page_title: The Grand Tour
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: The Grand Tour / Production / History
caption_attribution_description: English: en:The Grand Tour (TV series) studio tent hidden behing during filming of "The Holy Trinity" opening sequence for en:The Grand Tour (TV series) filmed in the en:Lucerne Valley, California on 24‒25 September 2016.
context_page_description: The Grand Tour is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, and Andy Wilman, produced by Amazon exclusively for its online streaming service Amazon Prime Video, and premiered on 18 November 2016. The programme was conceived in the wake of the departure of Clarkson, Hammond, May and Wilman from the BBC series Top Gear, and originally contracted with 36 episodes over three years.
  When the programme was launched, it followed a similar format to that of Top Gear between 2016 and 2019, including car reviews and timed laps, motoring challenges and races, studio segments, and celebrity guests, with the team using a studio within a large tent during this time; in its first series, the tent was located at different locations across the globe, before taking a fixed site within the Cotswolds. Episodes were released weekly to Amazon Prime Video accounts, and repeats of the first series were made available on traditional broadcasters in late 2017.
context_section_description: Clarkson, Hammond and May had been presenters on BBC's Top Gear, both as part of the rotating hosts of the original, and permanent hosts for the 2002 rebooted series up through 2015. Under them, the show had an estimated worldwide audience of 350 million, and listed by Guinness World Records as the highest-viewed factual television programme. Due to several incidents involving Clarkson, the BBC chose not to renew Clarkson's contract with the show in March 2015. Both May and Hammond affirmed they would not return to Top Gear without Clarkson, even though the BBC offered them lucrative salaries to remain on for additional series. Along with their departure, their long-time producer and Clarkson's classmate Andy Wilman also opted to leave at this time. BBC retooled the show for 2016, bringing in new hosts Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc.
  Shortly after his separation from the BBC, Clarkson stated his intent to start a new car show, saying "I have lost my baby but I shall create another. I don't know who the other parent will be or what the baby will be like." Rumours that Clarkson, Hammond, and May were developing a new show through discreet meetings with various networks emerged starting in April 2015. These rumors pointed to a potential American broadcaster, as the terms of Clarkson's non-compete clause with the BBC stipulated he could not make a rival car show with a BBC competitor, such as ITV. Among those that had been approached included Netflix, who felt Clarkson's team wanted too much money for what they were worth, and BT Sport, believing this show would be a better fit on a network with a more global reach.
  In July 2015, Clarkson announced he had signed a deal with Amazon to develop a new car show that followed a similar format as Top Gear, with both Hammond and May joining him as co-hosts, and Wilman producing. Among other personnel from Top Gear going to the new show included director Phil Churchward, the husband of Fifth Gear's Vicki Butler-Henderson. The deal included 36 episodes across three series which would be available to Amazon Prime members starting in 2016. Wilman stated that Amazon promised them to have the freedom they wanted to make the show how they wanted along with the necessary budget. Additionally, by using a subscription-based service over an advert-based network, they would not be beholden to commercial pressure for their advertisers. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, said he was "very excited" about bringing this program to Amazon, and that producing the show would be "very, very, very expensive", but added, "[Clarkson, Hammond and May are] worth a lot and they know it." According to insider information reported by The Daily Mirror, Amazon paid GB£160 million for all three series. Wilman denied the show cost this much, but did admit the show was costly, partially due to Amazon's intent to have it filmed in 4K resolutions. The production of this show would be based in the United Kingdom, and done by W Chump & Sons, a company set up by Wilman, Clarkson, Hammond and May.
  The show's name, The Grand Tour, was revealed in May 2016. Clarkson said the name brought to mind the tradition of Grand Tours, and reflected how the show would travel to several different countries to film. There was speculation that the show could be called Gear Knobs after a trademark application was made for that name by an associated company, but Clarkson stated in October 2015 that this would not be the title. He explained in April 2016 that the word "Gear" could not be used for legal reasons.
  Initially, the show's format was to present individual television films, using location shooting without studio segments. They later came up with the idea of using a travelling tent to provide a mobile "studio", to go along with The Grand Tour name. They would be able to use local audience members, and would give the hosts the opportunity to explore the local culture around cars. According to Wilman, the idea to film audience segments in a tent came from Clarkson, who had seen an episode of True Detective that took place at a Baptist revival c
caption: The Grand Tour tent behind school buses in Lucerne Valley, California for the first episode of series 1
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