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LAST Friday night saw the return of the Grand Tour on Amazon Prime. Not much has changed however May has had a haircut, Clarkson had pneumonia, Hammond was in a car crash. But they’re not doing the tent thing in different countries any more, they’ve got a permanent studio base in the Cotswolds, not far from Clarkson’s house.

The American segment has been dropped which was a good thing and Conversation Street remains?

There will be travel: 14 countries over the season, starting off in Switzerland where they’re driving around corners fast and bickering. Jeremy plays the ghost of driving past, in a petrol-guzzling Lamborghini; James represents the present with a hybrid Honda; Hammond is the future, with a very quick all-electric car called a Rimac, which Jeremy calls the “lady shaver”.

It’s schoolboy banter that feels rehearsed and awkward. But the studio audience howls along.

The famous guest element has been changed. They’ve now got them going around a track, doing timed laps … hmm, feels a bit familiar, No! It’s completely different, because half of this track is gravel, and because the cars are Jaguars. Star in a Reasonably Pricey Car it could have been called, but actually it’s called Celebrity Face Off, because there are two of them per episode. It’s the Hoff and Ricky Wilson from the Kaiser Chiefs this week. See, it’s nothing like anything in any other car show, and even if it was, who are they ripping off, themselves?

Back in Switzerland, Jeremy and James find sausages to eat, and a hill climb event to take part in. Then Hammond drives his car over a cliff. That’s pretty good too – unrehearsed, exciting, bloody hell. And he even manages to crawl out, before it explodes. Well done, Richard.