Jeremy Clarkson: The world is too dangerous for the Grand Tour
The world is too dangerous to go anywhere exotic for The Grand Tour, Jeremy Clarkson has said.
The veteran motoring presenter, 64, said the “world has shrunk” since Top Gear’s heyday because of terrorism and war.
Clarkson filmed dozens of Top Gear specials with co-stars Richard Hammond and James May in far-flung destinations. These included Syria, Myanmar and Ukraine, all of which are now beset by conflict.
“We’ve done everything you can realistically do with a car and the world has shrunk and that’s the tragedy,” Clarkson said.
“Years ago, we drove from Iraq into eastern Turkey into Syria, Damascus and Israel. We did the Crimea to Ukraine. You couldn’t do any of that now.
“There’s some rich ground in and around Indonesia, but you can’t really go there either. North Africa, apart from Morocco, is completely out.”
He added: “The world is a much more troubled place than it was 20 years ago. We were very lucky to do what we did, when we did.”
Clarkson, Hammond and May this year called time on The Grand Tour, the Amazon Prime show they presented after Clarkson was sacked by the BBC in 2015.
It has run for five series and will conclude with a road trip in Zimbabwe and Botswana called One For The Road next week.
The instalment will mark the end of the trio’s presenting partnership, which began on Top Gear in 2002.
“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 [meet up],” Clarkson said.
He will now focus on Clarkson’s Farm, the show where he runs his 1,000-acre Diddly Squat farm in the Cotswolds.
The fourth series of the show, which is being filmed, is expected to centre on Clarkson’s new pub, The Farmer’s Dog, which opened last month.
It is expected to become so popular that the local council has been forced to cut speed limits to cope with the crowds. One man who will not be propping up the bar is Sir Keir Starmer, who has been barred from the pub.
One For The Road will be released on Sept 13.
