Richard Hammond’s ‘The Great Escapists’ Receiving Mixed Reviews From Fans

The Great Escapists, starring Richard Hammond of Grand Tour fame and Tory Belleci from Mythbusters, has had a rocky start with the majority of reviews from news outlets being more negative than I’m sure they would have liked. A day or so ago, we asked fans of Richard Hammond and the Grand Tour what they thought. Unsurprisingly, the responses were mostly very similar, but with a slight increase in people defending the show.

Positive responses were keen to note that the show must not be perceived as being something it’s not, and that it’s this reason why it’s been reviewed negatively.

One fan said the following:

“Just goes to show that you can work really hard to make a program that is light-hearted, good-natured, wholesome, and fun, and people will just complain that it’s not realistic.”

The episode is very clearly aimed at children, and isn’t meant to be consumed by adults who are looking for a serious survival program.

Another fan was also keen to explain that again, it wasn’t meant to be serious:

“It wasn’t bad. It was silly which seems to be what it was supposed to be. It was kind of like Mythbusters meets Grand Tour, which would make sense, all things considered. It wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever watched, but I enjoyed it. The weird part was that it defaulted to having the audio descriptions on, which I thought was part of the gag at first, until I realized I could turn that off. Lol.”

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Despite this encouragement from fans, others were keen to give their opinion, with most focusses on just how scripted the show was.

“Trying too hard like the last TGT episode. The narration was annoying but found changing to UK English turned it off. The biggest laugh is the description stating ‘unscripted’,” one fan explained.

Other fans didn’t hold back, with their comments being straight to the point:

“I was looking forward to it, and I really wanted to like it because I’m a big fan of both of them. It’s almost unwatchable.”

Unfortunately, it seems the issue stems from the script of the show. This has put off fans who were expecting something a little more serious and focussed on actual survival, when really, the island survival aspect of the show only served to be the reason behind some of the whacky vehicles and plot points of the episodes.

“Couldn’t finish the first episode. If it wasn’t as scripted and them actually being serious about making things to improve island life it would be great.

“I do think they compliment each other well though,” another fan comments.

How would you improve the show? With Hammond looking at a possible Season 2, maybe throw some opinions into the comments below to help him out?