Jayme Deerwester

USA TODAY

When Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May landed at Amazon following their messy 2015 exits from BBC's car-show juggernaut Top Gear, the trio had to strike a balance between reinventing the wheel and giving their fans what they paid to see: three goofy middle-aged men playing with cars.

"We had to start from scratch and build a new show," Hammond tells USA TODAY. "But it can't be completely from scratch, because it's us three doing what we do. And that's who we are and what we'll always be. It's familiar. It's us three, cars, attitude and antics."

The biggest change was taking the entire show on the road with a mobile, tented studio.

"When we say The Grand Tour," Clarkson says, "it really is. There's probably no show on Earth apart from the news that's more global."

Now, after jaunts to California, Jordan, South Africa and Portugal, they've come home to England for their new show's third weekly episode (streaming Thursday, 7:01 p.m. ET/4:01 PT), specifically to Whitby, an old whaling town on Yorkshire's eastern coast.

And while it was good to be back on British soil, they had another reason for returning to the U.K.: settling a bet made in Episode 1.

During a challenge involving hybrid supercars in the Nov. 18 premiere, Clarkson promised Hammond and May, "If the McLaren isn't the fastest, you two can knock my house down."

An incredulous Hammond warned him, "You know we will do that."

Well, it turns out his car wasn't the fastest, and by the looks of the bulldozer coming through his fence in a promo, it's clear they intend to hold him to it.

Something else to look forward to in the episode: "You're in for a surprise," Clarkson says of the as-yet-mysterious celebrity segment. "By the end of Week 3, you'll know what's going on."

Amazon's 'Grand Tour': Ambitious, but not rubbish

After working together for more than a decade on one of the planet's most popular shows (Top Gear aired in more than 200 territories), the trio copped to being fidgety as they waited for the Grand Tour reviews to come in.

"You've got to be nervous," Hammond admits. "You've tried as best you can to make something, and then you put it out there for the world to see. You want people to like it. So we were all watching (social media reaction) from behind our sofas."

May, the most scientifically-inclined of the three, was asked about a fan theory: The longer his hair, the better the season, a corollary established during the golden age of Top Gear (circa 2008-09) when he could have passed for the guitarist from Led Zeppelin.

"You're quite right," May agrees. "I did look like Jimmy Page!"

Clarkson moans, because May's hair is now shorter. "Oh no. We're doomed!"