The Grand Tour

The Grand Tour: Producer Andy Wilman Warns Fans To Expect Less From The Show Thanks To COVID

The latest episode of The Grand Tour was finished in April, according to host Jeremy Clarkson, but thanks to the COVID pandemic, changes had to be made to keep the team safe. However, this also meant that the episode release was pushed back, and only now are we expecting the Madagascar Special,  A Massive Hunt, to be released on Amazon Prime Video this week.

Despite a recent vaccine release in the UK, things still aren’t looking good for the country, which is currently in a state of tiered lockdowns depending on local infection rates. Obviously, this also means we can’t travel across the border easily. This doesn’t bode well for the future of The Grand Tour, according to producer Andy Wilman at BT.com.

With a Russian special episode still waiting for the green light, Wilman warns fans that things aren’t going to be the same for a while, as long as the pandemic is still causing issues.

“In March this year we thought okay, we’ll go into lockdown and in the Autumn we’ll be good to go. But look at us now. The f***ing pubs are closing again,” said Wilman.

“There will be a bit of a wait. Right now we should be preparing the Russia film, which we were supposed to shoot last February. But we won’t get to do that for a while. Nothing is certain enough.

“These films take three months. And planning for them means spending money. And if the place gets shut down after the planning, you don’t get your money back.

“We haven’t got the money to do that. We can’t blow money on things that go to waste or else you end up with f*** all on screen. We have to wait until we can plan with confidence.”

For the time being fans will have to settle for Grand Tour episodes filmed closer to home with an episode following the trio travelling between Edinburgh and the Outer Hebrides coming in 2021.

“Scotland was a real success,” said Wilman. “It was a different type of special. Smaller, charming, more knockabout. But we were really proud of it and we could keep doing that until we can get our passports back again.

“We’re still programmed to work and put a shift in, but we have to be realistic and we can’t go do the big travel specials until we have some sort of certainty and we’re a way off that.”

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: [email protected]

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