Andy Wilman RETURNS: Clarkson's Farm Secrets & Top Gear Reunion? (E415)

Summary

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Podcast Summary:

The High Performance Podcast
Episode: Andy Wilman RETURNS: Clarkson's Farm Secrets & Top Gear Reunion? (E415)
Date: June 8, 2026
Host(s): Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes
Guest: Andy Wilman (TV producer, best known for Top Gear, The Grand Tour & Clarkson’s Farm)

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Episode Overview

Andy Wilman returns for a rare second appearance following enormous listener interest in his previous interview (reportedly over 20 million unique views). This community-driven episode dives deep into behind-the-scenes stories from Top Gear, The Grand Tour, and Clarkson’s Farm, including tales about creative decisions, funny disasters, Jeremy Clarkson's evolution, and handling both success and stress at the peak of “high performance” television.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Genius (and Workings) of Top Gear & Clarkson's Farm

• Community Power:

  • The episode is dedicated to answering listener questions—an unprecedented move for the podcast due to public demand. (02:06)
  • Andy reacts with humorous humility to the show’s massive viewership: “And now I’ve got to go. So that’s a good number.” (02:00)

• Creative Ideas: The Brilliant, the Bonkers, and the Bin

  • Rejected Gems:
    • Discusses a never-aired “Top Gear petrol station” takeover, abandoned for being all joke, no point—“the worst thing you can do is, like, not have a point.” (03:31)
    • Describes their wildest unmade idea: a midair Formula 1 tire change, where a car leaves a plane and a crew attempts a pit stop before the chute opens—ultimately scrapped due to a projected $5 million budget. (04:49–06:20)
    • Decision process: Jeremy Clarkson insisted “things have to have a point”; otherwise, “you’re building a clown car...just going ‘please laugh at this’.” (06:30–07:31)

• Happy Accidents Are Gold

  • Andy reveals chaotic moments (such as power cuts during Top Gear filming, or mechanical breakdowns) often deliver the show’s best, most memorable bits:
    • “Some of our best moments are predicated on happy accidents...cars that break down give you gold.” (09:16)

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2. Clarkson’s Farm: Unexpected Impact

• Did You Expect the Show’s Cultural Significance?

  • “No, absolutely did not...all the best moments with Top Gear were kind of organic happy accidents...ditto the farm.” (12:10)
  • The original plan was simply to show Jeremy struggling to make a go of farming, with no idea the show would become a cultural/political landmark for real farmers. (12:10–15:08)
  • Key to Success: Jeremy’s genuine communication and ability to be emotionally open, e.g., candidly showing that his first year made just £144, amplifying authenticity. (13:33)

• Top Gear Jeremy vs. Farm Jeremy

  • “You see a calmer man. The love of the farm...he’s actually in the sweetest spot.” The farm show has “brought it out more, it's enhanced it.” (15:20)

• The Magic is in Small Stories

  • Early concerns about boredom—“how boring it might be...when you’ve done Minis going down ski jumps”—gave way to the insight that small, real moments (“move the goats from one field to another”) can have as much power as the biggest stunts. (17:31)
  • “He can somehow make the movement of goats quite something. There's a bit in the new series...” (17:31)
  • Jeremy’s Magic: Wilman admires Clarkson’s ability to “give you a Jeremy moment,” summing up the scene emotionally for the viewer—a mark of his presentational “genius.” (18:37)

• Authenticity of Other Cast

  • Supporting characters (Caleb, Charlie, Alan, Gerald) retain their non-TV authenticity. Charlie “never watches himself,” and Caleb hasn’t “become a TV version” despite fame. (23:21–24:54)

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3. Handling Real Issues: Comedy, Politics, and Farming

• Leaning Into Difficult Subjects:

  • Wilman says they don’t shy away from real issues—inheritance tax, political policies, or TB in livestock—when they’re harming real farmers:
  • “No, we lean into it...it's a glorified death tax...they’re locked into [it].” (29:12)
  • Asserts that show’s aim is not to preach but to show the authentic challenges of farming life. (31:52)
  • Clarkson is conscious of criticism: "Some farmers go ‘We love what you’re doing, but you are part of the problem...’" (31:52)

• Jeremy’s Evolution: Health and Perspective

  • Clarkson's heart scare and grandchildren have mellowed him, encouraging winding down. “Pre health scare, all those decisions were turning around in his head. It’s one of the reasons we quit the Grand Tour.” (32:44–34:36)
  • Despite health issues, Jeremy insisted on filming everything—even his hospital visit—demonstrating his dedication to “great telly.” (34:38)

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4. The Grand Tour & Top Gear: The Legacy

• Ending The Grand Tour:

  • The decision to finish was years in the making—“It was a decision we took about five years to make.” (45:08)
  • After the Madagascar special (“the weakest one”), the team realized they should quit before making something "proper shit." (46:33)
  • “There won’t be a We’re Back tour”–the decision is final. (47:45)

• Presenter vs. Car – Which Came First?

  • Wilman disagrees that presenters ever overshadowed the cars. They intentionally reviewed “mainstream” rather than chasing “scoop journalism.” Clarkson often rewrote reviews “again and again” to “get it just right.” (42:07–44:02)
  • “He could make them live. His analogies...he worries it, dog with a bone...” (44:03)

• Editing & Production Realities

  • Clarkson’s Farm is filmed extensively (“about 50 to 1 shooting ratio”), with quick crew response thanks to the local presence of the main cameraman. (53:33–55:02)
  • Andy admits he prefers analog systems for editing—“I’m a boomer...can’t deal with spreadsheets”—so they use sticky notes and whiteboards to track story elements. (56:39)

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5. Personal Insights & Mental Health

• Wilman on Pressure & Burnout

  • Despite immense stress and even a power cut during this recording, Andy’s loyalty to the show/band-of-brothers spirit meant he’d “never” have left Top Gear, even when times were darkest:
    • “No, never. Because we got our own version of that sort of Stockholm syndrome...You’re absolutely wedded to being alongside each other, no matter how bad it gets.” (50:15)

• Therapy & Self-Care

  • Goes to therapy weekly, compares it to “going to the gym for your brain.” Urges listeners to view mental health as crucial self-maintenance:
    • “Why would you not help with your mental health in a society where it’s still not valued enough to have good mental health?” (51:21)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Show Ideas:
  • “The worst thing you can do is not have a point to what you’re doing.” — Andy Wilman (03:31)
• On Jeremy's Talent:
  • “He can somehow make the movement of goats quite something.” — Andy Wilman (17:31)
• On Lucky Accidents:
  • “Some of our best moments are predicated on happy accidents...cars that break down give you gold.” — Andy Wilman (09:16)
• On Farming Realness:
  • “Imagine a real farmer who hasn’t got Amazon checks coming in or Who Wants To Be a Millionaire checks coming in...” — Andy Wilman (13:33)
• On Therapy:
  • “It is like that thing where if you go to the gym to work your body out, why would you not go and sort your brain out?” — Andy Wilman (51:21)
• On The Grand Tour’s End:
  • “It then became our focus that we've got to call it at the right time...we wanted that option to go, we're done.” — Andy Wilman (46:33)
• On Never Leaving Top Gear:
  • “How could you leave it...there’s no way you could leave. We were all too massively close...” — Andy Wilman (50:15)
• On Saying No to BBC Return:
  • “It’s gone now. I think like a relationship where you go, no, it’s all...You’ve got over it. And Amazon have been good to us.” — Andy Wilman (66:09)
• On Quickfire Trivia:
  • “We’d change the Stig now and again. As in, if Stig was busy...we’d put another one in.” — Andy Wilman (62:47)
• On Editing:
  • “We do...sticky white stuff...then we'll write cows, sheep, pub, arable, shit, shit. And then something will get filmed. And then when you broke...When the assistant has broken it down, you’ll put a tick against him and he’s now ready to cut.” — Andy Wilman (56:39)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:14] – Best show ideas that never made it
• [04:48] – Wildest abandoned concept: mid-air F1 tire change
• [06:30] – How the team evaluates ideas
• [09:16] – Embracing accidents as great TV content
• [12:10] – Clarkson’s Farm: Cultural & farmer impact
• [15:20] – Contrasting “Top Gear Jeremy” vs. “Farm Jeremy”
• [17:31] – The hidden power of small, mundane stories
• [29:12] – Navigating political/farming issues on camera
• [32:44] – Jeremy Clarkson’s health scare and life perspective
• [45:08] – Ending The Grand Tour intentionally
• [53:33] – Farm filming logistics & shooting ratios
• [50:15] – Wilman on loyalty and never quitting Top Gear
• [51:21] – The importance of mental health and regular therapy
• [56:39] – How Andy Wilman organizes/edit stories
• [66:09] – On not returning to BBC/Top Gear

