Last December 30, The Grand Tour released a two-part special episode recorded in Namibia, South Africa. Many viewers sat in front of their TVs, hoping that the episode will outweigh the Top Gear Episode that the former presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May had when they were still part of Top Gear. But this was not the case.
The Grand Tour Special two-part episode recorded in Namibia, South Africadid not meet everyone's expectations. In fact, the episode gave the show its first major decrease in rating. After analyzing the chapter, here's what's wrong with the Christmas episode and why it became a fiasco, which CarBuzz even labeled as an "All Filler, No Killer" episode.
The episode focuses on the leading trio riding buggies, based on the Beetle Volkswagen, while driving around in Africa. The engines were chosen based on the personality of those who were to be their drivers. Clarkson was equipped with a hectic V8 engine, Hammond goes all safari on his buggy with chunky off-road tires while May’s was almost completely stock. And that was all the connection between them and it showed. The problem was that the presenters did not seem to have sincere attachments to their cars, totally different from when Top Gear drove the Opel Kadett - better known as 'Oliver' - in Botswana or the Porsche 928 that Clarkson drove in Patagonia.
The deserts of Africa is a spectacular setting for National Geographic shows, but when someone is looking for excitement on wheels, one cannot deny the fact that it can get tiring. A few minutes on the dunes are fun but in the special chapter of The Grand Tour, they extended the time on the sand too much that it became boring. The cinematography was jaw-dropping but it lacked the sense of adventure and danger that the trio usually show in extreme places such as Africa and India.
The Grant Tour special in Africa has two chapters and second episode is yet to be seen this Friday, but it already seems that Clarkson and company just wanted to prolong the footage excessively. However, it seems unreasonable to complain so much this time of the year according to GQ so everyone are just hoping that the second one will be good. Watch The Grand Tour Namibia special episode below and be the judge.
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