The Grand Tour is back! Following on from its success with Amazon Prime Video, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May show a return to form that is more reminiscent of the Top Gear glory days. As explained by Producer Andy Wilson the show has found its feet after the first season, they’ve listen to feedback from the fans, and have more motoring mayhem than ever before.

For Season Two, the trio have travelled across five continents and filmed in Dubai, Croatia, Mozambique, New York and Colorado. The strong themes that the trio have perfected are still there – they know what they are about, they know how to do it and they do it well.

The Grand Tour Launch

Having received feedback from the trio’s vocal following, the show shows tweaks and improvements, most notable being a permanent studio and a revamp of the celebrity interview section, previously entitled ‘Celebrity Brain Crash’. Whilst the initial guests aren’t what you consider ‘A-list’ – Ricky Wilson and The Hoff – the section features Clarkson’s classic interview style and a head-to-head race for the celebs. Having said that, the new track is a pretty poor condition and the race we watched was, well, slow.

The opening episode features the trio on a classic cruise through Switzerland, exploring the difference between the petrol, hybrid and electric powered cars. The episode doesn’t shy away from Hammond’s crash, and in fact in the introduction from Andy Wilson, he explains just how close a call it was.

The Grand Tour Launch

The episode comes to a climax with a shockingly graphic clip of Hammond’s car turning and spinning off a hill, followed by ambulances, fire engines and a helicopter stretcher out of the scene. Then in the typical style of the trio they ignore the incident, move along and it’s only by Hammond’s indignant splutters that they address it.

All-in-all, the show looks like it’s learned from its mistakes last season. It is full to the brim of motoring adventures and Clarkson,Hammond and May are back to form and doing what they do best.