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Final Thoughts

Despite the episode’s chaotic energy (including a real-life power cut!), Andy Wilman's candidness, wit, and detailed stories grant rare behind-the-scenes insight into one of Britain’s most loved and influential TV franchises. His perspective as both a creative force and a lifelong friend of Clarkson stands out, with the main themes being authenticity, risk, embracing the unpredictable, and the absolute importance of working with people you trust.

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Further info:

• Find Andy’s new book in paperback or hardback or watch the latest series of Clarkson’s Farm for more stories in action.
• See full episode and additional content

Transcript

[Interviewer]

The genius is him and Jeremy.

[Andy Wilman]

Top Gear.

[Co-host/Producer]

Clarkson's Farm.

[Andy Wilman]

I'm a boomer. 63 Top Gear. Jeremy. Change the Stig now and again.

[Co-host/Producer]

The Madagascar special. Everyone knows it didn't really work.

[Andy Wilman]

Ooh, why don't we do a midair Formula One tire change.

[Interviewer]

Siri new 20 million.

[Co-host/Producer]

We were talking about shit ideas.

[Andy Wilman]

It's a heavy series, so it is dramatic. I can't talk about the ending of series five. I ain't saying nothing. We're never gonna do it.

[Interviewer]

Well, that's a first. Yeah, that is a first.

[Andy Wilman]

That's Amazon. But that means that editor's work is now four weeks instead of 12 or whatever.

[Interviewer]

And they're also not knowing what they have, what hasn't made it to this point.

[Andy Wilman]

100 magic is going right. Trope.

[Interviewer]

You know the magic. Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

I love that.

[Interviewer]

You know, there's the future. Welcome back. How are you feeling?

[Andy Wilman]

Cuz we just talked about AI before. You said welcome back. I'm good, thank you. You're not a fan of AI? No, I'm a boomer. 63 all. You know, the old stories. Oh, can. Can you help me with this printer. Etc. Etc. That's me.

[Interviewer]

Do you know how many people enjoyed the. The last episode that we recorded together?

[Andy Wilman]

No, because I stay clear.

[Interviewer]

Total numbers 20 million. Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

No.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we put out the main. Full, sort of unep. Unedited long conversation with you that's already done one and a half million. And then we put out snippets and like, little clips of the best bits that we spoke about that did about another 5 or 6 million social clips. Did another bunch of millions.

[Andy Wilman]

And now I've got to go. So that's a good number.

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

So now what do we know? We're all right. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

So the reason why we've invited you back and we've never done this with any other guest before.

[Andy Wilman]

Oh, wow.

[Interviewer]

Is when you get tens of millions of views of the first conversation, but more importantly, tens of thousands of questions.

[Andy Wilman]

Right.

[Interviewer]

The people want answered. Well, there's only one way to please our audience and that's to put you back in the chair.

[Andy Wilman]

Let's just get me back in. Or get AI.

[Interviewer]

Or get AI to watch the episode and work out what the avatar. So this is our first ever Community episode of High Performance. So should we get straight into it? You needed your coffee today, right?

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah. We've got the farm coming out and I'm a bit whacked, so the coffee is much needed.

[Interviewer]

Look, we're going to talk about Clarkson's farm. We want to talk about Top Gear Grand Tour. We actually put out a photo on socials today, said, you're coming in. Send us some questions. We're gonna just run through those. First of all, these are questions that came in in the last hour for people. The first one comes from James McDonald, who got in touch on Facebook and said, what's the best idea for any of your shows, whether it is Clarkson's farm, Top Gear or the Grand Tour that never made it to air, that you really wish people had the chance to see.

[Andy Wilman]

Thanks, James. At this hour of the morning for the old. What's the. That never did. Yeah. There wasn't an idea I don't think we couldn't do. We had crap ideas like, we, you know, like, remember those Carlsberg adverts? Carlsberg don't do?

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

And we were like, right, what? You know, Top Gear doesn't do petrol stations. What if we did one? So we spent a good morning with people like Richard Porter and so on going, right, we'll take over a petrol station and we'll make it the Top Gear petrol station. So it was going to be like anybody who bought diesel, there'd be just a huge tanner going with, like, Jeremy at the till, going tight wad, like, across the forecourt and so on. And then anybody, you know, people get in their car after they paid and then don't move off. What are they doing? Like, what are they doing? But so there was going to be like a massive, like, pile driver thing that shoves their car. And then inside there'd be. Because it becomes supermarkets as well. Like, people go, I just did my shopping and leave my car at pump four. You know, it was going to sell, like, Werther's originals and that was it. And then a till, you know, for petrol. And then after a while we thought, nah, this is just becoming an aircraft carrier for jokes. So this is because it's like. This is the worst thing you can do is, like, not have a point to what you're doing. So, James, that never happened, but that was a good thing. We always tried to go to Iran.

[Interviewer]

Oh, go on.

[Andy Wilman]

I have got one. Go for it. Because it cost too much. We were going to do Iron Man 3. You know, when the plane is crashing and Iron man joins everybody up to save their lives. We thought, why don't we do an midair Formula one tire change? So the. You have a big transporter, one of them C130s ramp comes down. If anybody's got the money, do it Car comes out and then all the tire changing mechanics come out.

[Interviewer]

So the car comes out on a parachute.

[Andy Wilman]

Car comes out, but a parachute. No, this was the. This was the bit we were planning was it's got like 45 seconds or 60 seconds before the parachute opens. And it's like you've got to change the tires before the parachute opens. So it's got to. We have to find a way of stabilizing it with really tiny parachutes, but it's still falling. And then you'd have those skydiver people and you train them and they come out with the wheels and you do a mid air F1 car tire change before the parachute opens. And we thought that'd be the coolest thing in the world. And then we did up the numbers and it was just like, never gonna happen. It was never. What sort of numbers are we talking about? $5 million. And thought, oh, wow, right, for a minute or whatever, two minutes, like, how much can you milk this? You know? So it didn't happen. Yeah, it would have been great telly. Yeah. Somebody could do it.

[Co-host/Producer]

Like, how do you decide if an idea is crap? So, like, that's obviously cost, but how. How did you sort of go around editing yourselves?

[Andy Wilman]

Jeremy was like main man on this, which was, things have to have a point. So what do I mean by that? A good example. The ambulances film. When We Built Ambulances and now. So start of the program, they go, NHS ambulances are too slow, too expensive. That x 100,000 pound each. We can do it much cheaper and they'll be like, better sort of thing. So you've got this hubris which has got the comedy of we can do better, you know. But you have a point. They cost the NHS a fortune. So Jeremy, James and Richard each take a donor car and make their version of what an ambulance should be. So, you know it's going to be like sort of fuck about Cartoon Central after a short while because of all the things that are gonna go wrong. But all the time you're bedded in with this point that we're trying to improve an ambulance.

