TV failed me again tonight, earlier than I wanted to go to bed - so it was back to The Grand Tour Presents on Amazon Prime. Episode 2 is A Massive Hunt, set in Madagascar, it seemed!
Of course, this is the team that used to present Top Gear - before Jeremy Clarkson was fired for punching a chef who wouldn't open up the kitchen, late at night, to give him a steak. Apparently. Anyway, the other presenters walked out in sympathy, and they all started The Grand Tour series on Amazon Prime. I don't watch Top Gear any more - without Clarkson, it's not the same. This is a fantastic team though.
This is the fourth series of Grand Tour, and only has two episodes, so far - and I guess, for the forseeable future. Anyway, I thought I'd read it wrong when the episode actually started in Réunion.. which, it turns out, is literally a département of France, and therefore their flight from France is actually the longest internal flight in the world! (One for the pub quizzes, that.) And it looks absolutely idyllic - tropical beaches, good facilities. They're back in cars for this one, and each goes for something suitably stylish - I presume that stretch of road they demonstrate the cars' abilities on is closed for the purpose; I'd hate to meet them coming in the opposite direction!
But ah, I wasn't mistaken. Turns out they're on a mission to find the treasure of a pirate that was executed on Réunion - they have a reproduction of the coded letter that's supposed to reveal the location of his buried treasure. Well, Richard Hammond, who has something of a pirate fetish, eventually realises that, given that this pirate was arrested on Madagascar, that's probably where he buried the treasure! So they decide to head there. James May then tells them about this friend of his, who's described the roads there as the worst she's ever travelled. So, before they head off, they beef the cars up a bit..
Now, I don't know whether it's because they're back on more familiar territory than in Episode 1, or because I'm less interested in boating - of which I have no experience - than in driving, in which I have. Or maybe I'm in a better mood today than I was on Sunday, when I watched that. But jeez, I laughed so hard at this - over and over, as the saga continued - that I practically choked. It is absolutely hilarious. And you know, that woman wasn't joking about the roads - the road they travel on, the RN5 up the East coast, is a strong contender for worst in the world. Leads to the likely treasure location, of course.
Not a journey I'd recommend - it's 4WD only, I've offroaded before, and I remember how stiff and sore it left me. And the sight of the vehicles trying to navigate the road frequently left me gasping. Indeed, Hammond has to abandon his car, in the end (spoiler!) - and remarks that this is the first time they've actually lost a car. Strongly recommended - and the scenery continues to be gorgeous.
So - for Saturday, that now leaves me with Tumbbad, also on Amazon Prime - this is a Hindi horror film about people that come across what you might call cursed treasure.. The trailer has a strong Gollum vibe, with the treasure seeming to speak to its possessor in a similar voice to Gollum. "My precious", indeed. Could be decent, I'll give it a shot.
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