This week Justin Crosby is joined by Andy Wilman, the producer behind Top Gear, The Grand Tour and Clarkson's Farm, for a conversation about handing the format to a new generation.
The Grand Tour returns to Prime Video on 4 September with a presenting trio built from digital-first talent: Thomas Holland and James Engelsman of the YouTube channel Throttle House, and trainspotter and qualified mechanical engineer Francis Bourgeois. Wilman talks through the casting logic that ruled out famous faces, the mechanics of testing on-screen chemistry before a series is greenlit, and why he believes the format's biggest moments were never planned, only discovered.
He also reflects candidly on the show's origins as a rushed response to a punishing Amazon contract, the eye-watering costs behind its biggest stunts, and why he now sits as a consultant rather than the hands-on producer he was for two decades. The conversation closes with a look at Clarkson's Farm's demanding edit process, and a wider question for the industry: would Top Gear have worked as a YouTube-native show, or did it need the BBC to kick against?
Plus this week's Story of the Week, Hero of the Week, and Get in the Bin.
00:00 Introduction and welcome
01:00 Casting the new presenting trio
06:00 Why chemistry with the audience can't be faked
17:00 The chaotic origins of The Grand Tour format
22:00 Wilman's role as consultant, not "brains behind"
35:00 Budgets, crew growth and the cost of the format's biggest stunts
37:00 Clarkson's Farm and why its edit is harder than The Grand Tour's
48:00 Would Top Gear have worked as a YouTube show?
54:00 Story of the Week, Hero of the Week, Get in the Bin
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