The launch episode of motoring TV show The Grand Tour was released by Amazon on its Prime TV platform on 18 November to critical acclaim from viewers and critics. Amazon says that the new programme – presented by the three former hosts of the BBC’s Top Gear programme – was the biggest show premiere ever on Amazon Prime, knocking its The Man in the High Castle drama off the top spot in terms of viewer numbers.The Grand Tour has become the top rated TV show or movie on IMDb, the world’s most popular source of movie and TV data, with an overall rating of 9.6 and over 10,000 votes. The show is rated 4.9 out of 5 stars by more than 15,000 customers on Amazon, and currently has a score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.
“The guys are back, doing what they do best – the chemistry between Jeremy, Richard and James is what makes The Grand Tour so entertaining,” said Jeff Bezos, Chief Executive Officer of Amazon. “Their creativity, along with the amazing production quality and 4K HDR streaming, has Prime members responding in a big way. Kudos and congrats to the whole team.”
The first episode of The Grand Tour was released at 0001 GMT on Friday 18 November, and customers immediately started tweeting their thoughts on the blockbuster opening episode:
- @annoyingracefan: I’m more excited about @thegrandtour than I am the birth of my child. I don’t have any kids but I am sure you know what I mean.
- @DannyAllenUK: That intro sequence for @thegrandtour has to be one of the most emotion/beautiful and expensive sequences I’ve ever seen on a TV show.
- @TransAmPatrick: I’m crying. Why am I crying? What’s going on here? I’m in a glass case of emotion! #TheGrandTour
- @BTMcLeod: Started the first episode of @thegrandtour and I can’t remember the last time I was this happy to see 3 middle aged dudes.
- @Tom__Berry: I’m only 3 minutes in and I can already tell that @thegrandtour is the best thing on TV this year.
Further episodes will be released weekly over the next 11 weeks for Prime members in the U.S, U.K., Germany, Austria and Japan, and the show will premiere worldwide for Amazon customers in over 200 countries and territories in December.
In addition to the unprecedented customer response, The Grand Tour has received outstanding critical acclaim from media around the world:
- “A brilliant beautiful spectacle.” Guardian
- “Between the gear head banter and intoxicating visuals, The Grand Tour makes for a sweet escape from the real world we all live in.” New York Post
- “The trio’s chemistry remains as brilliant as ever.” The Independent
- “Fans are over the moon.” Mail Online
- “The Grand Tour is stunningly beautiful.” The London Evening Standard
- “The Grand Tour is this year’s most eagerly-anticipated TV show. And, judging by the reaction to its Thursday debut, it’s fair to say that The Grand Tour is a critical and commercial success. Together, both viewers and reviewers flooded social media after the first episode aired on Amazon Prime, and they were unified in their praise.” Daily Mirror
- “They’ve sort of somehow come up with the world’s first scripted comedy factual show, and it works perfectly.” Digital Spy
- “Critics and fans welcome Jeremy Clarkson and co back with open arms.” Newsweek
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have been filming the first season of The Grand Tour in far-flung locations across the globe. The studio portion of the show takes place in a travelling tent in locations ranging from Johannesburg to California, Scotland to Rotterdam, Lapland to Nashville, Whitby in North Yorkshire to Stuttgart and the final stop in Dubai. The first episode kicked off in California, when Jeremy, Richard and James took their famous studio tent to Dry Rabbit Lake. Thousands of fans from across the U.S. travelled to the desert near Lucerne Valley, outside of Los Angeles for The Grand Tour’s very own “Burning Van” festival which was part of the opener of the first ever episode. The Grand Tour is available to stream at www.amazon.co.uk/thegrandtour with new episodes releasing weekly for 12 weeks. The official series trailer can be viewed here and to be the first to be notified of upcoming episodes and other news about The Grand Tour, fans can follow The Grand Tour on Facebook Twitter and at Amazon.