Yahoo News Jeremy Clarkson explains big changes to The Grand Tour
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have made some crucial changes to The Grand Tour for the third series that might at first be quite jarring for viewers.
One of the most familiar segments of the trio's shows dating back to their Top Gear days has been bantering with celebrity guests from Carol Vorderman to Tim Burton about their motoring likes and dislikes.
That will change in the new Grand Tour episodes because the trio have dropped the celebrity interviews entirely, partly because Clarkson has said it was becoming a distraction for the presenters.
"It certainly makes the recording easier... my mind was always distracted by the fact you have an interview to do," he explained. "If you've got a chat show, you turn up for work and you're doing a chat show. But I was turning up, you've got to try and make James interesting - always tricky - then you've got Hammond, who's Hammond.
"You've got your studio audience. And you've got the links into and out of... And then you've got, effectively, a chat show to record. It's a lot."
Clarkson also argued that the celebrity guests made The Grand Tour feel too regional at times, since they'd only have appealed to specific parts of the world.
"It's easier to spend the money and time on films, rather than on the guest. And I think the viewers would agree," he said.
The presenters definitely have some big-budget exploits planned for their new series. In the first episode, they'll travel to Detroit in hopes of reviving the spirit of the Motor City's glory days.
Then, they'll head to Colombia for a two-part episode where Clarkson, Hammond and May traverse the country in search of the most exotic animals to photograph for Amazon's new screensavers.
The latter two-parter is more in line with the format of the show moving forward, with the fourth series set to ditch the tent entirely to send Clarkson, Hammond and May on their worldwide adventures.
The Grand Tour is set to roll out its third series on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, January 18.
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