The ultimate televised boys' own adventure is coming to a crashing end and there is a "melancholy cast" to this epic two-hour final episode, said The Times' Victoria Segal. Of course, they're not running short of the "banter, the breakdowns, the stunts" either, yet there's sadness here, too.
"The Grand Tour" started in 2016 after Prime Video gave the trio a new home following Clarkson's dismissal from "Top Gear" by the BBC. And this epic two-hour special is a "well-earned testimonial," said The Telegraph's Benji Wilson.
The "gouty trio" make for an unlikely "vital cultural export," said The Independent's Nick Hilton. These rather unglamorous middle-aged men are "global attachés for a form of shambling masculinity." Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond are driving 600 miles across Zimbabwe in their dream wheels – Clarkson in a customised Lancia Montecarlo, May in a Triumph Stag and Hammond in a MK1 Ford Capri RS3100. The landscape is something to behold: notably a "jacaranda-lined avenue in Harare" and a "haze of the salt flats" that they emerge from like Lawrence of Arabia.
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The trio have stuck to the line, said Yahoo News's Ian Hyland that this is the last time they will work together and there is a "definite finality" to proceedings, despite the fact that the first half is mainly made up of stunning scenery, broken down cars and some light bullying of Hammond (plus ça change) "well, he had just had a naff tattoo done". Yet, when they reach Harare and read a local paper's write-up of their final journey, the trip become decidedly wistful, though they're clear they won't be "ending up in the same old folks' home together".
Still, perhaps now is not a bad time to be parking up. As Clarkson notes, said Wilson, "Cars aren't as interesting as they used to be: electric cars are essentially just new white goods", where "views and reviews take place largely online".
It's James May who comes closest to blubbing, on Jeremy's newly acquired boat no less, though he quickly pulls out the stiff upper lip, merely saying, "Anyway, I hope we've brought you a little happiness." Indeed, after 21 years together, said Segal, the gang have had a "good run".
"The Grand Tour: One for the Road" is streaming on Prime Video from Friday, 13 September.
