Clarkson’s Farm Lands Plum FTA Run

One of Prime Video’s biggest streaming hits, Clarkson’s Farm, has landed a plum free-to-air slot on Sky Open.

The hilarious, heartfelt series, in which the controversial Top Gear co-host turns his hand to farming, will screen 7.30 Thursdays from August 15 as part of a post-Olympics rejuvenation for the Sky-owned channel.

But expect it to be a modified version of the original, given the show’s colourful farmyard language probably is too earthy for an evening slot and the 50 minutes-plus running time of each episode is too long to squeeze into a commercial hour format.

Sky Open had planned to screen Clarkson’s Farm ahead of the Olympics but the deal with the distributor fell through at the last minute.

In Australia, two of the three seasons (a fourth is in production) already have been broadcast to top ratings on the Nine network.

“It is, in many ways, heartland public service broadcasting,” trade paper Deadline observed. It quotes producer Andy Wilman as supporting a FTA window:

I wouldn’t have a problem with it. It’s made the noise, so I just want as many people as possible to watch it. What is Amazon’s business model about keeping it to themselves or pumping out an earlier series to get more people to watch the later ones? That’s up to them. We’re just here at the f*****g coalface making the next thing.

Prime Video remains the best platform on which to view the series, given it streams in 4K-UHD. But it still should look gorgeous in HD on Sky Open.

Most of the reviews were effusive and farming communities in the UK and Oz have warmly embraced the series because of its raw, honest and quintessentially English take on the tribulations of modern-day farming. Here’s the blurb:

Jeremy Clarkson is a journalist, a broadcaster, and a man who travels the world to slide sideways in supercars while shouting. He is not a farmer, which is unfortunate because he’s bought a 1,000-acre farm in the English countryside and decided to run it himself, despite knowing nothing whatsoever about farming.

The series follows an intense, backbreaking and frequently hilarious year in the life of Britain’s most unlikely farmer and his team, as they contend with the worst farming weather in decades, disobedient animals, unresponsive crops, and an unexpected pandemic.

Helped only by his gang of agricultural associates, Clarkson quickly discovers that a modern farmer must be a conservationist, scientist, shepherd, shopkeeper, midwife, engineer, accountant and tractor driver, often at the same time.

Despite the calamities that ensue, this is most definitely not “The Grand Tour goes farming.” Here on the farm the failures have real emotional consequences and Jeremy, completely out of his comfort zone, must lean on others as he strives to grow crops, rear sheep and pull off environmental projects that are close to his heart. And yes, you read that last bit correctly. This is Jeremy Clarkson as you’ve never seen him before.