[Interviewer]

Why does that matter for the first time?

[Andy Wilman]

Because if you just do, you're back to the petrol station thing. If you just do, right, we'll put a car with loads of gizmos and gadgets. You're very quickly, you're building a clown car and you're just going, please laugh at this, Please find this funny sort of thing. So you just don't do it. Whereas the, the thread, like, can you buy a Porsche for 1500 quid. The thread is there.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

People probably never gonna do it.

[Interviewer]

Well, that's a first. Oh, yeah, that is a first in this building. I love the fact your cameras are still rolling.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah, I've got battery.

[Interviewer]

Car.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

Okay.

[Co-host/Producer]

So just as we got going on this record, the whole building lost power. So what did we do?

[Andy Wilman]

It's a disaster.

[Co-host/Producer]

What are we saying, Benny?

[Andy Wilman]

Almost there.

[Interviewer]

If we can just get producer Will. We're actually filming an episode of High Performance on voice memos on an iPhone.

[Andy Wilman]

Oh, yeah.

[Interviewer]

I actually think it's cool.

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah. Well, we grabbed our iPhones, we rigged up some makeshift lighting and we kept going.

[Andy Wilman]

Andy Wilmer by candlelight.

[Interviewer]

This was how they made television in the Georgian era.

[Co-host/Producer]

It is.

[Interviewer]

Can anyone remember what we were talking about?

[Andy Wilman]

Where were we?

[Co-host/Producer]

We were talking about shit ideas.

[Andy Wilman]

No, we've done that shit idea book. Here's a shit idea. Let's have a power cut in the middle.

[Interviewer]

Oh, let's go to it.

[Andy Wilman]

Sit down here. Rent this outfit.

[Interviewer]

Let's go to a question from Wilson. It's a shift in here. Don't pay the electricity bill. If this happened when you were filming Top Gear, like, would you see it as a disaster or would you go, that'll be great telly?

[Andy Wilman]

No, it's great telly. That is because if the show, some of our best moments are predicated on happy accidents, you know, the Stig, the specials, all the sort of things, finding things out. Cars that break down give you gold, you know, Whereas the old Top Gear you'd. If the car broke down like Pebble Mill Top Gear days, you'd ring the office and go chutes off because the car's broken. And then we realized that we've got more gold now because this car isn't going anywhere. So to your point there, this going down would be like, joyous.

[Interviewer]

We'll be right back after a quick word from our partners. Foreign

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[Andy Wilman]

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[Co-host/Producer]

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[Andy Wilman]

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[Interviewer]

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[Andy Wilman]

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[Interviewer]

Let's go back to some questions.

[Andy Wilman]

Okay.

[Interviewer]

There's so many that have come at Clarkson's Farm. New series.

[Andy Wilman]

Oh, yeah, it's just started.

[Interviewer]

This is a lovely question, actually. Not only was this a nice question, over 500 people liked the question. So I think a lot of people want to know the answer to this. This is from everseed on. On YouTube. Clarkson's farm has become the actual voice of farmers in the UK and around the world. It shone a light on things we completely took for granted. Did you ever think a show about a man failing to grow things would matter this much? Politically, culturally, and to real farmers?

[Andy Wilman]

No. It's a very good question and it's a very, very straightforward answer. In that front, we absolutely did not. Because again, back to the thing of all our best moments with Top Gear were kind of organic happy accidents or just organically developing. Ditto the farm. The. The whole premise was he. It was a sort of whimsical thing. You know, he tries to make a go of his farm. And all the focus was on Jeremy making a go of his farm. There was no plan or logic or perception that farmers would like. Some farmers would see us as beacons or, you know, would. Would go, oh, you actually are highlighting things. The things that bothered us more at the beginning were, you guys know this when you've got these series where this actuality reality and there's a bit of a. There's gotta be a bit of pressure or jeopardy.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

The classic version of somebody doing a farm would be, I'VE sold everything I've got, I've mortgaged everything, blah, blah, blah. I've put all my life savings into this and I've got to make it work. And therein lies your jeopardy to take you through the series. Now, everyone knows Jeremy's got a bobber too. So if the farm were not to make money or work, right, he's not out on his ass. That's not going to happen. And that was out.

[Interviewer]

Storylines are gone.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah, that's gone. So we were like, that's what our focus was, is how to deal with that. And actually, you know, because he's open. And when we get to the end of that first year and they've made 144 quid and he can very quickly say, imagine a real farmer who hasn't got Amazon checks coming in or who wants to be a Millionaire checks coming in. And I think that authenticity. He's got farmers go, thank you, Jeremy. You know, you said where you are and you said where we are and you said it proper because you know it and you mean it. And then that the farmer love for us and the farmer appreciation then just. We didn't know it was happening until the end of the series. But he's a good communicator. He's a good communicator. I think you could have other shows that highlight a farming issue straight down the barrel at you. Countryphile. Do it very well and probably with more kind of direct punch, like, sheep shearers aren't being allowed into the country. What the fuck are Defra and the Home Office doing, etc, etc, when we need sheep shearing? But he kind of resonates because of his communication skills and actually there is something about the fact that it is his farm, it is his land. You are seeing his disappointment and that is universal. So, no, we never saw it. Never saw it.

[Interviewer]

So this is a lovely question, actually, from J Hero saying Top Gear, Jeremy, farm, Jeremy, same man or different,

[Andy Wilman]

Same skills as we discussed? Different. Yes, he is. You see a calmer man. I see the rushes and I see a calmer man. You know, when the camera goes on, obviously he goes up a notch to perform and talk. But you see a calmer man. He's actually the love of the farm he's constantly talking about with that film crew. He's absolutely in the sweetest spot. So he is a different Jeremy. Short answer. And the farm has kind of brought it out more, it's enhanced it. Because I think Top Gear, Jeremy, mental, mental. Then nothing. Grand tour, then nothing. I think you'd get an agitator, Jeremy, right, Because he's programmed to work. He's programmed to do. And the farm is the best, you know, green run, ski slope, descent into calmness that you could ever have. Cause it's still work. It still, like, requires a lot of effort and brain power. But all he's gotta do is step out of his front door and he's at work. We don't have to get on a plane and go to Mauritania, it's like. And have a crew of 8 million and all that stuff, which is like. That gets wearing that kind of thing. He's got that same. He's got veterans from Top Gear and Grand Tour and their days are. They'll film a scene like, let's say, move goats or cow birth or something. And then after that's done, they're going to have a cup of coffee and sometimes they go, what should we do next? They're going to do something, but then they have a think about it and it's like, that's just joy for somebody who wants to work. But he's not got like a newspaper deadline or the weight of the world's expectations on him.

[Co-host/Producer]

Clarkson's farm. No expensive sets, no costumes, no special effects. Some of it filmed on a mobile phone. And yet it's the highest rated show on Prime. You know Jeremy better than anyone. So how much of that is genius and how much is just Jeremy being Jeremy with someone pressing record?

