The Grand Tour (TV Series) The Grand Tour Presents: Lochdown (2021) User Reviews

Fun, but ungrounded and disjointed

[Kronenbourg16 · 7/10 · 31 July 2021]

Big fan but this was quite a poor special.

It's disjointed - They do pointless things like all get caravans that they will pretend to sleep in, but unlike other episodes they don't kit the caravans out, they don't do anything with them, don't sleep in them.. you don't even get to see inside any of them and then they disappear half way through the show.

Then, randomly as they're cussing American cars there is a single line "but we must never forget that some American cars are great" (or to that effect), and this cues off a pointless montage of good American cars, then suddenly they're in good American cars for 10 minutes. The whole episode is weird like this.

Then there is the ending - they're heading to some America commune on a Scottish island, and the camera cuts and they've obsiously left the island to film them entering a bar as though it was on this island.. but it's not an American bar, it's Chinese, and somehow that's the bombshell that ends the show.

.. just weird.

Also, it's ungrounded. This special really lacked a grounding in the place they're at. For instance in Vietnam they have the driving exam and the visit to the tailors. Cultural moments are usually littered throughout these episodes, but there were none here. I thought there would be, with the castles, but barely a single room was shown. No people were spoken to (covid obviously) no culture was explored.

Still better than most things on TV, but disappointing for a special.

Classic Charm

[armalus · 9/10 · 30 July 2021]

This special seems to instil in viewers a sense of nostalgia. There is nothing too flashy about this Scotland special. No explosions. No major accidents. No major misfortunes. It's just a very charming love letter to the days of the past. Everything is dialled down. But that doesn't mean it isn't amazing. Its just more mature and a bit more grounded in the situation that we find ourselves in due to COVID-19. Its a great testimony to how the world has changed over the past year but in the same time that doesn't mean that somethings won't go back to the way they were. Clarkson, May and Hammond; the trio. I have this strong feeling that that will never change. And that sort of consistency is just brilliant.

Nothing new, but ......

[Too-Tall-for-the-Desert · 8/10 · 31 July 2021]

There is nothing new in this show. It's the same thing that Clarkson, May and Hammond have been doing for years.

And that's why it's brilliant! Why mess with a great formula?

There is a reason the Guardian TV reviewer hated it. It's everything they hate: toilet humour, not remotely environmentally sound, childish and culturally disrespectful. I loved every minute. It's the remedy for the total wokeness we have to endure day in and out currently.

I am having tears of laughter

[ilcool90 · 10/10 · 30 July 2021]

So much simpler than Madagascar and in the same time so much better. This is like one of the earlier top gear specials on a shoestring budget.

I still don't get how such big American engines produced so little horsepower.

Oh there will be a moment when Hammond will be wearing a certain type of a uniform, please hold on to your couch or else you will fall down from it laughing uncontrollably.

Please more of those simple ones, bigger does not mean better ( the cars in the episode prove that ).

Back to basic pays off

[chunkylefunga · 8/10 · 30 July 2021]

Good, solid episode.

Sure it's been cut back because of covid but the content is still solid and there were real laugh of loud moments.

Just shows you how strong a trio this is when then can have covid cut backs and the episode is arguable stronger than some of their bigger budget episodes.

Could actually have done with being 30 mins longer and seeing a wee bit more of Scotland.

Nevertheless defo worth a watch.

Classic 'top gear' special.

[MiloSuperSpesh · 10/10 · 30 July 2021]

It's a retrospective episode of the classic jokes from top gears golden years, only a bit of forced scripting, caravans ! May getting pranked, CLARKSON, hammond being the american fan boy in moderation, and the 'scottish' facination of battering EVERYTHING.

Everything is relaxed and flows nicely no fancy editing when it's not needed, their adventure makes sense, also some nice history dumps on the cars and minimal filler, 90 mins ish of these guys sticking to their strengths. Good one liners, well timed jokes,, nothing is over done it's all just enjoyable.

Many references to previous specials and episodes, anyone who hates / rates this episode low is a MORON.

Must see for fans of the 3 amigos.

Just a perfect classic episode

[Skinflint94 · 10/10 · 30 July 2021]

Grand tour, the way everybody loves it. Its a big episode full of funny stuff. Reminds me a lot of the epic Argentinian top gear special, in the best way. Even though its in Scotland, It feels more an adventure then exotic Madagascar ever did. Ad to it some gorgeous American cars and the classic banter and its perfect episode. More of this please!

