The fourth season of Amazon’s hit car show, The Grand Tour has finally hit the screens as the boys have released ‘Seamen’ a one and a half hour long Christmas special. At the end of season 3 of The Grand Tour, the trio announced that they would abandon the tent and the audience and the much loved “Conversation Street” segment, but will instead make long-duration programmes instead like they do for their ‘Specials’.
So on Friday 13th, November 2019, Amazon released The Grand Tour presents… Seamen where Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James may embark on a 500km journey… by sea.
The journey begins in Southeast Asia as the three presenters were racing from Siem Reap in Cambodia going all the way to Vung Tau in Vietnam in boats rather than cars. At the beginning of the journey, the trio ride around in bicycles through towns which were made on rivers but have dried out due to damming. When they finally find the major water body, the marine journey begins.
In the production of Seamen, Hammond was first to arrive, and then he attempted to park his speedboat which was a Scarab, inspired by Miami Vice with the phrase ‘Razzle Dazzle’ painted across. Clarkson brought a custom made PBR (Patrol Boat River) replica of an American military boat which they used in the Vietnam War. While James May arrived in true May fashion in a 1939 wooden river cruiser. While Hammond and May spent in the low tens of thousands of pounds on their vessels, the shocker was from Jeremy who is known for going overboard (pun mildly intended) with his ventures announced had spent £100K on his PBR claiming “I’ve bought a little bit of history, at vast expense, back to southeast Asia,” even if it may be been quite inappropriate.
Throughout the journey, it was business as usual as the three presenters followed the known format which has worked for them for the past two decades, except this time it was the same on the water. However, Jeremy took the liberty to refer to the Vietnam War and stories of Pol Pot as they travelled through the Mekong Delta. While May took the time to talk about how the Mekong River was vital to the livelihood to over 6 million people.
On the flip side of things, the humour was just as good throughout the feature-length film and the chemistry and camaraderie between the three were just as strong. Although it did feel a bit disconnected at times due to the distance between the three when at sea. Also while the other two had twin V8 powered boats, James’ antique 4-cylinder diesel with 99hp left a massive gap in between which might lead some to believe a larger gap that there was. The cinematography, especially the slow-motion shots of the boats were spectacular. One, in particular, was when Jeremy demonstrated the PBR’s party piece of being able to come to a dead stop from maximum speed within its own length. The capture of the vessel slowing down and the water splashing was breathtaking.
But soon after, Jeremy with his onboard navigation device was successful in getting the trio lost, trying to find a way through the delta while avoiding the sea. When they were finally on the correct trajectory, the weather turned for the worse. While attempting to avoid the sea and its treacherous conditions, in the heavy rainfall, all three ended up exactly where they did not want to be, right in the middle of the sea in the midst of heavy cargo ships. The scene was actually gut-wrenching as you could see the misery from the rough seas and the toll it was taking on the three riverboats and their captains.
At the end of it all, Jeremy was the first to reach Vung Tau before even the camera crew could arrive. But eventually, as all three boats and the camera crews made it to the end as the film ends with Jeremy taking a cheeky jab at Top Gear with his regular closing phrase “and on that terrible disappointment… for Top Gear… it’s time to say goodbye. We’ll be back”
While the special was one that both Hammond and May made absolutely clear that it was the worst thing they had ever done with Hammond screaming “I Hate Boats!” pretty explicitly. It was most definitely as entertaining to watch. While the story may not be the trio’s best ever, as what they achieved in Botswana, Bolivia or even the Beach Buggys in South Africa and trip in Mongolia seem untouchable. Not always can one do better than what they did once before, but the effort in trying to achieve it is entirely visible in The Grand Tour’s production of Seamen.
