The Grand Tour Season 2 Episode 1 review round-up: It's 'stuck in a rut'; we miss car porn

The boys are on the road again with more monkey business this time!

We are talking about Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May — the former Top Gear trio errr... The Grand Tour actually.

The Grand Tour Season 2 Episode 1 has already been premiered on Amazon Prime Video on December 8, 2017.

As noted by The Guardian, the trio is back "with more of the same old jokes, same old stunts and same old attitudes." This time they have travelled in 14 countries including Dubai, Spain, Switzerland, Colorado, Croatia, Mozambique and New York.

Also read: The Grand Tour Season 2: Get the first look from Episode 1 and 2 [Photos]

According to critics, the second season of the motoring show is not that satisfactory for all petrolheads in comparison to BBC's Top Gear because TG was "more to get your teeth into, more car porn."

While The Grand Tour Season 1 witnessed huge success across the world, even it was one of greatest hit on Amazon Prime Video in 2016, the Season 2 needs "greasing up" (although rest of the season is yet to watch).

More than cars, the second season is all about accidents and hospitalisation as Hammond, Clarkson and May have spent several months on the hospital beds.

Hence the producers of The Grand Tour and Amazon bosses thought about the future of the accident-prone hosts and decided to keep the TGT tent at a fixed location which is at the Cotswolds in south-central England.

Let's take a look what critics have said about The Grand Tour Season 2 Episode 1.

The Telegraph

"The writing is still rather ropey. Clarkson's suggestion of a new nickname for May - "Dingleberry Handpump" - failed to raise a titter even among the super-fans gathered for the London premiere. Hammond, meanwhile, repeats the purpose of their Swiss jaunt (past/petrol vs present/hybrid vs future/electric) between every pre-recorded segment, as if explaining the concept for new viewers who've just tuned in after a commercial break."

Digital Spy

"The car is not long for this world, and the traumatic crash is handled brilliantly by Clarkson and May with plenty of humour and clear affection for their little Hamster (can we still call him that, or was that a Top Gear thing?).

"The Swiss adventure is a good laugh, with highlights involving a trip to a boring transport museum and Hammond booking the group into the only hotel with an available electric charging point for his car... a wellness retreat."

Practical Motoring

"...the banter between the three presenters is still there and the filming is truly epic but if you wanted to introduce someone to the GT TV show, well, I wouldn't recommend doing it with this first episode. I've had a look through the episode list and the show will get better, but they need to stop looking back at what they've done on TG and consider things they've not done before or that no-one's done before, after all, that's what turned TG into the juggernaut it was."