Clarkson's Farm, review: The man's gone soft! Even Top Gear haters will find him likeable here

Jeremy Clarkson bought a farm, and in Clarkson’s Farm (Amazon Prime Video) it’s never quite clear why.

This part of the Cotswolds is full of beautiful homes that don’t come with land attached. Last week I was in the pub in Kingham, a stone’s throw from Clarkson’s place in Chipping Norton, where the G&Ts are made with organic pea gin and a heritage tomato side salad will set you back £13.50. It’s a fabulous fantasy of country living.

So Clarkson could have opted for the easy life, but instead has decided to be a proper farmer who drives an actual tractor, not a Chelsea one. Although, this being Clarkson, he’s bought a monster Lamborghini tractor that he can’t work because he doesn’t understand the controls and the error messages are all in German.

The farm used to be run by a chap who has now retired, and Clarkson has taken over. What came first, the urge to become a farmer or the concept of a new Amazon show? It doesn’t matter. Because this series is very enjoyable. Unlike The Great Escapists, Richard Hammond’s marooned-on-a-desert-island Amazon series, Clarkson’s Farm doesn’t feel fake. In fact, when you see Clarkson despairing at his crop failures, or yelping with delight when he helps to deliver a lamb, it feels genuine.

Even the most committed Clarkson haters will find him likeable here, while also enjoying the sight of him getting kicked in the nuts by a sheep or accidentally electrocuting himself.

The supporting players are a treat. One is the land agent, Charlie Ireland, with his sensible pullover and equally sensible approach to costs. Another is Kaleb Cooper, tractor driver and general saviour. If Cooper didn’t exist, a TV producer would have to invent him: his deadpan ways are gold.

And the series shows the reality of farming: hard work, at the mercy of the elements, and ruinously expensive (Clarkson volunteers the cost of everything he spends, and for ideas that go wrong).

“I f---ing hate sheep. I cannot wait to eat them,” he fumes at one point, but when he sends three to the abattoir, he’s moved almost to tears. Clarkson’s gone soft, and it makes for surprisingly good viewing.