Not as good

[amintofighi · 6/10 · 30 July 2021]

Sorry to say but it was not even nearly as good as the original grand tour or even the specials it was not bad totally.

Nice episode.

[lawrencelawrence86 · 8/10 · 30 July 2021]

Felt like an old episode of top gear, filled an hour and a half up nicely.

A Terrible Disappointment

[cmtaylor-10993 · 6/10 · 1 August 2021]

I love the Grand Tour but this 'special' completely missed the mark.

The fact that the ongoing COVID situation restricted the team from going abroad wasn't the problem. Scotland is a fabulous county as was the concept of driving classic US cars on UK roads from A to B. The episode had a classic Top Gear challenge feel about it with many laughs along the way, but the episode seemed to lose its mojo half way through.

The American cars chosen by Clarkson, Hammond and May are abandoned for some pointless soviet vs US grass track racing and then the trio drive their ideal muscle cars. There's a bit of history regarding US cars using stock footage here but at this point I was bored.

Eventually they return to the original cars to end the adventure and thankfully the episode picks up again with some hilarious antics crossing a stretch of water using a floating road 'built' by the trio.

Some of the humour and pointless skits miss the mark again. There's the unnecessary sabotage and customisation of the cars, there's the pointless aspect of them sleeping in a castle overnight. The breakfast scene with Jame May's cooking adds nothing to the story and then there's the idea of them joining a hunt party organised by chap called Tramp. Oh, but by far the worst skit is the ending, where of instead of finding themselves in a US commune they are actually in one where everything is Chinese. An utter rubbish end of the show as it provides no conclusion to the journey or even what car was the best. The humour seems to get more self indulgent with each passing year.

There are some funny bits, getting stuck in Edinburgh generates some laughs as does James May getting knocked over by a wall of water when his caravan is 'spontaneously' flooded by a conveniently unlocked fire engine Clarkson and Hammond gain access to. Hammond's caravan and later his boat tipping over was fun but notice how you only see the internal shot of these events.

I like the return of the familiar challenge style episode but again this is too 'baggy' with unnecessary gimmicks and skits. A 60 minute runtime would have condensed the narrative of the story and improved the overall quality. The middle of this episode is dull at best and it's the first time I've been bored by The Grand Tour.

the lesson is even more important

[jmghent · 9/10 · 26 August 2021]

Thank you to Jeremy, James and Richard and the whole Grand Tour team for making a very important editorial point at the end of this episode.

If America doesn't wake up it will become just like China before anyone realizes it.

Much better than the last special

[adampoyseruk · 7/10 · 13 August 2021]

I really hope the producers of Grand Tour see the reviews. This is so much better than the last instalment we had. Nearly as good as the Mongolian special. Back to what they're good at, just driving cars from one place to another with challenges that don't need a tenuous story like pirate treasure driving it.

A bit of a chore

[motogpnews · 3/10 · 2 August 2021]

Up until this episode I've enjoyed the Grand Tour specials but this one was pretty hard work.

We know it's all staged but this episode seemed worse than the others - the bit with the fire engine was painful. Are we expected to believe there was a parked fire engine nearby unattended that they could freely use?

It was also really disjointed and the bridge part at the end was pointless.

Zastava

[Vojvoda1979 · 10/10 · 29 August 2021]

I love Top Gear and The Grand Tour but someone who represent cars over 30 years don't know who build Zastava !!! Zastava is from Yugoslavia today Serbia and not from Soviet Union we were never part of Soviet Union !!!

Great to have the guys back!

[BlackRabbit90 · 9/10 · 23 August 2021]

Maybe not their best episode, but all things considered - still a feat of production!

Love seeing the dramatic scenes of scotland and the good old fashioned humour we've loved for so many years... The ending was a tad anti-climatic - if not quite bizarre!

Basic, simple and fun classical Grand Tour special

[bilishka · 9/10 · 30 July 2021]

The trio goes on the enchanting roads and castles of Scotland. Filled with classical pranks and jokes the trio is known and loved for. Even though filmed in Scotland it has a strong American influence. The episode contains many famous and infamous American cars that just fit in.

