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British television documentary series with Jeremy Clarkson From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clarkson's Farm is a British television documentary series about Jeremy Clarkson and his farm in the Cotswolds. The series documents Clarkson's attempts at running a 1,000-acre (400 ha) farm near Chipping Norton in West Oxfordshire. Described by Clarkson as "genuine reality television", the series has received positive reviews and has been praised for raising public awareness of the British farming industry on the international stage. The first series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 11 June 2021.[2]
| Clarkson's Farm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Documentary Reality television[1] |
| Directed by | Gavin Whitehead |
| Starring |
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| Narrated by | Jeremy Clarkson |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 24 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 40–60 minutes |
| Production companies | Expectation Entertainment Con Dao Productions Amazon Studios |
| Original release | |
| Network | Amazon Prime Video |
| Release | 11 June 2021 – present |
In July 2021, it was renewed for a second series,[3] which premiered on 10 February 2023[4] and became the most-watched Prime Video original series in the UK.[5] In October 2022, it was renewed for a third series[6] which was released in two parts, with part one premiering on 3 May 2024 and part two on 10 May 2024.[7] In November 2023, it was renewed for a fourth series which is set to premiere in May 2025.[8][9]
The farm was formerly part of the Sarsden estate in Oxfordshire. Jeremy Clarkson bought about a thousand acres (400 ha) in 2008, including Curdle Hill Farm. The fields were mostly arable, growing a rotation of barley, rapeseed and wheat. These were farmed on a contract basis by local villager until his retirement in 2019. Clarkson then decided to attempt the challenge of farming the land himself.[10]
The farm was renamed Diddly Squat by Clarkson to indicate its lack of productivity,[10] as "diddly squat" is slang for "the least amount" or "nothing".[11][12]
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| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Tractoring" | 11 June 2021 | |
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Clarkson buys the equipment needed for arable farming – a tractor, cultivator, seed drill and other attachments. He spurns a traditional Massey Ferguson to buy a mighty Lamborghini R8.270 but finds that this is too large and complex for him to master easily. He tries to innovate but Kaleb scolds him about the results – irregular tramlines. Meanwhile, their cultivation and planting schedule is interrupted by torrential rain. | ||||
| 2 | 2 | "Sheeping" | 11 June 2021 | |
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The farm has 300 acres which are set aside from crop farming. The DEFRA subsidy scheme requires these meadows to be mown annually and so Clarkson decides to get a herd of sheep. He buys 78 North Country Mules at auction and finds that they are difficult to control, even with an electric fence and barking drone. After trouble with lameness and the complexity of breeding with his rams, Leonardo and Wayne, he recruits Ellen to be the farm's shepherd. | ||||
| 3 | 3 | "Shopping" | 11 June 2021 | |
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Clarkson sets up a farm shop to sell farm produce. This constitutes potatoes, which need to be sold quickly, because otherwise they would rot. Clarkson uses social media to advertise the shop resulting in a large number of customers. | ||||
| 4 | 4 | "Wilding" | 11 June 2021 | |
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Clarkson decides to leave portions of his farm for nature, a process called wilding. He uses an excavator to dig a pond and form a wetland area. He builds a dam on a nearby stream for water for the pond and adds 250 brown trout. He installs bird boxes for owls. He obtains four beehives for honey for the farm shop and to pollinate his crops. | ||||
| 5 | 5 | "Pan (dem) icking" | 11 June 2021 | |
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The COVID-19 pandemic hits the country. Farm workers are key workers and are able to keep working. The lambing season starts and Clarkson assists in the births, in which most of the births were successful, one died after being abandoned by its mother and the rest were stillbirths. Clarkson decides to plant vegetables in a field instead of barley as pubs are shut and he believes that beer, which barley is used to produce, will not be sold in the same quantities. He re-opens the farm shop to sell the remaining potatoes, but customers are scarce. | ||||
| 6 | 6 | "Melting" | 11 June 2021 | |
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A dry spell in April–May 2020 affects Clarkson's crops. He obtains water from a nearby stream, filling a bowser towed by the Lamborghini tractor, but this proves inadequate for his vegetables. He gives a virtual tour of his farm for an inspection for Red Tractor accreditation by Assured Food Standards. The 20 mature trees he had planted shed their leaves in dry conditions. The sheep are sheared, but each fleece is worth less than £1. | ||||