[Andy Wilman]

Isn't Jeremy being Jeremy, bit of genius? You know, it's like not anyone can do that job. The. All right, let's deal with the sort of low tech ness of everything. We again, did not see it coming. The. The. Our big worry, apart from how authentic would be, is how boring it might be. You know, him hitching a track trailer up. When we've done Minis going down ski jumps with rockets on them, we've done all, you know, amphibious cars trying to get to cross the Channel. When you've done that sort of stuff and you're like pushing yourself to go, right, I've got to top that, I've got to top that, I've got to top that. All that kind of Hollywood type mentality to then go, right, in this episode, we're gonna move the goats from one field to another, you do worry. But then you realize that those small stories have got as much power as the Mini Downer ski jump. So very happy about that. Him involved in that again. He can somehow make the movements of goats quite something. There's a bit in the new series where they actually are moving the goats. Because I love it as an example, you know, it's four minutes and you think, well, shit, that's nearly half a power test on Top Gear, you know, moving goats and the goats are unruly. Then they get him under control and they get to field and it's your kind of bucolic, beautiful Cotswold late afternoon. And he turns to the camera, he goes, why did I spend so many years driving cars around corners shouting when I could have been doing this? So he gives you a. He thinks to give you a Jeremy moment to give context to what's going on. I'd call that genius. Like, because he's going, I still have to work here, I can't just enjoy moving stuff around. And then he stops and he goes, oh, I remember. Cause it pays for me to do this, like, you know, and then brings it down and you get to the point where it's all gorgeous. And then Caleb goes, why are we keeping fucking goats? Like, why don't we kill him, sell him for food?

[Interviewer]

Just a moment that Caleb came out with. Or is someone going, hey, listen.

[Andy Wilman]

No, no, that's Caleb, just say this and it'll work. No, no. Caleb's got that position because his comedy

[Interviewer]

timing is really quite something.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah. I think that's improved around because he's learned off the toing and froing with Jeremy about that kind of thing. But his attitude and beliefs are just his. He would not keep ghosts. He goes, that's hobby farming, you know, it's not serious. We're not made any money out of them. He's like, goat curry all the way. Sell em. And Jeremy's going, I can't. So Jeremy allows himself these foibles and failures that a real farmer would not have, like keeping Pepper the cow and so on. Caleb is off to the abattoir. Off to the abattoir for all the right reasons. Like, you've got to earn a living. I think what's happened. And again, his genius for me. Cause I watch it in the rushes. He's surrounded by Charlie, Lisa, Alan, the builder, Gerald, Caleb. They're all what you'd call civilians. Even though they're well known on tv, they're not professional presenters. But he is. So he's like this maypole or tent pole in the middle. And I can see the different sides of the cogs working where he's going, right, I've gotta give entertainment here. And so I'm engaging with everybody, but I've also got to Mentally direct this scene. So when they all start talking in acronyms and tech speak and farmer speak, you get these moments, and Charlie didn't realize it, where Jeremy would go. So hang on a minute. Let's get this straight. You want to. And then he'll give an idiot summary of what they're talking about. And he's doing that for me in the edit, and he's doing that for the viewer. So he's got his edit brain on and then his in the moment brain. But the genius result of that, I think, is the others don't know it. So they're free to just be. Alan the builder is free to just sort of overcharge Jeremy. In a funny way, I love how

[Interviewer]

he comes up with his pricing. How much is. Well, it's gotta be.

[Andy Wilman]

No, two and a half.

[Interviewer]

It's gotta be 250 grand.

[Andy Wilman]

No, no, it's two and a half hundred.

[Interviewer]

It's gotta be two and a half hundred.

[Andy Wilman]

Two and a half hundred. Like, just to take that. To take the thousand out of it, you know?

[Interviewer]

You know, one of my favorite scenes is when you've got all the problems with the drains at the Farmer's Dog. And Jeremy's gone down there. He's like, oh, my God. Literally in your head, you're going, God. Standing two feet away from that drain. Must be the world's worst thing. And then this man appears from inside and he's got, like, his hands above his head. Isn't he holding on?

[Andy Wilman]

He's holding on, yeah. Coming up through the.

[Interviewer]

And Jeremy's like, there's a man inside there. It's just.

[Andy Wilman]

Holy mo. Yeah. Oh, my God. And he's absolutely in his element watching all that.

[Interviewer]

And are you careful not to.

[Andy Wilman]

Somebody doesn't produce massive turd in the.

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

One of the bogs at the Farmer's

[Interviewer]

Dog in the new season.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah. It's like, it's the day the cause are coming to play at the pub. And you're like, how could this happen? We've got a turd from another.

[Interviewer]

Well, they blocked the toilet.

[Andy Wilman]

It's from another planet, this thing. You know, it is your, like, marvel thing when it's the shadow comes over Manhattan love clock. Was that turd somehow, like. And you're like, the cores are on the way now. Obviously they'd have to use that one. But you're like, we don't need this problem.

[Interviewer]

Like, are you careful not to.

[Andy Wilman]

Not to produce them?

[Interviewer]

Like, you don't want to go and speak to Gerald about being produced because it takes Them out of being themselves.

[Andy Wilman]

No, we never bother with that. Never bother. Charlie never watches himself.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Andy Wilman]

So they're again in the new series. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The conversation he and Jeremy having. The sort of Christmas edition where Jeremy decides he wants to build a Santa's grotto. And they've become a bit of a trope on the show. Now Jeremy has an idea. Charlie, like, brings reality to the lunacy of it or the ambition. And I think that one was the best one they've ever, ever done, where Jamie goes, I want to make a grotto. And then off Charlie goes with all the, you know, background checks for Father Christmas. And Jamie's like, what it was. And you sort of. You go, you. Charlie's got no preparation for it. And he's never watched another one he's done. So he doesn't know. Whereas I'm sure Caleb does watch. Cause he's very interested in tv.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Andy Wilman]

Charlie doesn't know that they've got this rhythm, this TV rhythm, which is just about perfect. But he hasn't watched it and learned from it. He just naturally does it. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

It's actually, I think, impressive as well that Caleb hasn't changed as he's kind of become famous or he hasn't become a TV version of Caleb. He's kind of retained the ability just to be who he was in season one.

[Andy Wilman]

But he's got a good Yoda. Is Yoda the older one? Yeah, yeah, he's got a good Yoda. Yeah, yeah, he has. He's got a good Yoda because Jeremy's like, just that authenticity which people love. And Caleb's watching it around him.

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

And I think after series one, he was inundated with all the offers.

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

From telly. And there's nothing you can do to stop him going. But we were like, mate, stay here, learn. It's an academy. And you won't make better farming telly anywhere else. And he's. He's taken on to that. He's taken with that. He's got it. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

So I came home the other day and Seb, who I spoke to you about before, my son 10 years ago, grabbed me and ran into the.

[Andy Wilman]

Go.

[Interviewer]

You've got to come here. You got to see this, you got to see this, you got to see this. And I thought, what's happened? Something's gone on in the house. It was the trailer for the new season.

[Andy Wilman]

Oh, yeah.

[Interviewer]

Which bit do you think he loved? What made him laugh out loud? Let's say I again.

[Andy Wilman]

Caleb's face. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

No sheep Is easy to care for.

[Andy Wilman]

These ones are. Those cheap. I know. Electric shocks. Thumbs up. My favorite's coming up. It's the woman after you see Jeremy in hospital. Look at this little cup off. I've got bad news. I'm putting the whole farm under restrictions.

[Interviewer]

The ministry will get in touch with you.

[Andy Wilman]

I'll talk through.

[Interviewer]

And that's real, by the way.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah. A lot of phone footage on that one.

[Co-host/Producer]

Wow.

[Andy Wilman]

This woman, to be fair.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

There you go. She's epic. The doctor told me not to speak. Amazon's told me not to speak. Hello, everybody.

[Interviewer]

And he speaks. There's the grotto.

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

The animals.

[Interviewer]

The animals are a git that go eating the Christmas tree. God, it all happens in this season. I finished the field. What would you think was Seb's favorite moment? Or is it still to come?

[Andy Wilman]

Here it comes.

[Interviewer]

So that last bit at the end there.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

That I think is exactly what you spoke about. Jeremy's genius. Like the two dogs are just chugging in the house.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And instead of him going, oh. And not knowing what to do, he starts having like the most normal conversation.

