Television series

The Grand Tour

Name: The Grand Tour
Genre: Comedy, Adventure
Released: 2016
Cast: Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, James May, Abbie Eaton, Mike Skinner

Buddy comedy
Action
Light-hearted

The Grand Tour is a globe-trotting adventure show where three middle-aged men bicker, break things, and occasionally drive cars across impossible terrain. It's enormously fun—less about automobiles than about friendship forged through chaos, filmed in places most of us will never reach. Perfect if you want pure entertainment without pretense.

TVMaze rating

4.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy three gleefully bickering presenters who turn car talk into loud, daft travelogue comedy, and you don't mind the cars being a jumping-off point rather than the whole point.

Skip it if you want careful, technical car reviews or a tight, steady format, since the segments wander, the banter runs long, and the stunts can feel more showy than useful.

What it asks of you: Each episode runs about seventy minutes across six seasons, so it's a commitment, but you can dip in anywhere; it's loud, bright and fast in bursts, with plenty of easy laughs.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Top Gear2002

The foundation of everything that works in Grand Tour: three chemistry-addled presenters, elaborate stunts, and the same infectious energy. Seasons 1-7 are essential viewing for understanding why these three matter.

But Some early seasons feel unpolished; the format hadn't fully crystallized yet. Early 2000s comedic sensibilities date faster than you'd expect.

Clarkson's Farm2021

Jeremy alone on his own farm for a year, fumbling through agricultural incompetence with genuine charm and heart. It's warmer and slower than Grand Tour but filled with the same stumbling-forward warmth.

But It's genuinely thoughtful about farming economics and environmental issues. If you want only chaos and gags, the meditative stretches will test your patience.

A Bit of Fry and Laurie1987

Two brilliantly complementary performers riffing on British culture through sketches. The same kind of camaraderie and timing that makes Grand Tour tick, just in sketch form instead of adventure format.

But Sketch comedy is hit-and-miss by nature. Many bits feel very specifically of their era; some land, plenty don't.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Grand Tour

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Motorcycle Diaries2004

Both are fundamentally about travel changing people, but this one means it. Grand Tour is adventure as entertainment; this asks what adventure reveals about our capacity for empathy. Same structure, opposite temperature.

Two men travel across South America on an aging motorcycle, discovering hardship and injustice along the way. It's a journey film stripped to its essence—no stunts, no banter, just two people transformed by what they see. Gravely beautiful.

But It's a slow, meditative biography with political weight. If you want entertainment, this asks you to sit with discomfort and think about inequality instead.

Taskmaster2015

Intelligent, genuinely funny British comedy where the joy comes from watching accomplished people confidently fail. Same spirit of creative chaos as Grand Tour, sharper writing, smaller budget used brilliantly.

But You need to care about task-solving entertainment rather than adventure. It's studio-bound and deliberately understated after Grand Tour's bombast.

QI2003

Stephen Fry hosting a panel show about interesting facts and tangents. British comedy at its most relaxed; the pleasure is watching smart people enjoy each other's company and stumble toward jokes.

But It's entirely talk-based with no visual interest. After exotic locations and car stunts, listening to people sit still may feel like a comedown.

Peep Show2003

Two deeply unlikeable friends in a flat, shot through first-person perspective. Dark, awkward, and brilliant about male friendships—explores the same dynamic as Grand Tour (annoying people you love) but with actual stakes.

But It's ugly, uncomfortable, and nihilistic rather than celebratory. The opposite of Grand Tour's sunny tone; watching it feels like work rather than play.

Would I Lie to You?2007

Panel show where teams guess whether stories are true. Effortless British wit, genuine affection between panellists, the same warmth and banter that makes Grand Tour's chemistry sing.

But It's entirely dependent on panellists' personalities and their riffing. Some episodes feel thinner than others; no production value to fall back on.

The IT Crowd2006

Cult British sitcom about three misfits in an IT department. Sharply written, genuinely strange, and captures the same mix of incompetence and loyalty that runs through Grand Tour's DNA.

But Only four seasons and it fizzles toward the end. The humour is very niche and very dark; broad appeal it does not have.

Bicycle Thieves1948

Strip away all the production gloss and comedy from Grand Tour and you have this: two people on a mission, their relationship tested by circumstance. Grand Tour makes you laugh; this makes you understand why friendship matters at all.

A father and son search Rome for a stolen bicycle. Neo-realist masterpiece—no stars, no score, real locations, real desperation. The joy and heartbreak of watching two people navigate an impossible situation together.

But It's grainy, slow, and ends in genuine sadness. Made in 1948 Italy about poverty, not modern entertainment. Requires patience and emotional openness.

An Idiot Abroad2010

Both send men to impossible places and film what happens, but whereas Grand Tour celebrates camaraderie and spectacle, this celebrates Karl's refusal to be impressed by anything. Same format, opposite philosophy.

Karl Pilkington, sent to visit the world's wonders despite hating travel, narrates his bewilderment with deadpan genius. It's Grand Tour's evil twin—travel as genuine discomfort, observation without rose-tinting, comedy from honest alienation.

But Karl's worldview is sometimes offensive and often bleak. The show finds humour in his misery rather than adventure's joy. Some find it mean-spirited rather than funny.