There are probably a few people in your life that you’d like to put on a deserted island, shipwrecked, where you bid them good luck with what little survival skills they may or may not have. Perhaps you’d even like to watch it all go down from the comfort of your own home, for vengeance reasons. Good for you. Revel in the anger.
If one of those people happens to be The Grand Tour’s Richard Hammond, which is unlikely, you’re in luck. He’s getting a new Amazon Prime show doing exactly what you wish upon your enemies — except in a more fun way, because it’s TV.
Both the Prime Video UK and The Grand Tour social-media accounts mentioned Hammond’s unnamed new show last week, saying he and former Mythbusters host Tory Belleci will host it together.
Prime Video UK called the show “a new shipwreck pop-science show set on a desert island,” and a Variety story from Wednesday said the idea is for the hosts to use their “engineering and scientific skills not only to survive, but to construct a paradise island playground.”
Ever been watching Lost and thought “this needs more @RichardHammond and @ToryBelleci”? Well, you’re in luck. Get ready for a new shipwreck pop-science show set on a desert island, coming soon to Prime Video… pic.twitter.com/Q6VRCIVnX7
— Prime Video UK (@primevideouk) August 21, 2019
Here’s the idea for the six-part series, from Variety:
The series follows the pair as they construct an exotic wonderland using what they have from the shipwreck and what they can find on the island. Each episode will see them take on huge feats of engineering to achieve epic builds, ranging from island hopping vehicles to a supersized hydro-power waterwheel.
“Somebody needs to take hold of Popular Science as a genre and reinvent it for a new age. And there are only two people to do that job. Unfortunately neither of them are available so it’s me and Tory Belleci,” said Hammond (pictured).
Hammond is a fun host, so even if shipwrecking an automotive presenter on some island and telling them to go build a big-boy playground sounds kind of random, it at least has a good chance of being entertaining. Hopefully.
Let us remember, though, that this is the same man who, in the past two and a half years alone, killed a $US280,000 ($413,354) McLaren 720S by pouring water in its gas tank, destroyed a Rimac Concept One in a fiery, horrific crash during a shoot and wrecked a motorcycle, knocking himself unconscious — also while shooting.
All of that is to say that maybe, just maybe, Hammond isn’t the best person to put on a survival show and say, “OK, do your best out there.” But, you know, most of us would probably agree to something that isn’t exactly our specialty — like surviving — if we were getting paid enough money for it. And, as we all can guess, Hammond is surely getting that and then some.