FANS of The Grand Tour can be reassured there are more special episodes in the pipeline – though they may have to wait longer than they hoped to see them.
Hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond were last seen together in A Skandi Flick out on Prime Video in September.
Another special was filmed and was due to come out around Christmas. That will now air later this year when filming on the remainder of the series will start.
A TV insider said: “Devotees might have been disappointed and worried about the sporadic delivery of the specials. But they can relax.
“It owes more to the busy schedules of the hosts as well as the spectacular content which takes time to set up.
From tongue scraping to saying no, here are 12 health trends to try in 2023
"But that does mean that, after the first two specials air, the latter half of the series is unlikely to go out until 2024.”
The first three series had between 11 and 14 consecutive episodes.
But series four of The Grand Tour featured four specials, filmed amid lockdown restrictions, that aired months apart. Series five is set to follow the same pattern.
The first of those, A Scandi Flick, saw Hammond, Clarkson and May indulge their love of cars in the icy wastes of the Arctic Circle.
They visited frozen lake racetracks, ski resorts and even Cold War submarine bases as they journeyed from the Norwegian coast to the Russian border.
Of course, it also included hairy moments including May’s crash at 75mph which saw him hospitalised. Thankfully he only suffered a broken rib.
Let’s hope all three of them stay intact long enough to start filming the next instalment — fans will be unhappy if they have to wait any longer.
BBC’S WAGATHA SCANDAL
THE Wagatha Christie saga could be recreated for the upcoming third series of BBC’s A Very English Scandal series.
It comes after Channel 4 made Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama, which aired last month.
How to de-clutter if you have a beauty stash to last you a lifetime
The Beeb drama’s next run is in the early stages of development and the Wags showdown is one of a number of stories being considered, says entertainment news site Deadline.
The previous A Very English Scandal, in 2021, focused on the “Dirty Duchess of Argyll”, played by Claire Foy.
This followed the first season in 2018, about Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe, played by Hugh Grant, who tried to get his ex-lover Norman (Ben Whishaw) murdered over fears he threatened Thorpe’s political career.
After all that, the Wagatha story is a curveball choice.