Amazon has renewed The Grand Tour, the motoring show developed by former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, for a series of specials in a deal worth tens of millions of pounds.
Amazon, which paid a reported £160m for a three-series deal in 2015, said the stars will also develop their own shows for the Prime Video service.
Amazon said that the specials would depart from the style of the first three full series – the last of which will be available on Amazon Prime from 18 January – and the trio would “ditch the tent and take on big adventure road trips that fans around the world love”.
The format sounds similar to the epic Top Gear “specials” in which the presenters leave the BBC’s studios and embark on gruelling car journeys in far-flung locations.
“The Grand Tour is a worldwide hit and fan favourite,” said Jay Marine, vice president of Prime Video, which has about 5 million regular users in the UK. “We’re delighted the guys are coming back for series four.”
Amazon did not reveal the value of the new wide-ranging deal but it is known that The Grand Tour has been one of its most successful programmes in attracting subscribers to its video service in the UK and internationally.
Amazon said that it has also entered a new deal with the three hosts and Andy Wilman, the Top Gear executive producer who was part of the original deal struck in 2015, to “develop brand new TV shows with them individually”.
“We’re proud to say that Prime Video will continue to be the home for Jeremy, Richard and James,” said Marine. “They’ve got some ambitious new ideas that Prime members are going to love. We’re excited to be bring more Clarkson, Hammond and May to Prime Video for years to come.”
When the trio fronted Top Gear it made the Guinness World Records as the biggest factual TV show in the world, available in 214 territories with a global audience estimated at 350 million at its peak. Clarkson left in 2015 after the BBC decided not to renew his contract after an attack on Top Gear producer Oisin Tyson. Hammond and May decided against continuing as hosts, joining Clarkson and Wilman in striking the lucrative Amazon deal months after departing the BBC.