Come December, the base of the Burj Khalifa will have an intriguing new addition: a giant tent which, when pitched at other locations around the world, has been the subject of intrigue, rumour and not a little amusement.
The tent is the mobile studio for Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May's new Amazon Prime motoring TV show, The Grand Tour, their first since they parted ways with the BBC's Top Gear. And its final destination – after a year-long journey that took a variety locations, including South Africa, Lapland, Nashville and Germany – will be Dubai.
If it is not exactly a surprise that The Grand Tour would make a pit stop in Dubai, given the emirate's obvious car culture, a particularly pleasing aspect of the visit is that rather than just flying in to the UAE, filming an expensive car in the desert and then leaving again (as Hammond did for Top Gear with the Mercedes G63 AMG 6x6 in 2014), The Grand Tour is actually spending some time here.
The tent studio is open to the public, and anyone can apply for tickets to be part of the audience for the show.
So what do we know about the new show? After leaving Top Gear – which slightly misfired when it returned this year with Chris Evans at the helm for just six episodes – it seemed a little odd, initially, that Hammond, May and Clarkson had thrown their lot in with Amazon's online-video service (the programme will begin streaming from November 18).
But the tent idea reveals how much they've been able to take their Top Gear template and run with it, backed by Amazon's cash.
On the BBC show, the studio elements were where the trio got to be public entertainers, but were anchored to a to a TV studio in a windswept airfield warehouse in England, while their glob-trotting was restricted to pre-filmed sequences and special episodes.
Now, they are free to film in front of audiences in Johannesburg, California, Whitby, Rotterdam and Lapland, with Stuttgart, Scotland and Nashville also on the itinerary ahead on the final stop in Dubai. You would like to think these disparate locations will add some local flavour and comedic potential – especially as the stars like to play up to the part of bemused Brits abroad. That is where the new roving studio bit could really come into its own.
For all the celebrity guests, stars in reasonably priced cars and amusing news stories, Top Gear was really all about Hammond, May and Clarkson taking part in adventures in bashed-up vehicles across deserts, on ice caps and through mountain passes. None of that will change. As James May says in the trailer for The Grand Tour: "We're going on a road-trip in very exotic cars".
Judging by that trailer, which has plenty of footage of the boys speeding around race tracks, driving tanks and dropping cars into the ocean, there is a hint that reviews of new cars might not be such a priority any more. Yes, the first episode will compare the Ferrari LaFerrari, McClaren P1 with the Porsche 918 Spyder, but with the catchline “one incredible adventure” there is just the slightest suggestion that there might be a narrative arc across all 12 episodes of the series, particularly given that Amazon are going really big on the camaraderie between the trio.
This might be overthinking the potential of The Grand Tour, but it will be fascinating just to see this show at work in Dubai. Jay Marine, the vice president of Amazon Video Europe, says that in the other places where they have taken the Grand Tour tent, the demand for tickets has been incredible.
His slightly cheesy call to action – “Don’t miss out and apply today to join the guys in Dubai for the ultimate adventure and an experience to remember” – might sound a bit generic and the usual TV hype.
But, free of the shackles of the BBC, it feels like Hammond, May and Clarkson have been able to make exactly the kind of show they always wanted. It’ll be interesting to see whether such freedom crosses over into self-indulgence.
Still, making a show about fast cars, in exotic locations, backed by Amazon’s money ... what could possibly go wrong?
• The Grand Tour is available to stream from November 18. To apply for tickets to the Dubai show go to www.applausestore.com/book-the-grand-tour-dubai
sasaeed@thenational.ae
