REVIEW: Clarkson's Farm, Season 1 Episode Three 'Shopping'

 REVIEW: Clarkson's Farm, Season 1 Episode Three 'Shopping'

If you said Jeremy Clarkson is larger than life, I doubt many would disagree with you. The man, it's fair to say, is full of personality; his bullish impatience and fondness for over-exaggeration has made many pieces of television hugely enjoyable to watch. It is without a doubt one of the key factors behind Clarkson's Farm's major success. Watching Clarkson turn his hand to farming is just too funny a premise, as you know there's never going to be a dull moment in sight.

Even when he's just sat in the office, Clarkson is highly amusing. He makes a very meta-joke in this episode about how his life so closely mirrors the career of Chris Tarrant, and laments how the latter presenter always gets the jobs first. He was both the original presenter of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and the original man to discover the local dispute regarding the farm's bottled water being removed from sale. It made me wonder if Chris Tarrant had also turned to farming before Jeremy Clarkson, although a quick Google reveals no results for a Tarrant family farm. Maybe that's one thing Clarkson has beaten Chris Tarrant to? 

There's even a fun reference to James May here. Jeremy Clarkson operates a particularly slow moving piece of farming machinery, which instantly reminds Clarkson of his infamously slow co-presenter. It's something that just makes you long even more for a Grand Tour/Clarkson's Farm crossover; how about having Clarkson, Hammond and May racing each other in affordable tractors for an episode of a future Clarkson's Farm series, for instance? You've got to imagine that it must have at least crossed the minds of the bosses at Amazon Prime, as popularity of the golden trio as a presenting partnership has hardly died down as of late.

Although you'd imagine Richard Hammond and James May must be grateful that they're not having to deal with some of the challenges Clarkson has here during his farming duties. His first major problem this episode comes in the form of the local council and the neighbourhood's disgruntled residents, who are up in arms about his plan to build a farm shop. Clarkson eventually manages to satisfy all parties concerned here, but I can only begin to imagine how much of a pain this must have been to go through. If I were those people, I'd be happy at a greater level of publicity being brought into the local area because of Jeremy Clarkson's proposed shop. Sure, it may have caused serious congestion issues since it later opened, but it's put their corner of the Cotswolds well and truly on the map. What more could you possibly want?

A greater obstacle for Clarkson is, however, the weather. A serious downpour of rain sets the construction of his farm shop back by a considerable number of weeks, meaning that he is unable to sell his freshly grown potatoes. His solution to this is quite novel, constructing a small box outside of his farm where visitors can buy a spud for as little as fifteen pence. More amusing is the construction worker who confronts Clarkson, pointing out how his behaviour driving noisy petrol-fuelled cars has contributed significantly to climate change. We all know of Clarkson's somewhat controversial views regarding Greta Thunberg and the environment, so to see him brought to task in this manner makes for a brilliant piece of television.

Clarkson is challenged a lot in this episode, as even the local caravan park get in on the act. Those who previously watched Jeremy Clarkson when he hosted Top Gear know that he is not a fan of caravans, having blown them up numerous times with Richard Hammond and James May. There's a wonderful sense of irony, therefore, when the caravan park coerce him into filming a advert for caravan holidays in exchange for use of their electricity in his shop. It's long-overdue pay-back from the caravanning community for Clarkson's frequently negative remarks about the past-time, although I must admit I don't understand the appeal of a caravan holiday myself.

Nor do I particularly like the look of Jeremy Clarkson's girlfriend Lisa's choice of chicken coops. They're hilariously hideous, looking like they've been stripped straight from the Cbeebies series Balamory. Their multicoloured appearance does not sit well on the eyes, and you can only begin to imagine what the chickens must be thinking when they go inside their little huts. Maybe it's part of the reason why they seem to produce such a little amount of eggs in this episode - a form of protest over the exterior decor of their little houses?

The eventual opening of Clarkson's shop 'Diddly Squat' is a typical Clarkson-esque nightmare. The car park is extremely muddy, making it hard for visitors to park, he's unable to sell the mutton because of food hygiene concerns and it's immediately shut down because the local council decide they don't like the roof that he has decided to use. Only Jeremy Clarkson could end things on such a terrible disappointment for himself, and as a frequent viewer of Clarkson's shows I'd expect no less. It's exactly what we've come to expect from Clarkson-fronted television; the Top Gear concept of 'ambitious but rubbish' which is prevalent throughout Clarkson's filmography.

Overall, 'Shopping' provides another solid fifty minutes of pure entertainment. From meta-commentary on the similarities between Chris Tarrant's and Jeremy Clarkson's careers to the eventual opening of Clarkson's shop, which initially lasted merely a day before being forced to close down, it's a pure example of just how great Clarkson is at producing television. By this point, he is a master at making TV and knowing exactly what his viewers are after, and that's reflected in the immense success of his farming programme.

What are your thoughts on the third episode of Clarkson's Farm? Let me know in the comments.