After 22 years, television legends Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, also known as “the trio,” finally put an end to their motoring-show careers in a phenomenal finale to “The Grand Tour.” On this final adventure, the trio embarked on a majestic car ride through Zimbabwe, going from Nyanga National Park to the Zambezi River before crossing into Botswana, finishing the show where their famed road-trip TV specials first began: Kubu Island.
In an impressive flex of cinematography, the finale pours through stunning drone shots of Zimbabwe’s purple and red Jacaranda trees. Like all past specials, the show emphasizes showcasing the positive side of the countries they visit. From rolling green hills to steep meadows to chaotic cities to abundant gold and silver reserves, the show depicts Zimbabwe’s gifts. It is a practice they adopted due to the trio’s “curse.” The “curse” being that many countries they have shot specials in–including Iraq, Syria, Ukraine and Israel–have gone to war shortly after filming was completed.
“The Grand Tour” is more than just a generic car show. The trio constantly do completely unexpected and hilarious things to their cars. In the finale alone, they drove a Volkswagen Beetle off a cliff in a tragic incident involving a dog, a stick and a brick. They bought 65 kilograms of silver and plated their cars in it, converted their vehicles into trains for use on railroads and even sailed 175 miles through Lake Kariba, the largest man-made body of water in the world, by strapping their cars onto old fishing vessels. At one point, Richard Hammond started sinking in the heavily crocodile-infested waters, which, oddly enough, was not the first time this has happened in the show’s history.
The shenanigans that happen along the way create some of the best comedy on television. It has become tradition for Clarkson, May and Hammond to leave the remainder of the trio behind when their cars break down. They also make fun of “Mr. Wilman,” the shadowy and somewhat questionable director of the show who leaves cryptic texts giving the team special challenges.
The comedic style of the show is only amplified by the personalities of the TV presenters. Consisting of three British men who vary widely in their age and outlook on the world, the only thing Clarkson, May and Hammond have in common is a similar displeasure with the world as a whole. They constantly complain about electric cars, vegans and the royal family. But while the presenters should have no chemistry on paper, the sheer ridiculousness of everything coming out of their mouths makes for incredible entertainment.
“The Grand Tour” picked up from the trio’s previous show, “Top Gear” six short years ago, but the onset of COVID-19 forced “The Grand Tour” to reformat, exclusively producing specials, which marked the beginning of the end for the crew. Only a handful of episodes have been made in the past few years, with many more canceled.
All of that context gives the finale a bittersweet ending, with Hammond constantly quipping about how his current troubles (like his exhaust pipes ripping off) might be the last ones of his career. In a particularly emotional moment, Hammond comes across a scrap yard where he finds an old pickup truck–the same model he drove through the Andes in Bolivia. Finally, the three cross into Botswana, visiting the 2,000-year-old Baobab trees they last went to 17 years ago. As “My Sweet Lord” plays, they ride off into the sunset through the salt plains in their ripped-up cars, a tearful end to a historic career.
Like everything Clarkson, May and Hammond have touched, the finale was perfect. For a trio that is often regarded as some of the most talented TV presenters of all time, it is a fitting, yet tearful ending that reminds us all how terribly they will be missed.
