Jeremy Clarkson’s farming show gets trailer, new name and Amazon Prime release date

AMAZON has released a trailer for Jeremy Clarkson’s new farming show for its Prime Video streaming service ahead of its June release date.

The show, previously called I Bought the Farm — after an Air Force term meaning to be killed in action — has been renamed simply to Clarkson’s Farm, and will chronicle the 61-year old’s transition from being a motoring journalist and television presenter to a full-time farmer and passionate rural conservation advocate.

The series starts in late 2019, covering the year in which coronavirus brought the world to a standstill. The show is expected to strike a political note — Clarkson has been outspoken about government “red tape” and local bureaucracy that he thinks hampers the efforts of the nation’s farmers.

Clarkson has discussed the trials and tribulations that have faced him, and farmers more generally, in his Farmer Clarkson column for The Sunday Times. This weekend’s Sunday Times Magazine will feature an interview with him, in which he will discuss the aforementioned government interference and the need for a revolution in the way that we view farms and farmers.

Although it will predictably strike a different note than Top Gear and The Grand Tour, Clarkson’s Farm looks to have all the hallmarks of a Jeremy Clarkson show — his characteristic belligerence, a few expletives, sophisticated machinery and a streak of humour.

Several scenes look to show Clarkson’s strained relationship with his sheep, whom he has discussed in several of his Farmer Clarkson columns, calling them “woolly teenage boys” and “vindictive… even in death”.

One scene shows him pinning a sheep to the ground and saying “I think I’ve gone in its anus…” while another shows the creature (or one of its compatriots) getting its revenge by kicking him in the groin.

However, there also looks to be flashes of the sentimentality and reflection for which Clarkson has a penchant, including shots of breathtaking sunsets over the thousand-acre Diddly Squat farm and the pleasure he takes in his small daily jobs, like wishing his chickens good morning as he lets them out of their coop.

An ensemble cast of locals and colleagues also look to highlight both Clarkson’s ineptitude as a rookie farmer and his clashes with locals — one of whom criticises Clarkson’s choice to “race about your whole life in vehicles” due to its negative effect on the environment, which Clarkson characterises as “unbelievable horseshit” as he climbs into his trusty Range Rover.

Clarkson is the last of The Grand Tour trio to receive his own show on Amazon Prime Video. James May has now starred in two — the travel documentary James May: Our Man in Japan, and his cooking show Oh Cook! — while Richard Hammond appeared alongside US TV personality Tory Belleci in The Great Escapists, in which the duo must use the remains of a shipwreck to escape a tropical island.

Clarkson’s Farm will appear on Prime Video on June 11, and his exclusive interview with The Sunday Times will appear in this weekend’s Sunday Times Magazine.

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