Love them or hate them, you cannot deny the reach of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, the trio of petrolhead jokesters that fronted BBC’s long-running Top Gear since 2002. The three presenters had become a UK national institution, despite their constant prickly run-ins with the BBC powers-that-be, other journalists and even entire governments of South American countries. Of course, earlier in the year, Clarkson had one run-in too many as an altercation between him and a producer resulted in the English presenter being sacked before production could wrap on the show’s 22nd season.
Despite finishing the show’s remaining episode without him, Hammond, May and executive producer Andy Wilman confirmed that they would not be coming back without Clarkson, leaving millions of fans around the world wondering where they would now get their weekly fix of motoring shenanigans (because clearly, Top Gear USA just doesn’t count). And now we have an answer!
Clarkson himself tweeted out the news yesterday afternoon that the trio has signed a deal with Amazon Prime to host a new show on the media streaming service
I’m very excited to announce that Hammond, May and I have signed a deal with .@AmazonVideo
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) July 30, 2015
.@AmazonVideoUK now saying I can’t be their chief drone pilot. Apparently they want us to make a car show.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) July 30, 2015
Although not confirmed, a hashtag used in a follow-up Tweet by Amazon implied that the show could be called Drive2Prime. Which is a freaking horrible name. So yeah, I’m hoping that’s just some kind of hashtag.
We’ve got a brand new ride. #OnlyOnAmazonPrime #Drive2Prime http://t.co/ebJJAd8gP2 pic.twitter.com/SzBPvPfWTQ
— Amazon Instant Video (@AmazonVideoUK) July 30, 2015
The following official announcement was posted on Amazon’s site:
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May are reuniting to create an all-new car show, exclusively for Amazon Prime. The show will be produced by the trio’s long time executive producer Andy Wilman. On working with Amazon, Jeremy Clarkson said “I feel like I’ve climbed out of a bi-plane and into a spaceship.” The first show will go into production shortly and arrive exclusively on Amazon Prime in 2016.
Originally it appeared that Clarkson and co were going to be moving from BBC to fellow British broadcaster ITV, but a non-competition clause in their Top Gear contracts prevented them from doing so until 2017. However, the clause does not include prohibitions on online streaming services, hence why they ended up at Amazon Prime.
Personally though, I was hoping that it was the biggest streaming service, Netflix, that ended up recruiting the trio as I already have a Netflix subscription. I really didn’t want to have to fork out an additional $79 per month just to watch one show. Hopefully Netflix can acquire the licence to rebroadcast the show as well, much like they did with the BBC and Top Gear.
Last Updated: July 30, 2015
