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How to watch The Grand Tour and when is the launch date?

Fancy a bit of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May in the closest thing to Top Gear without the BBC logo and good-old Stiggy? The Grand Tour is for you ─ here is how to watch it.

With the world-famous Top Gear trio (who are now un-un-busy) poised to bring back their car-based tomfoolery, we decided to look at exactly how you can watch The Grand Tour (whether that is on a mobile, tablet, games console or TV), how much it costs and when it will launch worldwide.

The Grand Tour: Everything you need to know

How do I watch The Grand Tour?

First things first, you need to have an Amazon Prime account or Amazon Prime Instant Video as it is an Amazon-owned show. There are two ways to do this and one is cheaper than the other, but lacks a number of useful benefits, as you will now find out.

What is Amazon Prime?

It is a service offered by Amazon that gives you access to Amazon Instant Video, which is a Netflix equivalent comprised various films and TV shows you can watch wherever you have internet ─ one of them being The Grand Tour when it launches. It costs £7.99 a month or you can splurge £79 for a year in one go. Go monthly and you pay £95.88 for the year, making it £16.88 more expensive. A free month-long trial is available and Amazon will grant a refund if you never use any of the Prime services.

What are the benefits of Amazon Prime?

Unlimited one-day delivery is the standout feature for anyone who regularly orders stuff from Amazon. You also get access to Amazon Music and the millions of tracks there, Amazon’s vast free book collection and unlimited photo storage. Not only that, selecting a snail mail option for a delivery allows you to have £1 of credit towards other Amazon services such as music, effectively helping you buy the odd bit of content to keep *forever.

What is Amazon Instant Video?

There is a cheaper way of getting access to The Grand Tour. If you are happy to do without the other Amazon Prime benefits, Amazon Instant Video costs £5.99 a month and will let you watch Clarkson doing his thing. Over a year that is £71.88, making those extra Prime incentives £7.12 if you pay up front.

What about the piracy route?

Amazon is clearly trying to control piracy for The Grand Tour by using a weekly release schedule because to watch all of them in one go would mean waiting until all episodes have aired (unless, of course, there is a cheeky leak before that time). No doubt people who have a dislike for copyright will have each episode up on the internet within the hour, but too much piracy may jeopardise the show’s future and it would also mean missing out on the buzz after each episode.

What if I am a poor student?

Amazon is currently running a deal for students aged at least 18. You can sign up for six months of Amazon Prime for free. Technically it isn’t actually free in the slightest as the first six months are free, but you pay virtually full price ─ £39 ─ for the remaining six months. Still, that leaves £40 extra for beer and Jeremy Clarkson in your life, which is no bad thing.

How to watch The Grand Tour on a smart TV

Okay so you have the subscription, now let us go into how you can watch it. The easiest way to check if you have a compatible device is by using Amazon’s own list of supported devices. Hit CTRL+F (or Apple F) and type in your television’s model in the search bay, that will save you some hassle. In the list are various smart TVs, each with access to the Amazon Video app. Find it in the relevant app store, download, install and run it. Then login and off you go.

How do I watch The Grand Tour on an Xbox 360/Xbox One/PS3/PS4?

Similar process. Turn on the games console, search for the Amazon Video app if it is missing, run it and login with your Amazon Prime credentials. That’s it.

Can I watch The Grand Tour on a non-smart TV?

Depends how old your television is.

If we are talking the sort of TV that has more depth than screen width, probably not. The important bit is you have an HDMI port as this opens up a world of possibilities in terms of the devices you can use ─ the most obvious being Amazon’s home-grown Fire TV Stick we reviewed back in 2015.

Plug this in (it needs either USB or mains power), grab the provided remote and login to your Amazon Prime account. If you already have something like a Roku player, browse the selection of apps, install Amazon Video and, again, enter all your credentials.

 

How to watch The Grand Tour on an iPhone or iPad

Sorry Android users, iOS people have got it easy. Go to iTunes, download the Amazon Video app, install, run and enter credentials. Just ensure the tablet or iPhone has iOS 7.0 or newer. You can see what version of the operating system you are running under settings.

How do I watch The Grand Tour on an Android device?

The good news is that there is an official Amazon app, which is available here from Amazon.com/apps. The bad news is that it can be a pain to install.

  1. First download the Amazon Video app and something called Amazon Underground. Then go into settings > Unknown sources and switch this on, otherwise it will be impossible to install Amazon Underground.
  2. Now find the download in your download tray or open Downloads (the file is Amazon__App.apk), tap on it and the install process should begin. Open the app and sign in with your Amazon credentials.
  3. Now search within this app for Amazon Video, tap on it and let the install process begin. If you are prompted for your credentials again, enter them and off you go.
  4. Just remember to keep tabs on your data use when away from WiFi as streaming video eats data rapidly and your contract may have a monthly quota.

How do I watch The Grand Tour on a computer/laptop?

Just point your PC or Mac computer or laptop towards Amazon, click the ‘Prime Video Watch Now’ banner, pick a show and off you go. A relatively speedy broadband connection will prove useful here.

Will I have to pay to stream The Grand Tour?

Nope. Providing you have an Amazon Prime or Amazon Instant Video subscription it will be free. Some content requires payment on the service but these are typically shows made by rival channels and providers. Amazon original content is free to watch, at least, it has been so far.

When is The Grand Tour launch date?

November the 18th is when the first episode airs (the same day as the new Justice album, Woman, and when Pokemon Sun and Moon hit the shops). After that, it will be released every following Friday for 12 weeks, which will upset the bingers among us who like to blitz the likes of House of Cards in 36 hours, but it may spark some old-time nostalgia for when people would rush home to watch their favourite shows.

Can I watch The Grand Tour trailer?

Go on, knock yourself out.

 

What about an even newer trailer?

You sure are demanding, aren’t you?


What about The Grand Tour season 2?

Steady on, chap. There has been absolutely no confirmation of when to expect the 2017 series so cool your jets, pipe down, take a chill pill and so on. We can say, however, that Clarkson, executive producer Andy Wilman and company are locked in for three seasons so there will be 24 more episodes after the first 12. Unless something goes wrong.

I prefer Top Gear, can I watch that instead?

You can, indeed. Recombu chief bossman Rory Reid is a presenter so feel free to support both shows. Probably best to head to iPlayer for your BBC car fix right now or wait until February 2017 for the new series, which will be presented by Reid, Matt LeBlanc and Chris Harris.

*Until the planet is ravaged by zombies. And on that bomb shell, thanks for reading and be sure to check out our forthcoming feature: How can I watch The Grand Tour if Amazon Prime isn’t available in my country?

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