‘Jeremy Clarkson showed his genius during one moment in new series of Clarkson’s Farm’

Clarkson’s Farm executive producer Andy Wilman has opened up about the new Amazon Prime Video series, and one moment in particular that showcased Jeremy Clarkson’s “genius”

A particular moment in the latest series of Clarkson’s Farm showcased Jeremy Clarkson’s “genius”, according to his long-standing colleague and Clarkson’s Farm executive producer Andy Wilman.

Andy, who has collaborated with Clarkson for decades and was instrumental in Top Gear’s success, serves as an executive producer on the Amazon Prime Video sensation Clarkson’s Farm, which documents Clarkson, 66, as he tries to manage Diddly Squat Farm in the Cotswolds.

Speaking on the High Performance podcast, the television expert discussed the difficulty of transitioning from the high-octane realm of motoring programmes to a series centred on ordinary farming activities.

He acknowledged there were initial worries that the programme’s calmer, more routine storylines might fail to rival the drama of Clarkson’s previous work.

“We again did not see it coming, that our big worry apart from how authentic it would be is how boring it might be,” he said, reports the Mirror.

“You know, him hitching a track trailer up when we’ve done Minis going down ski jumps with rockets on them. We’ve done it all, you know, amphibious cars trying to get to cross the channel.

“When you’ve done that sort of stuff and you’re 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 going to move the goats from one field to another, you do worry.”

However, Andy revealed the production team soon discovered that modest farming narratives could prove equally compelling as the spectacular stunts that characterised Clarkson’s previous work.

He explained: “But then you realise that those small stories have got as much power as the Mini down ski jump. So very happy about that. Him involved in that again.

“He can somehow make the movements of goats quite something.”

The scene Andy highlighted as “genius” appears in the new series, showing Clarkson assisting with moving goats between fields. Wilman noted that Clarkson possesses an exceptional talent for transforming the most straightforward agricultural tasks into captivating viewing.

“There’s a bit in the new series where they actually are moving the goats, because I love it as an example — it’s four minutes and you think, well, that’s nearly half a power test on Top Gear, you know, of moving goats, and the goats are unruly,” he said.

“Then they get them under control and they get to the field and it’s your kind of bucolic, beautiful Cotswold late afternoon, and he turns to the camera and goes, ‘Why did I spend so many years driving cars around corners shouting when I could have been doing this?'”

Andy noted the scene demonstrates Clarkson’s natural storytelling ability, transforming ordinary farm duties into something significant for viewers.

“So he gives you a Jeremy moment to give context to what’s going on. I’d call that genius, 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. Because it pays for me to do this.’ Like, you know? And then brings it down.”

When Professor Damian Hughes enquired about how much of Clarkson’s success stems from instinct rather than production design, Andy suggested the two cannot be separated.

“Isn’t Jeremy being Jeremy a bit of genius?” he said. “You know, it’s like not anyone can do that job.”