Francis Bourgeois heads up revamped The Grand Tour cast with return date revealed
The Grand Tour is well and truly back with an all-new line-up behind the wheel.
Taking over the driver's seat is trainspotter and secret petrolhead Francis Bourgeois alongside James Engelsman and Thomas Holland - the creators of the YouTube channel Throttle House.
Season one has already been filmed and fans can expect the six-part motoring series to drop on 4 September, exclusively on Prime Video, with the return date revealed by LADbible.
From crossing the Angolan desert in track cars to exploring Malaysia’s car culture, Francis, James and Thomas are set to drive the new series into a post Clarkson-Hammond-May era.
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“Since completing the filming of the series, I haven’t stopped replaying every moment in my head,” Francis admitted.
“It has made me laugh, made my heart race and my stomach turn… remembering the tent I shared with Thomas and James filled with sulphuric farts whilst Angolan jackals snooped around outside.
“It feels as though it was a dream but knowing we will get to share our adventures soon makes me so incredibly excited!”
James said the group learned ‘how to accept defeat gracefully’ when they ‘took on the West African Desert’.
“We contended with fighter pilots. We even decided to challenge an entire nation's legal system by protesting from the mountain tops,” he revealed.
Thomas teased some of the 'wild' environments that are coming up.
"I figured someone would be there to hold our hand the whole time. Nope. We were on our own in some absolutely wild environments in very, very questionable cars,” he added.
“What did we learn from this experience? Only that we have very poor decision-making skills. When you watch in September, expect a good laugh. And maybe a few butt clenches…”
In February, when the announcement was made, producer Andy Wilman said: "We are properly happy to hand over the baton to Thomas, James and Francis, because quite simply - they are doing it right. Not only do they have passion and knowledge, but more importantly they are in no way cardboard cutouts of the old three. They have a delightful chemistry that's all of their own making."
Tim Harcourt, chief creative officer at Studio Lambert, who will produce the new series, said: "The Grand Tour has humour and a pure love of cars at its heart. It's been a delight to find and film a brilliant new trio who take these values across the world from Angola and Malaysia to California and Didcot Parkway."
When previously asked by LADbible about the new line-up, Clarkson said the new group of presenters should be ‘three unknowns’.
"The biggest mistake they could make, by a mile, is getting people whose names we already know - 'Oh, they like cars'. That's not good enough,” he explained ahead of their final special The Grand Tour: One for the Road in 2024.
"I need to be able to show you an eighth of a car's door mirror, and you've got to tell me exactly what car that is. And if you don't know, you can't have the job.
"You've got to know your stuff. You've got to be able to drive, and you've got [to be] motoring journalists as well. But they've got to be unknowns."
The series will launch globally in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide, Prime Video previously announced.
Topics: TV, The Grand Tour, Amazon Prime
Anish Vij