| 7 | 7 | "Fluffing" | 11 June 2021 | |
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Lisa stocks the farm shop, selling locally sourced produce. Initially, nothing in the shop originates on the farm, so Clarkson extracts honey from the beehives. He harvests his wasabi plants and tasks Kaleb with selling them in London restaurants; Kaleb is unsuccessful in this endeavour as well as receiving a parking violation. The wasabi is placed in the farm shop where it does not sell and eventually rots. | ||||
| 8 | 8 | "Harvesting" | 11 June 2021 | |
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Clarkson has logistical problems as the barley and rape are both ready for harvest at the same time. He manages to hire a combine but then has trouble storing the barley. The wheat, however, is good quality and fetches a good price from the local mill. Because the crops brought in £90,000 less than the previous year, due to the poor weather, Clarkson's profit on the year's arable farming is a meagre £144. | ||||
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | "Surviving" | 10 February 2023 | |
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Clarkson attempts to diversify his farm's revenue sources (having made only £144 in the previous year) in an effort to increase his profits. In particular, he decides to start a cow herd and promptly buys several of the animals. However, the timing of when they will bring in money and the necessity of building an enclosure for them causes problems for Jeremy and Charlie. Meanwhile, inspired by the success of the farm shop, Clarkson has the idea to open a restaurant in the abandoned lambing barn to sell his beef and lamb, but he must deal with the cost of converting the barn and getting approval from the local council. | ||||
| 10 | 2 | "Cowering" | 10 February 2023 | |
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Clarkson's herd of cows begins to settle in on the farm, but things immediately begin to go awry. The cows aren't keen on the idea of a fence and quickly escape, and when Clarkson attempts to wean the calves, they too break out and cause chaos. In addition, the new chickens brought in to help fertilize the soil also prove to be difficult to handle as he also had some roosters, who somehow were able to break out of their coop and into the hens. | ||||
| 11 | 3 | "Schmoozing" | 10 February 2023 | |
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Clarkson is ready to submit his application for his farm restaurant; he must use gentle navigation and respect for bureaucracy in order to keep his interests afloat. This, of course, is not easy for Jeremy, so he has to be careful. | ||||
| 12 | 4 | "Badgering" | 10 February 2023 | |
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Clarkson is informed by Charlie that his cows are in danger of contracting Bovine Tuberculosis from the badgers on the farm. He decides to resolve the issue by killing the latter but is informed that this is illegal in most cases. Faced with a danger to his herd, Clarkson must hope for the best. | ||||
| 13 | 5 | "Council-ing" | 10 February 2023 | |
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After weeks of waiting, the day of judgement for Clarkson's restaurant at last arrives. | ||||
| 14 | 6 | "Counselling" | 10 February 2023 | |
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Following the council's rejection of his restaurant in the previous episode, Clarkson must pick up the pieces and get back on track if he hopes to ever make a profit on his farm. | ||||
| 15 | 7 | "Scheming" | 10 February 2023 | |
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Clarkson, determined to open his restaurant, decides to approach things from a different angle. Figuring that obtaining legitimate permission will be too costly and time-consuming, he and Charlie decide that secrecy and speed is their best option. After learning from Alan that an old barn on his property could be converted without prior planning permission, Jeremy decides to set up shop there. However, the plan's success is hinging on the council not objecting to anything about the site, meaning that nearly all the work must be completed in just 48 hours in order to prevent a formal complaint from being lodged. Elsewhere, a last-ditch effort to get Pepper, Clarkson's favourite heifer, pregnant may force a difficult decision. | ||||
| 16 | 8 | "Climaxing" | 10 February 2023 | |
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Clarkson and his team must work harder than ever on secret preparations and last-minute arrangements in order to ensure the success of his restaurant. However, the inevitable delays and various problems threaten to allow the council to shut them down for good. In the end the attempt was successful and the restaurant was opened. Afterwards, after finding out Pepper wasn't pregnant again, Clarkson adopts her as a pet to keep her from being chopped up. | ||||
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 1 | "Unfarming" | 3 May 2024 | |
