Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May have a humongous budget to play with on their new motoring show, making it one of the most expensive UK programmes ever.

The ex-Top Gear trio have signed up to host 36 episodes of their currently untitled series on Amazon Prime, across three series.

Amazon Prime Video



Everything we know about Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May's Amazon Prime follow-up to Top Gear

Producer Andy Wilman told Broadcast that it was the promise of a reported £160 million budget that saw Clarkson and his crew join the streaming service.

This means the show will have a budget of around £4.5m per episode, making it Amazon's biggest original content to date and one of the most expensive UK shows ever.

"It was very parochial the way this whole thing started," Wilman said. "It's not our forte doing deals. We're all crap at business."

Ellis O'Brien BBC



Wilman explained that the four of them looked through their various offers and decided that their main demands were complete editorial freedom, plenty of money and no car adverts.

Netflix and other US services were interested, while ITV were also in contact. "We love the people down at ITV, but we couldn't do it," Wilman said.

Speaking about Amazon, he said: "Every one we have talked to has told us: 'They leave you alone to make your show'. That's a big one for us - we don't like interference, we don't need to be policed."

Clarkson, Hammond and May Live



Meanwhile, episodes will be around an hour in length and will be released each week in the UK, US and Germany, with a proposed launch date of autumn 2016.

The show will include indoor studio features, along with the gang's usual global adventures and challenges. It will also be produced in the UK and the team will have "more time to yak about cars".

However, The Stig and other elements will stay at the BBC, while they will also be looking for a site away from the Dunsfold Aerodrome.

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