The original “Top Gear” specials were always popular, as they would see hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May create laughs, often by embarrassing themselves, in interesting places the average traveler may never visit. Oh, and there would be an assortment of cars that typically would be highly unsuitable for the trip.
The hosts have continued the format at their new digs, “The Grand Tour,” with the most recent special filmed in Mongolia. The next was to see the trio follow in the footsteps of Thomas Edward Lawrence, more commonly known as Lawrence of Arabia, by traveling from Saudi Arabia to Cairo, Egypt, via the Sinai Peninsula.
Unfortunately the special has been canceled due to terrorism fears, Clarkson revealed in a column published on May 12 in the Sunday Times. An alternative is planned, though, to be filmed in Slough, United Kingdom.
“This would be an epic journey, except it would mean crossing the Sinai Peninsula and, thanks to Isis, the chances of us all arriving on the other side with heads were slim,” Clarkson wrote.
Before the crew settled on Slough, they looked at other locations, though many of these were also deemed too dangerous. These included multiple countries in Africa as well as Indonesia. The crew have been attacked before. Back in 2014, filming of a “Top Gear” special in Argentina saw the crew flee the country under police escort after an attack by an angry mob. The mob interpreted the license plate H982 FKL of a car driven by Clarkson as a deliberate reference to the 1982 Falklands War.
