Not since the pursuit of Peter Rabbit around Mr McGregor’s garden has rural drama been writ so large. From behind the wheel of his Lamborghini tractor, Jeremy Clarkson’s face crumples as the nine-ton machine rolls back over a field mouse – only to erupt into joy as the mouse emerges unscathed from beneath the wheel.
A decade ago, the Top Gear host was fending off outrage after sharing on Twitter an image of a rodent squashed by the show’s film crew. Today, the petrolhead is a man transformed, his compassion for nature and enthusiasm for rural life lighting up our screens in Clarkson’s Farm, the Amazon Prime series documenting his attempts to run a 1,000-acre farm in the Cotswolds.
Clarkson’s Farm hasn’t been without controversy, whether for the traffic chaos it’s caused as fans queue to visit his Diddly Squat Farm Shop or Clarkson’s own ability to trigger a social media storm. But evidence of the 62-year-old’s conversion to rural aficionado is everywhere, from his fears for the unproductive heifer Pepper to his newfound delight in the age-old skill of hedge-laying.
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