[Andy Wilman]

Well, it's that British avoidance.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

Like, but it's just dogs. So it's like this isn't happening and we're very British about it, so we'll just carry on as normal. But yeah, we don't. We didn't know that's coming.

[Interviewer]

They just decided to.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah.

[Co-host/Producer]

Well, then, you know the stuff like the, the inheritance tax or the planning battles, like the more political elements. What's your view on that? Do you lean into that or would you rather avoid them?

[Andy Wilman]

No, we lean into it. We lean into it because if. If it's something that is brutalizing farmers in a way that is actually. If you dig into inheritance tax for a non farmer versus a farmer, it's treasury bloody sort of really quite devious people working out that these farmers. It's like most farmers are over 60 odd. So you can't sell your farm. You can't get out of this. You are into that. Whereas I think you or I, we've got an inheritance plan. We can, we can. We've got options to try and get round it with a farm. You can't. They know it's a very. It's like a glorified death tax that is. That they're locked into is the point.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Andy Wilman]

And Andy Burnham's gone. Land is massively under taxed and you're like, what, you're going to do that as well now?

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

So we lean in we lean into an extent Jeremy's got. He's mindful of the fact that Rachel Reeves was off, was going, says she was going after people like Jeremy and James Dyson, you know, non farmers who buy land to avoid death duties. And his point, as he said quite rightly, is, yeah, but why? Fine, go after me, go after James Dyson, but use a sniper's rifle. Don't use a fucking blunderbuss like you have done and take out the whole farming community. Cause this whole thing about anything, the initial thing, farm over a million quid. Million quid sounds like a fantastic number to a townie, but it's bollocks in the farming world. By the time you've got a tractor, a barn, some cattle.

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

You're on your million.

[Interviewer]

And, yeah, there's not much there. And there's no. No.

[Andy Wilman]

And there's no.

[Interviewer]

No one's getting rich out of farming these days. If you're just a, you know, I come from a farming family in Norfolk.

[Andy Wilman]

So you're like, okay, what happens then? Big conglomerates and we'll buy up the farmland.

[Interviewer]

That's exactly what the. That's exactly what the end game is there.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Our land is owned and farmed by four huge businesses.

[Andy Wilman]

Four huge businesses who control all our food. Yeah. He was looking at the whole TB thing in this series and which comes up more. That one's not out yet, but, you know, there's like a few hedge fund groups own most of the veterinary practices, so it's in everyone's interest to have big vet bills and so on and so on. But we don't get into it like on a mission.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Andy Wilman]

I think Jeremy was aware that some farmers go, we love what you're doing, but you are part of the problem with the inheritance tax, you know, by virtue of existing, you and the James Dyson. So some farmers were. Jeremy, help. Jeremy help. Jeremy help. Because you're an amazing communicator and some farmers are like, we love you, but can you stay away from this one? It's not your fight.

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

You know, can I ask you about

[Interviewer]

the moment where he has his heart operation in this series?

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Because you've known young Jeremy coming through as a TV star.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Slightly older Jeremy, who literally becomes a megastar and the ego starts to kind of maybe run away with itself, all the way through to farmer Jeremy. But now Jeremy, who's had a really genuine health scare.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Is he any different now after that moment, do you think?

[Andy Wilman]

I couldn't put my finger on that. He's got grandchildren. That's made a massive difference. So I'd say pre the health scare, all those decisions were turning around in his head. It's one of the reasons we quit the grand tour. But you absolutely start to. If you read a Jeremy column from, like the 1990s, it'll be right, I'm gonna smoke 90 a day drink, and then I'm gonna have, at 72, a brief moment of massive pain before my heart gives out. But I'll have had an amazing moment, sort of rock star type philosophy. And obviously it's bollocks because when you get to 60, you go, shit, grandchildren, shit. I've worked really hard. I can smell the roses if I. If I stop. And it's happened to him. So, yeah, no, no big science on that one. But it was happening before the hell scare. I think the hell scare is like, it was one of those things, like the heart stuff is part of. Is like good living, you know, and it's come around, obviously, this point, this time of him actually already having gone, I've got to slow it down. So he's changed his diet and that kind of thing. He has taken it seriously. He hasn't smoked for 10 years.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Do you have this funny moment where, you know, one of your best buddies and someone you've shared most of your life with has suddenly got a massive issue, but there's a bit in your head going, well, that's gonna make great television. I remember when we spoke with Emily Maitlish, she said that she had a point where, like, when there was a big drama somewhere, which was a crisis and a catastrophe for some people, in her head, she's like, oh, it's gonna make.

[Andy Wilman]

It's gonna happen.

[Interviewer]

It's gonna make great news headlines.

[Andy Wilman]

Great news headlines. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

It's funny how job does that to you, isn't it?

[Andy Wilman]

He's. He's on the front foot more than anybody on that. He's like, right, I'm in hospital. And you're like. And he's like, yeah, I've got Lisa filming it, you know, and then we'll decide what to do with it afterwards. But he's got that local newspaper reporter logic that, let's get this on film, let's work out how it goes in, and so on and so on. So he's, he's, he's the biggest advocate of this will make great telly.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

You know, and so on.

[Co-host/Producer]

This is from James Lewis, 2635.

[Interviewer]

That's when the name James Lewis has

[Andy Wilman]

been used used 2, 6, hundred.

[Interviewer]

His favorite numbers. Now they use.

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Andy. It sounds like the best way of getting Jeremy Clarkson to do something is to tell him not to do it. Is that actually true? And what's the best example you've got?

[Andy Wilman]

Oh, I hate the best example bits because you got to go like, roller deck. So I don't know in the time we have, if I can come up with that. The best way to tell him to. To get him to do something, tell him not to do it. It's odd. When we just looked at a trailer when Amazon have told me not to speak, the doctor's told me not to speak.

[Interviewer]

He.

[Andy Wilman]

Yes, he does take that position of anti. Being told what to do, but he's not. He's not mental with it. He's not mental with it, I think. So let me try and unpick it in other ways. Top Gear, we're always. We were in the newspapers a lot in Top Gear on the Top Gear days. Daily Mail, Spark Fury, Daily Mirror, Spark Fury. And if we did something, we never did it to spark fury. We never sat down and write, what can we shoot this week that is gonna get us in the papers? But if along the way we realized that, ooh, this might go, like, play badly, we would still carry on doing it. If you'd have said to him, let's think of one, lorry drivers murder prostitutes. In the Top Gear days, he starts doing that running joke about, like, the. The cab is a chapel of rest, you know, for all your victims and stuff like that. And you get the sense, like, when this goes out, like BBC compliance go, all right, it can go out, but fucking hell, batten down the hatches, lorry drivers and the papers are going to be on you. It's at that point that he would go, well, whatever happens, happens. But we certainly don't take it out. We don't go for a peaceful life, you know, so that's more his logic. But I don't think he sets out to go, right, how can I do something that is contrary?

[Interviewer]

And he obviously doesn't actually believe that.

[Andy Wilman]

Laurie.

[Interviewer]

Drivers murder prostitutes. But there's some. But there's something there that. That works for him. Is it the. Is it because he knows that creating these conversations outside of the show is good for the show? Yeah, they are, because they're good options.

[Andy Wilman]

Because. Well, no, he likes what sort of horrible phrase, sideways look, you know, he likes that if you're going to bring being a lorry driver to life, he will go look for things like that which are, I mean, the reason the BBC let it go through even though they knew we were going to get a kicking was if you googled, you know, compliance. Google lorry drivers, prostitutes, your fucking computer explodes with all the examples in America or wherever. So they go, right? It's an established trope. You know, it is urban, not urban myth, but it's out there. So he is, by all the compliance rules, allowed to play on it. The flak that comes, comes. But you can defend why you did it. Why does he go for that? Because it is mischievous. But I think mischief is the word, not controversy that you're aiming for because everyone's gonna have a giggle about that one. But it's, you know, it's one element. He's gonna talk about how hard it is to change 18 gears when someone in a bloody Vauxhall course has just moved in front of you, like for no reason, all that sort of stuff. He learned that and talk about that too. But yeah, we never set out to. But then we don't stop when it happens.

