Amazon Prime Video hosted a preview event for The Grand Tour season 2 last night in Sydney. We were fortunate to be invited along to check out the first episode along with a bevy of TV critics and fans.
Like Top Gear before it, the show isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but it’s fondly regarded by many members of the Ausdroid team and we jumped at the chance to check it out. Disappointingly, there wasn’t an in-person appearance by Clarkson, Hammond and May but they did appear in a prerecorded video to taunt us over The Ashes and thank everyone for attending.
The Grand Tour has set records for Amazon Prime Video, becoming their most-watched show. It’s shot in 4K UHD and looks stunning, with the location shoots looking more like a motion picture than a TV or a streaming show. Season 2 is set to feature visits to Croatia, Mozambique, Dubai, Spain, Switzerland, Colorado, New York and more.
The first episode of the series addresses the huge crash involving Hammond after completing the Hemburg Hill Climb in Switzerland. You can find additional reporting on the crash at Jalopnik. It’s part of a three-car supercar face-off that’s handled in the way we’ve come to expect from the cast. Other highlights include an appearance by David Hasselhoff in a showdown to find the world’s fastest former talent show host.
Season 2 of The Grand Tour looks likely to run for some 11 weeks and should provide some great Christmas viewing.
Amazon Prime Video is available on Android phones and tablets and on Sony Android TVs. The app unfortunately doesn’t support Chromecast, with Amazon predictablty pushing its own Fire TV platform over Google’s for a while now. That being said, you can cast your device’s screen or your desktop tab to your Chromecast instead… but it’s just not the same, is it?
Hey Amazon! Yeah, over here … come closer. Just between us, we’d really appreciate some Chromecast support here. It’s only been on the market for what, four years now?
Android TV support is also a bit lacking, with the app only available on Sony TVs. With Amazon Prime Video recently launching on Apple TV, we’re hoping to see this cold war thaw out a bit.
Amazon Prime Video costs USD $2.99 (about AU $4) for the first 6 months of your subscription, then USD $5.99 (about AU $8) after 6 months.
The Grand Tour Season 2 is available on Amazon Prime Video at midnight GMT on December 8. Customers who are not already Amazon Prime Video members can sign up for a free 7-day trial at PrimeVideo.com.
Can’t wait to watch this first episode on my LG EF950T OLED TV showing beautiful scenery of my homeland in HDR 4K ! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Give us bloody Chromecast support. Not paying $65 for a freaking Fire Stick to stream to a TV (I have Prime Video app on the Sony Android TV).
Yes!
a show for people with small minds and small penis looking for an extension as they search for their masculinity.
Or maybe just for people who are enthusiastic about cars and have a sense of humour… I don’t know.