Classic Clarkson, Hammond & May

[photo-115-284498 · 10/10 · 30 July 2021]

This Special was definitely the trio back to their old Top Gear days. It was funny, entertaining, if felt natural and had its usual moments with things going wrong. One of my favourite specials of The Grand Tour years.

More of this please boys, MORE OF THIS!!! :-D.

Muscle cars, campers, and castles, oh my

[Calicodreamin · 7/10 · 14 August 2021]

Another hilarious episode of the grand tour solving life's great mysteries... like how to tow a camper properly and use an outboard motor. So many good laughs and a few great cars.

still the best

[mrpicky · 10/10 · 30 July 2021]

Just 20 min in and its already better then all of the hollywoon comedy's of last two years. They are the best start of the day one could dream of.

Correct formula, wrong execution

[tbramlov · 7/10 · 3 August 2021]

As with all us Grand Tour fans we await with anticipation on the new special, as was my anticipation with this episode. I was, however, a bit disappointed.

With this special, we are presented with the classic trio formula, but that is, in itself, not enough. My critique for this episode origins from the lack of cohesiveness and, as someone else pointed out, grounding, in the episode. My expectation was beautiful scenery, nice drives, a dash of comedy and some consequent mechanical problems along the way. But what we, as viewers, received was an episode that had no real 'plot', they seemed to have planned it out, but they really did not use Scotland's full potential. The caravanning, for example seemed very unnecessary, and they disappeared halfway into the episode. Furthermore, the challenge between the Soviet and Americans was just plonked right in the episode, the race was not particularly interesting and seemed to have no real meaning behind it. The american commune part was also extremely confusing, and it was clear, that the sports bar Jeremy arrived at, was nowhere near the supposed commune on North Uist.

I am a big fan of Scotland (I love Scotland), but GT did not really do it justice, as they did in the episode with the three italian sports cars. I would have liked to see a map of their progression and place names mentioned, so we could have followed the trio; instead, it seemed a bit aimless.

But you, of course, have to remember the situation they are in, it is COVID-19 and they have to follow some serious and strict guidelines, and they made a great episode under these circumstances. It felt very toned down and nostalgic (almost worrying me this was the last special, ever). The cars were also great: beautiful and cool!

I hope to see a more exciting and cohesive special next time.

Happy movie/series watching.

As always, great entertainment!!!

[tt-rs · 10/10 · 2 August 2021]

Yes, it's the same old format. That's the draw of the show. The chemistry between the 3 of them is unparalleled. The scenery is stunning, the production is first class and the expected and unexpected stunts always leaves me in anticipation of the next episode. Well done especially considering the limitations of the pandemic lockdown. Clarkson, Hammond and May have given us 18+ years of incredible entertainment.

"It needs more gears"

[safods · 7/10 · 30 July 2021]

Is a qoute from this episode, which kinda sums it up to me.

Yes, there is a few wholehearted laugh moments, Richard pulling a floating bridge with his boat ... and ...the part where....oh yeah the poster is quite funny!

Just seems like there is to much filler(?) used. The US musle car montage, the Commie Vrs MERICA! Race on the field. I honestly forgot the field race completely until I rewatched the episode.

Oh yeah, Jeremy losing his campervan was kinda a wholehearted laugh, but nothing like the time James broke down laughing chasing Jeremy in their caravan challenge.

I miss them building stupid stuff and getting into arguments when it fails and laughing their a***s of when it works.

The last couple of episodes just seems lackluster, like it's a fake china clone of something wellmade.

Tired Andy Wilman Formula

[grahamsmales · 4/10 · 31 July 2021]

Buy some unreliable cars, accidentally find yourself off road, smash up some caravans, modify said unreliable cars, bully James May.....it's the same tired Andy Wilman formula.

Clarkson has proved he can do so much more with Clarksons Farm, and he needs to capitalise on this.

Classic

[WODIZ · 8/10 · 30 July 2021]

This is your typical tg/tgt special, however that is is no way a bad thing. Highly enjoyable throughout and the final 30 minutes is some of their best stuff. This trio deserves to be recognized for all the entertainment they've given us over the past 10+ years.

Hugely entertaining

[dereklambe · 10/10 · 30 July 2021]

This is the lads doing what they do best - messing around, poking fun at each other, and entertaining the rest of us.