Clarkson, Hammond and May name new show 'The Grand Tour'

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Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson, filming their new Amazon show.

Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson, filming their new Amazon show.

Fans unimpressed with new name

Jeremy Clarkson's new rival show to Top Gear will be called 'The Grand Tour', it was announced today.

Rumours have surrounded the name of the Amazon programme ever since Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond quit the BBC.

The name was announced this morning by the Vice President of Amazon Video, Jay Marine, who called the programme 'one of the most anticipated TV launches ever'.

But fans seemed unhappy with the new name on Twitter, branding it 'bland' and dubbing the new show 'The Grand Bore'.

Announcing the name today, Mr Marine said: 'After nine months of deep thought, debate and deliberation, the guys have come up with a name that reflects the global ambition of the new show. 

'The Grand Tour will be one of the most anticipated TV launches ever, and we're excited to be bringing it to Amazon Prime customers around the world this autumn.'   

Commenting on the name, Clarkson said: 'We'll be travelling the world hosting each episode in a different country, from a giant tent. It's a sort of grand tour, if you like. So we've decided to call it The Grand Tour.'

Programme bosses say that the studio will be a big tent which will be taken to a different location each week to record with an audience. A series of 12 shows will begin later this year.

The hosts will then film pre-recorded segments reviewing cars and completing challenges, as they used to do with Top Gear.

The name references the Grand Tourer, a type of luxury sports car used for long journeys and the English word for gran turismo, the Italian word for the same type of car which has become a popular computer game.

he name is also a reference to 'The Grand Tour' undertaken by 17th Century Englishmen such as Lord Byron, as they visited France, Italy and the rest of Europe in search of culture. 

The show's initials will be GT, an inversion of the TG nickname given to Top Gear.

James May admitted to being underwhelmed by the name. 'I wanted to call it Nigel or Roger. We needed a name, and they're names,' he joked.

Richard Hammond was more positive. 'I already love camping,' he enthused, 'But this is something else. We are like our pioneering and prospecting forebears, sallying forth into a new frontier of broadcasting, and making our home.'  

The announcement comes two weeks after the trio released a video which showed them struggling to come up with names for the show.

The joke names suggested in that video, which was posted on Clarkson's Facebook profile, were Acebiscuits, Erewash or Zambezi.

Fans, who rubbished the new name on Twitter, said they preferred 'Gear Knobs', a joke name muted earlier this year, but reportedly banned because it contained the word 'Gear'. 

Scott Bryan posted: 'They've decided to call the Amazon version of Top Gear... 'The Grand Tour' because there are many films in different countries. How boring.'

Nick Barnes added: 'The Grand Tour. Not buying it. Sounds bland.'

David Bush tweeted Clarkson saying: 'It should be called The Grand Bore.'

Clarkson tweeted seconds after the announcement, writing: 'So, the Grand Tour (GT for short) will come from a tent, which we will put up in a different location every week. Your town?'

In a series of tweets, Hammond expressed his excitement, writing: 'We've got a name. And it was bleeding obvious cos it's what we're doing: coming from a different place every week.'

'Best of all, we've got a MASSIVE tent as our studio. Same tent, different view, different crowd every week on our Grand Tour,' he added.

May added: 'I'm sorry if your name wasn't used for our new show. But neither were any of mine.'

He linked to the show's new Facebook page, which contains a video scrolling through crossed-out name suggestions including Watcher Of The Skies, A Small Puddle Of Excellence and Automates. 

- The Daily Mail