Back in top gear
I was a huge fan of Top Gear back before the scandals and the appalling Chris Evans, and admittedly this love of the show was almost entirely due to the dynamic between the comical trio. So it should come as no surprise then that, when The Grand Tour dropped back in 2016, I was routing for it to succeed. I was praying for it to be brilliant, to bury Top Gear. And I was ultimately blind to its mediocrity. The first season was plagued with issues – which I forgave and put down to teething problems – but we could not avoid the fact that the writing was dreadful, the challenges were lacking in imagination and, well, there was also Celebrity Brain Crash. Season 2 improved the formula considerably, but it was still a stilted imitation of what we loved from times seemingly long gone. It just still wasn’t the Top Gear trio we were missing. And now season 3 is all wrapped up and how did it fair? Pretty damn well I’m happy to report.
With each addition to the The Grand Tour roster there has been a huge improvement in quality. We get a definite sense here that Jeremy and the team really listen to their fans in order to deliver the best they possibly can, and do it in with such an obvious love for their work. For once, I felt that they had truly earned their title, The Grand Tour, having ventured to Colombia, Sweden, China, Scotland, Georgia, Mongolia and even across the US in three RVs, and many more besides.
In a delightful twist this season, we are treated to more specials than ever before. Four total, spread over five episodes, which, to the layman, is very nearly half the season. These are relatively well written, though not without the occasional awkward or immature joke, and are almost always funny. Great concepts land here, such as building a car from scratch, and riding three RVs across the US, but I am sometimes left wanting. The 90 minute Mongolia special springs to mind here, promising a number of interesting moments in the opening sequence that just didn’t come to fruition. It was a missed opportunity, I think, but as these are still among the best The Grand Tour has to offer they didn’t hurt the series too much. As always, the boys are funny and the episodes are entertaining.
And then of course we have the obligatory “car episode” thrown in every now and then. Given that this is supposedly a car show, these are very much welcome, and often it is these that provide the series with some of its most entertaining moments. Despite these also being some of the most scripted segments, the jokes seem to come cleaner than their special counterparts and, surprisingly, a lot more natural. Reviews of cars are presented in an interesting way and they even take it back to basics with a look at a fairly average citreon, making for one of the most entertaining car reviews i’ve ever seen. Even when pitched against the Lamborghini Urus, or the new Bentley Continental.
Verdict
This has been a tough one. Whilst there is no doubt in my mind that this is the best series of The Grand Tour to date, how does it fair when comparing it to the Top Gear days of old? I mean, the writing is still flawed and plagued with repetitive and awkward jokes, but it is a lot cleaner and more natural. The specials are a welcome addition and even when they fall a little short, they are thoroughly enjoyable to watch. But it is, perhaps, the more mundane episode that shine over the others here. Richard Hammond using a rowing machine in a car on a Chinese motorway, for instance, or Jeremy Clarkson pulling an enormous ship with a tiny Citreon. I found myself returning time and time again to a show that I believe will continue to improve and entertain.
The Writer's Block 