by David Bates
Top Gear trio pen deal with Amazon Prime
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May’s brief broadcast exile is over, following the announcement of a new motoring show scheduled to be broadcast on Amazon Prime.
The former Top Gear trio have agreed a deal for three series’, with the cost of the agreement as yet unconfirmed. Amazon are, however, believed to have invested a significant amount into the British trio, whose deal out-manoeuvres contractual strictures that prevent their making a motoring program in the UK for the next two years, in an attempt to compete with streaming rivals Netflix.
Clarkson, needless to say, couldn’t resist taking a swipe at his former employers, tweeting: ‘”I feel like I’ve climbed out of a bi-plane and into a spaceship.” James May offered a more self-deprecating response, stating: “We have become part of the new age of smart TV. Ironic, isn’t it?”
Unfortunately for fans, the new series will not feature the Stig, however, surely fanatics will be happy to hear Amazon Prime Video EU vice-president Jay Marine say that his approach is “to give programme makers creative freedom to be innovative and make the shows they want to make.” Loosened from any constraints, who knows what madness will ensue?
The trio’s first series with Amazon Prime is expected to be available globally in 2016.
