Jeremy Clarkson On Clarkson’s Farm Show: “People Told Me Not To Do It”

Clarkson’s Farm may have been a hit with presenter Jeremy Clarkson receiving plenty of praise from fans, but when he first came up with the idea of taking over his farm, he was met with heavy criticism.

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The BBC Rejected The Idea Before Amazon

Jeremy Clarson revealed not long ago that he initially had the idea over ten years ago, but when he pitched the idea to the BBC in 2008, it was met with negativity.

It’s such a harmonious and wonderful workplace. I thought, ‘This might work on television’.

“So I started pitching it to Amazon, who immediately said yes. Actually, I first pitched it to the BBC in 2008 and all they were bothered about was, ‘Where would the production office be?’.

“I said, ‘London, I suppose’. And they said, ‘Oh no, you can’t do it in London’.”

He continued:

“That’s all they said. They never asked what the show was about or where it was going to be made. Amazon was a bit less bothered about that – and here we are.”

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People Told Jeremy Not To Take Over The Farm

When Jeremy Clarkson was looking for information and testing the waters before he took over the farm over a year ago, he was again met with criticism. He talked about this in a Q&A where he was asked who told him not to and why:

“Literally everybody!” he said. “Because farming is a vocation. You either need to be born into it or you need to go to agricultural college and learn how to do it. You can’t just say, “I’m going to do farming.” I think John Humphrys tried to do farming – it lasted a year, and by his own admission he hated it, couldn’t do it and it was too difficult – it is phenomenally difficult!”

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He was then asked if he knew what he was taking on:

“No, because in my mind, you put seeds in the ground, weather happens and food grows, but that’s simply not true. We did put seeds in the ground – I’m looking at a four-acre patch over there – and nothing grew. Nothing. An entirely organic operation, total failure.”

He continued:

“It’s a very, very complex business. I know of no profession that requires you to be so multi-abled. You have to understand soil, weather and science. You have to be a mechanic, a midwife, a businessman, an agronomist, and a water diviner. You also have to be a gambler. My only qualification is driving around corners too quickly while shouting, which is of no use at all.”

NEXT: Clarkson’s Farm: 7 Things That Have Gone Terribly Wrong

Clarkson’s Farm is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.