The Grand Tour trio attend final special premiere
September 10, 2024
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May took part in an extended Q&A at Television Centre on September 10th ahead of a preview of the final episode to celebrate their final Grand Tour special and to look back on their 22-year career working together. The trio reminisced on stories from the early days of Top Gear in 2002 right through to shooting their final special in Zimbabwe last year.
The trio took to the stage for the last time together for a Q&A hosted by Mariella Frostrup. Executive Producer Andy Wilman also revealed stories from behind the scenes of their 22 years together.
Whilst talking about the end of their time working together, Clarkson remarked, “We’ve been doing press interviews all day today and I found it quite refreshing to be nice to each other cause normally we say that we’re fuelled creatively by a loathing of one another but it’s not really true.” To which May jokingly responded, “I’m glad we didn’t think of it earlier, that would have spoiled everything.”
During the Q&A, Hammond discussed their onscreen chemistry: “I’ll miss the start of the special. And I miss the fact that we’ve done stuff together all over the world. Every conceivable landscape, but also the live stuff we’ve done together, and you reach a point where if we’re all three on camera, something happens, you do sort of instinctively know, ‘that’s a Jeremy thing, I’m going to let him run with that…”
The event showcased cars from the episode, including ‘three cars they’ve always wanted to own’: a Lancia Montecarlo, a Ford Capri 3-litre, and a Triumph Stag. Family and friends joined the presenters to celebrate the end of an era, including Greg James, Lisa Hogan, Holly Mason and more.