Richard Hammond to star in Amazon Prime series

Richard Hammond has signed up for a new adventure series that will see him trying to create a “paradise island playground” after being shipwrecked.

The six-part Amazon show, from Chimp Productions, will also feature MythBusters star Tory Belleci.

The pair will find themselves shipwrecked in mysterious circumstances, stranded on a remote yet beautiful desert island.

They decide to take matters into their own hands as they use all of their engineering and scientific prowess not only to survive, but to construct a paradise island playground.

Each episode of the as-yet-untitled show will see the pair take on huge feats of engineering, ranging from island hopping vehicles to a supersized hydro-power waterwheel.

The Grand Tour star Hammond said: “Somebody needs to take hold of popular science as a genre and reinvent it for a new age.

“And there are only two people to do that job. Unfortunately neither of them are available so it’s me and Tory Belleci.”

He added: “At Chimp, we’ve assembled the absolute A-team when it comes to this genre, and, working with Amazon, who have demonstrated their faith in us by commissioning this hugely ambitious show, we shall create something genuinely fresh and new on a scale of greatness never before seen.

“There’s every chance that both Tory and I shall make it back from the island alive and sane… Probably.”

Belleci added: “I’m so excited to be working with Richard for the first time. This is gonna get crazy!”

Georgia Brown, director of European Amazon Original Series, said: “We are delighted to announce this new project with Richard and to welcome Tory to Amazon Studios.

“This show is all about going to the extremes to pull off the impossible and with this outstanding duo at the helm, I can’t wait to see what lengths they will go to in order to create a series that is sure to stun and delight our viewers across the globe.”

The series will be available exclusively on Prime Video in over 200 countries and territories worldwide.

The green light follows Amazon’s announcement in December that The Grand Tour presenters Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May had been signed for individual projects in addition to their motoring programme.