[Interviewer]

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[Interviewer]

Great question. Going back to Top Gear from Here we go. NFFC Evans007 this had he picked that

[Andy Wilman]

name himself, didn't he?

[Interviewer]

100 yeah, a Forest fan and a James Bond fan. 1400 likes on this. So a lot of people were feeling the same way and they said I wasn't excited for the Ferrari Enzo. I was excited for the Top Gear review of the Ferrari Enzo. Did you ever fully realize that you'd actually made the car secondary to the review?

[Andy Wilman]

Well, I disagree with that. The car was always had to come first. And I think another of those like the point we were making earlier about when you start to try and be funny without a point. If we started to make the show about us and not the product or the object of whatever our focus was, you certainly then start to come unstuck. When you start to do that sort of thing. So he. If we do the Enzo later than everybody else, which was. Cause we thought we made a plan that we weren't gonna go to Italy to drive it, like all the car magazines would do. Jeremy's like, not till it's over here in right hand drive are we doing it. Very strict rule. Very good one. Because his point was, if we're a car show that's broad, you don't chase what the car magazines are doing, because that's enthusiasts and that's niche. So Autocar or Car magazine or Top Gear magazine will review the new Enzo as fast as possible. They all want the scoop journalistically correct. They want to be the first. And he's like, no, let's take ourselves out of that world. And we won't review a car until somebody's driving at work and they can see the posters for it, or they can go down the showroom and have a look at it. He's like, that's our relevance. You know, you don't. Restaurant reviewers don't review a restaurant until it's open sort of thing. So why would you not go this way? So then we'd have to work doubly hard on the review. Cause we're waiting, we're going, we're following everybody else. And it was an absolute point of pride, you know, he would write those things again and again and again and again to. To get it just right. So I disagree. I don't think the presenter came before the car because he. He was slavish.

[Interviewer]

But you were more.

[Andy Wilman]

Right.

[Interviewer]

You were so much more than a car review show, though.

[Andy Wilman]

Well, he could make them live. He had a great skill for making things live. I remember. And his. His analogies. I remember watching Top Gear late one night and there was. I got in from the edit again. So you're watching like one in the morning, Top Gear rerun, and they've got the lady in the side doing the, like the. Hard of hearing the sign language. And it was a Jag he'd reviewed in Scotland XK or something like that. And he's going at normal speeds. It's as quiet as a mountain. Right. I thought it was a great analogy because if you look at mountains, they are. There's extreme silence. But you just saw her face go like, what the fuck am I doing with this analogy? Like this sort of stuff. But yeah, he loves. He works. He worries it, you know, dog with a bone on getting those. Those phrases right. Because it is a point of pride.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

To do good wordplay.

[Interviewer]

I Suppose a question from destructionnl36.

[Andy Wilman]

What?

[Interviewer]

Yeah, when the grand tour shifted to specials only, I started calling it the Farewell Tour. When did you know it was ending and was the decision actually made or did it just stop?

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah, it was a. It was a decision we took about five years to make. So 2019, when we just before we went to Specials. Well spotted.

[Interviewer]

NFL destruction NL86.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah, when we stopped doing the sort of 12 shows a year, we were gonna call it quits. Amazon said, no, keep going. Do another two years of 12 shows. And we said, no, definitely not. Well, we were like, quit, quit, quit. And then they said, tell you what, you can each have your own solo series if you do some more film top grand tours. So Jeremy said, I'll do Farm show, you know, so, like, the best way to get everyone back is to hit their own personal egos, you know, like Deep Purple. Like, give the keyboard player a solo album, as long as we get a Deep Purple album. And we went to the specials. So it was in our minds, that's why we reduced the number. That one day we're gonna make something that's proper shit. And then we'll have. The audience will say goodbye to us before we do the goodbyes. So it then became our focus that we've got to call it at the right time. So we kept doing them in clumps. Do four, then do two, then do two more. But Amazon were like, just sign up and say six, you know, and we kept doing them in small increments because we wanted that option to go, we're done. And then with the Madagascar one, that was probably the weakest one, that was like a real wake up call that. Oh, yeah, we're right to be worried. Right then Covid comes along and we got a boost because we had time to think, time to recharge the batteries. And we came out of the traps. Well, with Scandi Flick and Mauritania one. Oh, no, the European one. We came out of the traps all right then. But then we were like, mauritania, Zimbabwe, we're new to, you know, a good 18 months before that. That was it.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

And we just wanted to be able to walk away with our heads held up. So, yeah, you're absolutely right. Destruction 898, that it was a glorified farewell tour. But there won't be a We're Back tour.

[Interviewer]

Never. The grand tour never comes back.

[Andy Wilman]

If 899 is asking that, we won't be, you know, there won't be another one.

[Co-host/Producer]

Next question. Then Andy from bats 55. The Madagascar special. Everyone knows it didn't really work. You've been honest about that. But what I want to know is.

[Andy Wilman]

We just said that, didn't we?

[Interviewer]

Yep, yep.

[Co-host/Producer]

But what I want to know is, did you know why you were making it?

[Interviewer]

No.

[Andy Wilman]

I think that was the point where we're like, halfway through, you're going, what the fuck are we doing pirates for? This is nonsense. It was the this is nonsense bit, you know, and you can do a scene in a film that's nonsense and you just cut it out. But when the whole film's nonsense, you're locked in, you've just got to keep going. So you hope that this world's worst road is going to give you the material to get you to the end. It's got to give enough of an anchor. But difficult roads at 1 mile an hour become as wearisome as the road itself. It just goes on and on, you know, so we just had to get through it and, like, learn, beat ourselves up afterwards, you know, Never again do we, like, drop our sort of standards on.

[Co-host/Producer]

But how do you keep morale high in moments like that?

[Andy Wilman]

You're busy, there's a lot going on. End of the day, your shoulders will drop a bit. You'll go, that's another day where we went six hours on that road. And I'm thinking, I can just see this in the edit, just going, being interminable. So then morale. You go, right, James drives through that puddle of, like, shit in the Caterham. It's a good moment. He's just covered in it. And you're like, well, that'll be a highlight. But then you grow that in your head as if it was the whole day or something. And you know it's gonna be 48 seconds when you've done it, but you're like, that'll do, that'll do. That'll give us a bit. But, yeah, yeah, no, you. You've got to sort of, I don't know, like Michael Flatley with his arthritis. He's just got to keep dancing, hasn't he? You know, just push through. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

So the question from Wilson, and this is on Wilson.

[Andy Wilman]

Wilson, Mr. Wilson Wilson.

[Interviewer]

Underscore Truong from Instagram, because you spoke really movingly, actually, in our first conversation, okay. About how, towards the end of Top Gear, your mental health was challenged. The stress, the pressure, everything was on top of you. His question is, besides Jeremy's exit, was there ever a time that Andy considered leaving Top Gear?

[Andy Wilman]

No, never. Because we've got our own Version of that sort of Stockholm syndrome, going where you're absolutely wedded to being alongside each other, no matter how bad it gets. And I think, again, because it's not a show that we just sort of got given guardianship of, but grew. How would you. How could you leave it if, say I, you know, say I get a job running the Apprentice and it all goes to shit for me, I'll leave something. I know, but because we'd grown it ourselves, there's no way you could leave. And we were all too massively close to do that. So never, never, never, never, never too great cost, I think, mentally, because it was so insane what we were doing in terms of the workload that. But we couldn't even take time off time, you know, anything. So do you make sure that you

[Interviewer]

protect your mental health now?

