Like him or loathe him he does make good telly.
Jeremy Clarkson has come a long way since the early days of Top Gear when he was more like an after thought than a main presenter. After the *clears throat* disastrous end to his Top Gear career Clarkson stuck to his motoring with The Grand Tour but it was never quite the same.
Then came Clarkson’s Farm. And the 6′ 5″ no nonsense-talking really has found his forte with his fascinating foray into farming. Having made us viewers wait an agonising two years for the second series it’s only been around 15 months between its end and the hotly-anticipated third series.
While Clarkson has been widely praised by the farming community for highlighting the issues facing the agricultural industry in Britain there is one major mistake he’s making which causes me such overwhelming frustration: just eight episodes in each series.
Given its success why on earth are they not managing to make more than eight episodes? When I reach the end of each series I’m left bitterly disappointed when the ‘next episode starts in X seconds’ message fails to pop up on my screen.
And added to that is the unfathomable way in which each series is split so that we are able to watch the first four episodes and then have to wait another week for the remaining four.
Despite my disappointment with the length of each series Clarkson’s Farm still remains one of my favourite shows. And I’ve watched each series more than once.
Everyone seems to be obsessed with Kaleb but my favourite character is the overly-polite Charlie Ireland who counteracts Clarkson’s bull in a china shop personality with his calming presence and constant stuttering as he is left speechless by Jeremy’s logic and refusal to bow down to the authorities.
Charlie is one of those people you’d want by your side in a natural disaster situation. He wouldn’t panic and you can guarantee he’d have some sort of bomb shelter packed with provisions.
I also find Jeremy’s partner Lisa utterly hilarious with the way in which she continues to sell ‘non local’ items in the farm shop she is so fiercely proud and protective of. Even so, she is forced to take from the shelves t-shirts made in China and copies of Jeremy’s book which certainly weren’t printed within a 16-mile radius of the farm.
As I eagerly await the second half of the third series (just two days to go – and I’m counting) I can only hope that Jeremy and the producers will consider us viewers and turn our beloved Clarkson’s Farm into a much more regular show.
