the triangle analogy and his place in that. He knows his job is to chop away at the ankles of Jeremy.
“So, there are different dynamics between all of them, but it works. They’ve become like musicians in a rock band: they’ve got all their issues, all their friendship points, and all their niggles, but they’ve always driven their own show.”
The trio’s bickering and putdowns have become an integral part of their motoring shows over the years, even back at the beginning of their Top Gear days.
And one such niggle was included in Amazon’s trailer for their final Grand Tour special when Clarkson joked May was going to delete their phone numbers once filming had wrapped.
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Luckily for the trio’s fans, May has spoken out about the remarks and clarified it was to provide some comic relief to the scene in question.
Away from the Grand Tour, Clarkson couldn’t resist a dig at May when opening his brand new pub, The Farmer’s Dog, in the Cotswolds.
Upon opening his new drinking establishment, Clarkson put up a list of “barred” guests from the pub – including May and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