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah, I see a therapist once a week. You learn a lot, obviously, about yourself, or why bother? And it is like that thing where if you go to the gym to work your body out, why would you not go and sort your brain out? I'm sure that's the sort of cliche that is understood, but probably not understood enough. It's like, it's not actually about going because you have crises, problems. It's just, why would you not help with your mental health in a society where it's still not valued enough to have good mental health? And in a society where mental stress is getting hard, you know, society's getting more pressured, more complex, all the things we know. Why would you not try and look after your noggin, you know?

[Co-host/Producer]

Was the trigger for you to go,

[Andy Wilman]

yeah. When everything was collapsing around? Yeah. And you don't. I didn't go. Close mind. I did want to go.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Andy Wilman]

And you can have that kind of. Especially the Northern thing of, I'm not telling people my business. Yeah, there's that logic. I didn't have that. But what I did worry about was that I would be judged. Because if you're very insecure, you worry how people see you and what they think about you. And it takes you ages to know that a good therapist is not judging. And then you can say everything. I think that's the pivot. You've got to get over the hump, that you're not going to be judged, that this person is like, absolutely. Because the lady I see, she was like, look, by the time we've been trained properly, Adolf Hitler could sit opposite me and we'd try and work out the logic behind what he did, you know? So I was like, okay, I'M not as bad as Hitler, so I'll stay.

[Interviewer]

Can I ask you just a couple of geeky TV questions before we go to the quickfires? So how many days out of the year do you think you're filming on that farm?

[Andy Wilman]

Too fucking many. Because we got deal with it in the edit. It's, I think, because he could step out the door and he's at work. Is that sort of. Well, we need to film that. Well, we need to film that. Oh, the milk's being delivered. As in like a milk bottle, you know, not the. It's like, oh, we've better film that. It can get a bit like that. Oh, the gate needs some WD40. Right. Get the crew and you're like, this is never going to make it. But they film a lot. I think our shooting ratio is about 50 to 1. 50 hours to 1 hour sort of thing. So what's that? 50 minutes to 1 minute, Etc. Etc?

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

So not as bad as the specials at their worst. But then again, you haven't got all the cameras that you've got there. You know, you've got 15 in car cameras between Jeremy, James and what have

[Interviewer]

you got on the farm?

[Andy Wilman]

Well, in the car, if he's driving somewhere, we don't bother with the minicams hardly. It's like the cameraman jumps in the back just so you get that actuality. Right, we're off up to the top field. Yeah. Apparently there's something wrong with one of the sheep sort of thing, so it's very lo fi on that score.

[Interviewer]

But how do you plan? Like, obviously you can go through the diary for the week or the schedule for the month and say, these are our filming days. But if something goes wrong, that requires more than just Jeremy on a mobile phone. Like, how quickly can you get the crew there to film?

[Andy Wilman]

Really quickly, because Casper, the main cameraman lives in the area. He's down the road.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Andy Wilman]

So often.

[Interviewer]

And that'll happen quite often then.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, that'll happen quite often. He jumping and Casper's like. And if we're not filming, filming, if it's a nice day, he's out getting all those. You know, you see those amazing shots of Attenborough esque type deer going through the fields and stuff. He'll just bring his camera up and settle down because he doesn't have to deal with Jeremy or anybody else. He can just get that stuff and all those beauty shots. So it's kind of full time as it is and we're well funded. It's A good budget for this show, given that it's not blockbuster budget because of the context, it's, you know, life on a farm. But we're well funded for a life on a farm show. So you can. We are very lucky that we can have the edit days. We want to process this stuff and Jeremy can go get the cameras over here. You know, the tap's leaking, I need to film it. So yeah, it's funding is good for this.

[Interviewer]

And how much time are you in the edit?

[Andy Wilman]

We're full time. We're full time. Three editors.

[Co-host/Producer]

So.

[Interviewer]

Three editors.

[Andy Wilman]

Three editors all year? Yeah. More than a year? More than a year. Over a year. So we'll start.

[Interviewer]

It's mad, isn't it?

[Andy Wilman]

It is. But the walls of the offline edits are like Beautiful Mind, you know, you start with like cows, sheep, pub, etc. Etc. And then you start filling them in.

[Interviewer]

And what are you putting on the walls though? Because I would have thought these days everything is digital and everything's on a device rather than on a wall. Or is that just because you still like to work?

[Andy Wilman]

I'm a boomer and I can't deal with spreadsheets and stuff like that. So we get that, you know, that stuff that you get from Ryman's that your other stations are available. The sticky white stuff like. Yeah, yeah. And you can make fake whiteboards. So we do. And then we'll write cows, sheep, pub, arable, shit, shit. And then something will get filmed. And then you put it on there. And then when you broke. When the assistant has broken it down, you'll put a tick against him and he's now ready to cut. But you. I don't know. It's just me. I can only work in a sort of left to right way where I can look at everything and then.

[Interviewer]

But where does that allow for all of the mad shit? You can't plan

[Andy Wilman]

well. We'll put it in a category or we'll cook. Right, here's a tip. If you ever find yourself in a position, put one up called miscellaneous. That's like. Stick it in there. And then you put that and you do like your miscellaneous stuff because they're like little breaks so you can have. They're like, all right, in this story we're gonna do sheep on Jeremy's heart or whatever. But you could have a thing where like Lisa's developed a new pasta and she brings it into the office to let everyone taste it in the, you know, Jeremy and Caleb and everything. And you go, right, that is all to do with all. But it's a three minute break from whatever else we're doing and that helps us pace wise that you can go meanwhile and you know the meanwhile word is get out of jail of all time or the next day. And then they just help me pace it up and move it along.

[Co-host/Producer]

Brilliant.

[Andy Wilman]

Because it is, you know, voiceover is in it. How often do you get actuality with voiceover? It's quite. Yeah, right. It's uncommon. But there's no other way because we have to package it like story, you know.

[Interviewer]

Brilliant. Right. Should we do some quick fires?

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

All questions from the community. Here they are, please.

[Andy Wilman]

Not what's the best? No, it's the worst.

[Co-host/Producer]

Oh well.

[Andy Wilman]

Oh, here we go. Yeah.

[Co-host/Producer]

Sorry, I'm gonna piss you off.

[Andy Wilman]

One of.

[Interviewer]

One of.

[Andy Wilman]

Yeah. Morris Marina 898. What's he one? Yeah.

[Co-host/Producer]

Worst idea, Jeremy.

[Andy Wilman]

Oh, here you go.

[Co-host/Producer]

That someone that somehow worked.

[Andy Wilman]

Worst idea. What any show.

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah, that somehow worked.

[Andy Wilman]

Worst idea. That's how I worked.

[Interviewer]

Power's back.

[Andy Wilman]

Wow. Power's back.

[Interviewer]

Oh my goodness. Finally we all look our age again. I think for. For men of a certain generation, like Candle lit studios is a good idea.

[Andy Wilman]

I like. I liked it dimly lit. I'm a bit sad this has happened. Why don't we. I like the romance of the. Yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

We're already done. So why don't we wrap up like this. Let's finish like this. I think it's lovely. I think it's more.

[Andy Wilman]

You've got another one. Those worst idea ones kill me.

[Co-host/Producer]

Okay.

[Andy Wilman]

I think one of the ideas that amazed us all was does even people do it anymore? Scooter man. You know, it was a London thing and a couple of other cities where you get pissed. Scooter comes to your house, they put their boot, drive you home. Yeah. Mini.

