James May Reveals Studio-Less Format For Top Gear V2, An 11+ Episode Run And More

It’s amazing just how little we know about the new car show Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May will present on Amazon Prime. So far everything has been kept tightly under wraps, but in an upcoming interview with The Guardian, James May revealed a few interesting details.

Firstly, the trio won’t be carrying over Top Gear’s famous studio-based format. “We are not a studio-centred thing anymore. We are making a series of TV films and we don’t have a base…It is massively expensive what we are doing, for reasons that I hope will become apparent when you see it,” he said.

Next up, there’s the episode run. We’ve been expecting at least 30 episodes over three years as part of the initial Amazon deal based on previous reports, but May said to The Guardian that 11 or more episodes is what we have to look forward to for the first series.

May also confirmed that the show will debut on Prime rival Netflix this Autumn, and said that previous claims of a £10 million pay packet for Clarkson plus £7 million apiece for himself and Hammond were “all bollocks…The figures aren’t right.”

He remained coy about exactly when the new series will kick off, saying: “It will be ready when it’s ready…For once we are not in a race [with the BBC and Top Gear,” as well as labelling the Cenotaph stunt pulled off by his successors as “possibly a little unwise”.

If you’re desperate for a fix of Captain Slow and can’t wait for his new car show, you can catch him on upcoming BBC Four series ‘The Reassembler’, which begins soon.