I had high hopes – but Amazon’s Grand Tour reboot is running on empty

This review is based on the first episode of The Grand Tour reboot.

The action in the new series of The Grand Tour begins as it always has.

Following a painfully awkward encounter (this becomes a habit) with Jeremy Clarkson at his Diddly Squat Farm shop, where he hands over the torch and warns the new hosts not to ‘f*** it up’, we’re greeted by an all-too-familiar sight.

Sleek, colourful cars that we’ll certainly never be able to afford dart across the screen, filling the air with high-pitched shrieks from their engines, which have God knows how much horsepower.

All the while, the three new fresher-faced hosts – Francis Bourgeois, James Engelsman and Thomas Holland – fire witty remarks about why their extremely expensive car is the best.

Sadly, the latest instalment of Amazon Prime Video’s motoring adventure show is neither as funny as the original, nor does it tread new ground.

Despite the best efforts of the new trio and a selection of high-budget challenges, the ‘new Grand Tour generation’ unfortunately ends up racing the same track as before, only this time with worn-out tyres.

Before we go any further, I must admit that Francis, James and Thomas all come across as seriously lovely people.

Francis, who will be known to many as that Train guy on TikTok, is a bundle of joy and energy throughout the first episode.

It also feels refreshing to see their new faces instead of Jeremy, Richard Hammond and James May, who – I think we can all agree – have been on our screens enough.

However, in the show’s attempt not to stray too far from the original, the reboot doesn’t play to the strengths of its new hosts enough.

Fancy cars and dangerous racing challenges aside, the three successors’ attempts to banter with each other and laugh at one another’s misfortune feel forced and unnatural.

While it might not be everybody’s cup of tea, the bizarre situations from the old days of The Grand Tour felt genuinely funny and entertaining.

With Francis, James and Thomas, there could’ve been an opportunity to create something new or try something different – but it wasn’t to be.

With the built-in competitive nature of this series, which sees the trio race against each other in challenges, there isn’t enough bite or drama in their rivalry.

Instead, everything feels rather tame, if not slightly pointless at times.

With that being said, the new challenges are thrilling, and if you’re into cars, you’ll find the insight into the technology behind each engine fascinating, although most of it went over my head.

Following a drag race and the world’s most awkward on-screen encounter between James and Jenson Button (I did say it becomes a habit), the former F1 driver does laps around a circuit in each of the host’s cars.

The trio then use their vehicles – a Ford Mustang GTD, Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 and a Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution Evolution – to race fighter jets.

After their race, a breathless Francis tells the others: ‘This isn’t going to be easy,’ in reference to their upcoming challenges.

It certainly won’t be, and it will be difficult to try and win over a dedicated and loyal fanbase from the previous instalments.

However, if these three try to pave their own way, and the show’s producers create a series that plays to their strengths, there could well be a future.

The Grand Tour just needs to first figure out what it wants to be.

The new series of The Grand Tour launches globally on Prime Video on Friday, September 4.