[Interviewer]

No one drinks anymore so there's no need.

[Andy Wilman]

There's no need to do it. Yeah. So they would come to you. So you're in the pub, yeah. And you're like, you've driven there and then you're. Oh fuck, I've had too many. You ring scooter man and he comes in a little mini moped. He's insured to drive anything. Puts his little scooter in the back of your car, drives you home pissed and then you wake up, you've got your car. So James and Richard went, why don't we be scootermen for the evening and we can road test. It's like road test roulette. You know, we'll road test Whatever cars we've got coming up. And we thought, oh, this is gonna be so shit. But the joy of it was, you've got the owner of the car next to you. So if, like, they're going, this Nissan Qashqai is bollocks. Like, the owner is like. Cause they've gotta sit next to you. Right. And they're pissed, so they might be a bit aggy. And James was like, being James. I'm going to say it how it is. I'm not going to beat about bush. If the car's terrible. The car's terrible. Their fault for buying it. And Hammond's like, oh, I'm too polite for that. He goes, I'm going to do a code. So he go, if this car's. I'm going to go, it's a bit cranberry, like. And then he. So on camera, he's giving the viewer all these words, like, beforehand. That's funny. It was a good. Yeah, that was a good film. But it started out as worst idea.

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

I think if you x 19 or whatever, he won't have been born when that film came out. Too young, surely. Can't be.

[Interviewer]

Hammond may handle Hammond. Male Clarkson, who would you actually like to be stranded with

[Andy Wilman]

if it's danger all about? Richard. Right. For company. Jeremy, you know, survival. Richard.

[Interviewer]

James isn't featuring yet.

[Andy Wilman]

Quick Death. No, because it would be. He'd like arrange the island, you know, Wilman Coconut trees sort of should be there and take forever to get everything built. He's very practical. But no, it would be maudlin. It would be maudlin. Whereas Jeremy will be. Jeremy will bring Jeremy drama to the whole thing. We're going to die tonight. And then, like, when we haven't died, the next day we're alive. And then this would go on and up all these kind of. That sort of thing. And we would have a laugh. And Hammond, like I say, if you're on Jurassic park island, you need someone to punch a T. Rex. He's your man. He's the fighty brummy that you want in the pub, you know? Yeah.

[Co-host/Producer]

One thing about Top Gear, the audience never knew.

[Andy Wilman]

These are really shit for Quick Fire because I've got to go through the bloody.

[Interviewer]

It's fine.

[Andy Wilman]

I've got to go through the Rolodex.

[Co-host/Producer]

Yeah.

[Andy Wilman]

Dancing. They never knew.

[Interviewer]

We can edit them into Quick Fire.

[Andy Wilman]

We'll change the Stig now and again. As in, if Stig was busy, if Ben Connors was busy, we'd put another one in. Yeah. Julian Bailey. Great Racing driver, touring cars, Le Mans, sports cars. And he had. Unfortunately, Julian is curmudgeonly. He's known for it. He's grumpy as shit. And like, I remember at touring cars, like, some kid brings in the wrong poster of, like, Will Hoyer instead of Julian, he's like, kid, fuck off. Bring me the right picture back. Like, you know, kids, this height sort of thing. And he's got. And Ben Collins is, like, amazingly sort of polite, fantastic coach, et cetera, et cetera. You know, literally an ambassador for the show. When you got your celeb there in the car, Julian, forget it. And Jimmy Carr was the guest that day. That's the worst combination. Cause Jimmy Carr just fucked about. He kept spinning off, spinning off, spinning off. And you're like, jesus, Jimmy. He goes, I've not come down to do a lap time. I've come to entertain. Which is fair point. He'd made his bed. And I'm driving down to see how they're getting on, like, halfway through their training. And the Stig's coming the other way. And I'm like, window down. I'm like, where are you going? He went, I've had enough of that cunt. Can't take any more of him. And, like, oh. So I'm like. And he went, do you know what's. He said? He's actually good as well. That's what's pissing me off as well. So I drove down to see Jimmy and I went. He's just said, he's had enough of that cunt. Jimmy's dead on the floor, like. And then he went. But he also says, if. Yeah, I said, we've got enough spins to last a lifetime, you know, in Ukraine. Why don't you actually put your mind to it? Because he says, you'd be good. And he went, number one. So. But yes, Stigs came and went on on these sort of special occasions. Stand in, Stigs.

[Interviewer]

Good to know the ending of Clarkson's Farm, Series 5. Are we talking relief or heartbreak?

[Andy Wilman]

I can't talk about the ending of series five because nobody's seen it yet.

[Interviewer]

So that remains a secret, massive secret till we get there.

[Andy Wilman]

It's a heavy series, the ones that have been out so far. You'll see the progress now of the. How gentle first step was, which was a bit nervy for me because streaming, you usually come out of traps with, like, your Jason Statham punches, you know, you, you. And that was because Jeremy was crook. There's nothing you can do. He can't do anything. It's gentle. And then EP2 was an outlier because it's funny with the Christmas stuff. And then as you see, only to let 3. Does the actual series art kick in when he goes, right, I'm going high tech. But we've got. What have we got to come? 6, 5, 6, 7, 8. It gets. It gets heavier and heavier and heavier. So it is dramatic, but I ain't saying nothing.

[Co-host/Producer]

If the BBC called you tomorrow and said, come back on your terms, do you pick up.

[Andy Wilman]

Miss them, but not like we used to. We used to miss them like when we were starting to make grand tour, we really missed them partly cause we had a lot of management who still liked us. Apart from the ones who hated us. There was a lot who liked us. And there was our baby, you know, the show we'd built. So a lot of heartache. And I think for years we would be like, be good to be back. But it's gone now. It's actually, I think like a relationship where you go, no, it's all that's. You've got over it. And Amazon have been good to us, you know, okay, big American corporations. We don't have that parent and child relationship we had with the BBC for sure. It is more formal than that. But the group at Amazon we work with, we've now got a relationship with them and they are really good to us and they leave us alone. Which in the streaming world is like unheard of. You know, I hear about like Netflix one cut, cut, cut. And notes. The amount of notes going to people and we get all. Which is. So once we've got our independence and we were funded, that was always how we were at the BBC. We had. We built our own little asterisks of Gaul Village, you know, with the big stakes around it, so nobody can get in. And we kind of got the same here. So no, don't miss it now. There was a time, but not anymore.

[Interviewer]

Well, Andy, look, thank you so much.

[Andy Wilman]

Thanks a lot.

[Co-host/Producer]

First.

[Interviewer]

First guest to ever have done a third recording in this studio. First guest who ever had a power cut. I arranged that it made for great, great content. The king of content.

[Andy Wilman]

Up there's a cable where I've moved with my chair. Like, how did that happen? Massive plug come apart.

[Interviewer]

And it's the first time we've ever had someone in and just given them questions from the audience because the conversation was so interesting.

[Andy Wilman]

That's really kind of. You must say all of those things, really. I'm proper touched on that. I really am because I know how big this one is, you know, so I'm really touched. Great.

[Interviewer]

Well, if people want more, they can obviously check out season five of Clarkson's Farm. They can also get their hands on your book, which has got so many amazing and lovely stories or the hardback,

[Andy Wilman]

this soft back companion. They don't like to be apart. Hard backs, paperbacks, perfect holiday. This is a holiday. Yeah. Get this in. I think hopefully the airports will stick in because they didn't the other one. So this is.

[Interviewer]

They love a soft back in the.

[Andy Wilman]

They love a softback now. I didn't think we'd get this far. I didn't think we'd get to paperback, but we have. So I'm well chuffed.

[Interviewer]

You should be really proud. Great book, great career, great stories and I think a great episode. So thank you so much.