Jeremy Clarkson reunites with Richard Hammond and James May in exciting Top Gear 'return' - The Mirror

TV presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May reappear on BBC Two in a re-airing of their legendary Botswana Top Gear special

In a development that has surprised fans of motoring television, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May are making an unexpected reappearance on the BBC - just as their most recent venture, The Grand Tour, comes to an end.

Having left Top Gear nearly a decade ago following a well-publicised fallout, the trio went on to create The Grand Tour with Amazon Prime in 2016. The show carried forward their chemistry and adventures to a devoted audience. But in 2024, Clarkson confirmed he was leaving for good.

That announcement left fans mourning the end of a TV era. Yet this weekend, a nostalgic flashback is on it's way: BBC Two is airing the iconic Top Gear Botswana special, originally broadcast during the height of the show's popularity.

It features the three hosts navigating South Africa in cheap cars they each bought locally for under £1,500. While the Botswana episode is a rerun, the timing couldn't be more perfect.

Clarkson has recently reflected on the decision to retire from the escapades that defined their careers. In an interview with The Times, he admitted the creative engine had run low: “I’ve driven cars higher than anyone else and further north than anyone else.

"We’ve done everything you can do with a car. When we had meetings about what to do next, people just threw their arms in the air.”

He also acknowledged the grueling physical demands of producing the show had begun to take a toll. “If you’re Bear Grylls you go to a hotel - there aren’t any hotels in the Sahara desert,” Clarkson said, adding: “[The show] is immensely physical and when you’re unfit and fat and old, which I am, camping in Mauritania was a stretch.”

Despite their on-screen banter suggesting constant bickering, Clarkson pointed to a deep-rooted bond built over decades: “We’ve spent more time in each other’s company than our families’ over the last 25 years so I don’t think it would have lasted as long as it did if we’d hated each other as much as James likes to think."

“James May thinks there’s never been a more interesting time for how we move around and he’s probably right, but I don’t think it’s very interesting television. An electric car is no different from a chest freezer or a microwave oven. There’s no glamour or excitement. This week on Top Chest Freezer! I think it suits the written media more.”

The end of The Grand Tour doesn't mean the end of Clarkson on screen however. His farming documentary series Clarkson’s Farm continues to rake in massive viewership on Amazon Prime, becoming its most-watched original in the UK.

Amazon’s head of UK unscripted, Fozia Khan, has said The Grand Tour may yet evolve: “It’s come to its natural end,” she explained, but hinted that the brand could live on with new presenters, noting her team is still “thinking about” what comes next.

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