The Grand Tour is back on 4 September, with an all-new trio replacing Clarkson and co.
A beloved car show gets a bold new cast
The tent is going back up. The Grand Tour returns to Prime Video on 4 September, and this time there is a completely new team behind the wheel. Following the farewell of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, the show hands the keys to a fresh trio drawn from a new generation of car enthusiasts.
Meet the new trio
The new line-up leans heavily on internet-era car fame. Leading it is Francis Bourgeois, the trainspotter-turned-petrolhead who became a viral sensation for his infectious enthusiasm. Alongside him are James Engelsman and Thomas Holland, the duo behind the hugely popular YouTube channel Throttle House. It is a deliberate generational shift, swapping three seasoned broadcasters for creators who built their following online.
What to expect
Reassuringly, the globe-trotting formula stays intact. The six-part season, streaming in more than 240 countries and territories, sends the trio on suitably ridiculous adventures: crossing the Angolan desert in track cars, diving into Malaysia's car culture, and testing performance machinery in California. Judging by their own accounts, it does not always go smoothly, with the hosts hinting at run-ins with fighter pilots and even taking on an entire nation's legal system.
The hosts on filming it
The trio have clearly leaned into the chaos. Holland admitted they were "on our own in some absolutely wild environments in very, VERY questionable cars," while Bourgeois joked about the shared-tent experience filling with, in his words, "sulphuric farts." Engelsman summed up the tone by noting they "contended with fighter pilots" along the way. In other words, expect plenty of the daft, big-budget adventure the show is known for.
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Let us be honest, replacing Clarkson, Hammond and May is a near-impossible task, and no new trio will ever be the same. The chemistry those three built over decades was the real magic, and there will inevitably be fans who never warm to a reboot. That is a lot of pressure to put on any new cast, however talented.
But we are choosing to be optimistic. Bourgeois and the Throttle House pair are genuine, likeable enthusiasts with real on-screen charm, and handing a legacy show to the YouTube generation feels like the right way to keep it relevant. It will not be the old Grand Tour, and it should not try to be. If they bring their own energy to that famous formula, this could be a lot of fun. We will be tuning in on 4 September to find out.
