The Grand Tour executive producer Andy Wilman has admitted that Jeremy Clarkson was the “saddest” he’s ever seen him after seeing a final cut of their last-ever special.
The trio of Richard Hammond, James May and Clarkson filmed their final special with EP Wilman in Zimbabwe last year as they announced it would be their last-ever on-screen outing.
The Grand Tour’s Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May will star in One for the Road
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“It’s more gentle, more reflective and I think they brought their A game with their conversation and their banter, which was wonderful. Their friendship is fully on display.”
Reflecting on his own emotions when seeing the trio film their final scenes, Wilman continued: “I thought, ‘I love you three because only you three can say goodbye in this way. You are clearly sad, but you are robust about it. You are taking the p**s to the very end.’”
But once the cameras stopped rolling, the footage headed to the editing suite where Wilman decided he’d use George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord to play over the credits to bid farewell to The Grand Tour.
“I wanted something that had melancholy but that was uplifting and said, ‘Hey, we had some great times,’ and I thought My Sweet Lord did that. It gives you permission to lift.
The Grand Tour’s Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May have worked together for over two decades
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“It’s so beautifully written – you’ll still have a tear in your eye.”
And the use of the track had a profound effect on Clarkson as Wilman explained: “The saddest I’ve seen Jeremy was when I sent him a cut of the film and he watched the ending and that really shook him.”
Clarkson himself has reflected on the final day of filming ahead of One for the Road’s arrival on Amazon Prime Video on September 13.
Touching upon May’s aforementioned reaction to wrapping things up, Clarkson remarked: “I’m not saying this in a derogatory way by any means, but James has the emotions of a stone.
“He just doesn’t do emotions, so there were no tears from him.”
Hammond, who admitted he “likes a good cry”, was a different story: “Hammond, yes. I was surprisingly unemotional in a weird way because I can see James and Hammond any time I want to, they’re only a phone call away, and I’m sure we will.
The Grand Tour’s Andy Wilman was speaking in this week’s Radio Times
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“And I’ve done enough of the travel, I was worn out by it. Where I would have been emotional was saying goodbye to the crew because most of them started with us.
“There’s a photograph taken on Kubu Island of Russ Edwards and Casper Leaver (Camera Operator) and Andy Wilman, who were there on the original crew, and they’re still with us.
“You can’t say that about any other show. We are a dysfunctional family, and I’d miss that, except for one tiny detail.
“There I was with all these guys that I’ve known and worked with for twenty-four years and I said, ‘I’ll see you all on Monday morning’ because they all work on Clarkson’s Farm.
“I’m 100 percent convinced I would have been a lot more emotional without the farm show.”