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Diddly Squat is experiencing tough times as Jeremy is forced to close his restaurant by the local council and the 2022 European drought has made getting anything to grow extremely difficult. In an attempt to boost productivity and diversify, Jeremy appoints Kaleb as Farm Manager and begins a competition with Kaleb managing the arable and Clarkson running the non-arable areas of the farm. Clarkson sets off to harvest blackberries and purchase pigs for his side, but soon runs into trouble when the blackberry harvesting machine destroys a wall. Meanwhile, Gerald is diagnosed with cancer. | ||||
| 18 | 2 | "Porking" | 3 May 2024 | |
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Neighbouring farmers Andy Cato — of the band Groove Armada — and George Lamb introduce Jeremy to the concepts of regenerative agriculture and dual-planting, convincing him to try the methods on his half of the farm. Elsewhere, Clarkson's litter of Oxford Sandy and Black pigs arrives, although efforts to get them to breed are slow to bear fruit. Faced with increasingly challenging standards to keep the farm shop open, Charlie and Jeremy debate moving the farm shop outside of the local council's jurisdiction before deciding to launch an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. | ||||
| 19 | 3 | "Jobbing" | 3 May 2024 | |
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Jeremy returns from holiday to find the farm in desperate need of him. One of the sows has unexpectedly had piglets, who all need to be moved to the woods. The farm's dam is also in dire need of repair as the rainy season approaches, but efforts to fix it falter when Kaleb and Jeremy bicker about the best approach. Elsewhere, Charlie attempts to persuade Lisa to comply with the council's ruling on the farm shop's products. | ||||
| 20 | 4 | "Harrowing" | 3 May 2024 | |
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More of Clarkson's pigs have piglets; however, over a quarter of them die soon afterwards due to overlaying, while one of the sows has to be euthanised, deeply affecting Jeremy and Lisa. | ||||
| 21 | 5 | "Healing" | 10 May 2024 | |
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Jeremy attempts to produce nettle soup for the farm shop; however, he abandons it as it isn’t profitable. Furthermore, he converts an underground bunker into a mushroom growing facility. A sap test shows Cato‘s regenerative agriculture yielding results, while the dam repair is still not moving along. To make more land arable, Jeremy buys goats to have them eat down his brambles. Jeremy attempts to breed more pigs and Gerald returns to work on the farm having recovered from his cancer. | ||||
| 22 | 6 | "Mushrooming" | 10 May 2024 | |
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Jeremy has won the appeal against the local council, with virtually all of their restrictions being overturned. Jeremy harvests his mushrooms, producing more than he can sell. Meanwhile, Kaleb and Charlie meet UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to discuss getting young people into farming. | ||||
| 23 | 7 | "Parking" | 10 May 2024 | |
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Freed from the local council‘s restrictions, Jeremy sets to build a bigger parking area. To manage the overpopulation of deer on his property, Jeremy decides to go hunting. Furthermore, Jeremy and Kaleb have to recall a batch of their cider due to a manufacturing issue and much of his new batch of mushrooms is destroyed by mould. | ||||
| 24 | 8 | "Calculating" | 10 May 2024 | |
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Due to the weather, most of Jeremy‘s crops fail to turn a profit and the dam is still not fixed. In their challenge, Jeremy has turned £27,000 profit on his half, while Kaleb has turned £44,000. However, they have to reinvest all their money to buy seeds and fertiliser for the next cycle, meaning they have essentially not made any money for two years straight. | ||||
On Farming Today, Clarkson said that he listens to the BBC programme's podcast. The opinions of the active farmers interviewed were favourable.[20]
I thought it was remarkably good and entertaining. … Many farmers will think that this is putting them and their experience over in a positive way … There were some proper laugh-out-loud moments … I am so inspired by the way that Jeremy Clarkson has talked about the industry and the people who have helped him …[20]
Other farmers were also reported to have shown an "overwhelmingly favourable" reaction to Clarkson's Farm.[21] The sheep farmer James Rebanks said that the farming community "all loved that programme", and that Clarkson had done more for farming in one series than 30 years of the BBC's long-running farming programme Countryfile.[22] Viewers have found the programme educational and entertaining, and that "they now feel much better informed about farming".[23] The National Farmer's Union awarded Clarkson 2021 Farming Champion of the Year as "a vocal champion for the British farming industry", and producing that year a show that showcased the realities of farming and one that "has really resonated with the public".[24] Clarkson and his farm assistant Kaleb Cooper won the Flying the Flag for British Agriculture award at the British Farming Awards.[25]
Joel Golby, reviewing for The Guardian, found Clarkson's verbal signalling of his jokes by lowering his voice tiring, but the format, in which his blunders are corrected by no-nonsense country folk, works well, "It's simply, just … really good TV".[13] Lucy Mangan wrote a different review for The Guardian a week later, but only gave it one star out of five. She was tired by Clarkson's role as an ignorant buffoon and called the show "wearisome, meretricious rubbish … The series amounts to less and less as time goes on."[26]
Anita Singh reviewed the show for The Daily Telegraph. She liked the apparent authenticity of Clarkson's involvement in the farming, "…when you see Clarkson despairing at his crop failures, or yelping with delight when he helps to deliver a lamb, it feels genuine." She liked the supporting players, such as Kaleb and Charlie, and that "Clarkson’s gone soft, and it makes for surprisingly good viewing."[27]
Suzi Feay gave the show five stars in the Financial Times. She especially liked "…some of rural England’s more surprising characters … Clarkson’s Farm features some unique types that are rarely spotted on screen."[16]
Hugo Rifkind, reviewing for The Times, likes Clarkson's "honesty of self" and appreciated both the good fun and the increasingly earnest engagement, "…you get to watch a familiar face grow smitten with his new life, coming to understand the responsibility of feeding Britain … a quite lovely documentary series about life on a farm…"[28]
Marty Meany reviewed Clarkson's Farm for Goosed.ie, describing Jeremy as a "grown man playing Farming Simulator in real life", but whether you "love him or hate him, Clarkson's Farm sees Jeremy return to his very best" after years of creating "blatantly scripted" television. Meany gave the show four and a half stars in his review.[29]
Following the release of the show on Amazon, the show was a popular success online, being rated five stars on Google.[30] The show was also well-received on the Chinese website Douban from nearly 80,000 Chinese people, who awarded it a rating 9.6 out of 10 for the first series.[31][32]
The popularity of Clarkson's Farm led to large number of visitors to the farm shop opened by Clarkson, which resulted in a 3-mile-long (4.8 km) traffic jam and necessitated the attendance of the police to handle the disruption in traffic. As a result, Clarkson faced a strong backlash from the people of Chadlington. Later that day he took to Twitter, writing: "People of Chadlington. I’m truly sorry about the traffic around our farm shop last weekend. We are doing everything we can to improve the situation".[33][34]
The West Oxfordshire District Council blocked attempts by Clarkson to build a car park, a restaurant and the building of a road to another restaurant he opened. The restaurant in a converted barn was forced to close and the planting of trees to screen a car park was denied.[35] The dispute between Clarkson and West Oxfordshire District Council was said to have led to a change in planning regulation, which is dubbed "Clarkson's clause" and it allows farmers to convert disused agricultural buildings for commercial and residential use without planning permission.[36]
According to Barb, the first episode of the second series of Clarkson's Farm broke viewing record on Amazon in the UK and became the most watched original series on Amazon. It was watched by 4.3 million viewers on TV in seven days, with more UK viewers watching the episode than The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which had 3.2 million viewers for its first episode in 2022.[37] The first episode was ranked No. 16 across all channels.[38] 3.8 million watched the second episode (ranked No. 27 the same week), and 3.3 million watched the third (ranked No. 40).[38][5] A total of 7.6 million individuals had watched the show across its eight episodes over 28 days, which made it the most-watched show on Amazon Prime in the UK.[39]
The ratings for the first series were not available since Barb only started measuring viewership for on-demand video platforms such as Amazon in November 2021.[40]
The viewing figures of the third series improved on those of the second series the UK when the first four episodes were released on 3 May 2024. Overnight viewing figures showed 3.7 million watched the first episode, 3.1 million the second, 2.5 million the third and 2.1 million the fourth.[41] Viewing figures over 7 days showed that the first episode was streamed by 5.1 million television viewers (5.2 million including mobile devices), which made it the most-streamed show on Amazon Prime in the UK, and the second most-streamed show of 2024 on any streaming service in the UK after Fool Me Once on Netflix.[42] The second episode was watched by 4.7 million viewers, the third 4.3 million and the fourth 3.9 million, making the first four episodes the 4th, 6th, 11th and 14th most-watched TV shows of the week in the UK.[43]
In China, the first episode of the first series has received over 5 million views on the Chinese streaming service Bilibili.[31][44]
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