New challenges, old roadblocks, same idiot.
The British motor-head turned farmer, Jeremy Clarkson, has returned for a fourth season of his hit Amazon documentary series Clarkson’s Farm. Clarkson’s first season of the show released back in 2021 during the pandemic, whilst also still working on his other Amazon series you may have heard The Grand Tour. Now farming full-time, we are introduced to a more knowledgable Clarkson than we first saw back in the first season of the show. But, just because he’s more knowledgable on farm-life, doesn’t mean he’s any smarter. Clarkson is still very much the same hysterical but intelligent idiot he has always been.
Clarkson’s Farm Season 4 feels like a natural continuation, if you’d watched the end of season 3 and jumped straight into season 4 it’d feel like almost no time has passed. In the new season though Clarkson takes on new challenges such as trying to open a pub of his own, and trying to continue work on his farm without Kaleb. Don’t worry though, Kaleb isn’t gone forever, at the time of filming the first few episodes he was off touring the country as a public speaker discussing the life of farming. Kaleb, whilst absent for the first two episodes of the season, rejoins the show in episode three and comes straight back to Diddly Squat farm doing exactly what you’d expect by calling Jeremy a moron.
The show continues to solidify what made it so popular originally by being an in-depth look at how difficult farm life is with a comedic face. The supporting cast behind the motor-head is stronger than ever, with a new farm-hand to assist Clarkson in Kaleb’s absence, Harriet, adding a breath of fresh air to the show. In-fact in the first half of the season one of my favourite moments is when Kaleb returns in the third episode and seeing how he responds to learning about and meeting Harriet.
Something the show has done well over the years is treating every season with its own unique story line. Clarkson has done well to make sure every season has its own unique feel and different challenges, showcasing new aspects about how difficult but hysterical farm-life can be. As mentioned before, Clarkson focuses a large portion of his time this season in trying to secure a Diddly Squat Pub, and even that isn’t as simple or pleasant as he imagined. The endeavour to get a pub comes with both new challenges and old enemies getting in his way.
Since the show has began Clarkson has garnered significant praise for the work he’s done on shining a spotlight on how difficult life is in the country, whilst also showing how integral farmers are to society and all the (somewhat ridiculous) challenges they face. Between the TV show and now his public speaking, Kaleb has done a lot of work to encourage young people to take up farming, it’s been a joy to see a spotlight shone on an aspect of society often overlooked. But after years on the Grand Tour seeing a Jeremy Clarkson in his element handling a topic he’s spent years studying, it’s still immensely refreshing to see Clarkson tackle something both down to earth, as well as, something he is still learning on the fly even in his fourth season.
It’s also worth mentioning that the show serves as a great ‘Farming for Dummies’ educational kind of show. Even in its most outrageous moments it’s all a learning experience as to the pitfalls and shortcuts to success of farming. Clarkson being a relative every man as well makes watching him and the prospect of farming feel far more achievable for anyone who wants to take it up (just ignore the fact Clarkson already has millions of pounds in net worth).
This review so far is only of the first half of the season, as that’s all that releases today, as well as, all that Amazon provided me with. I can happily say that as the show has gone on it has consistently found new ways to show the challenges of farm life, as well as, kept it interesting, entertaining, whilst holding itself to a high standard of quality. If you’ve enjoyed the seasons prior, this will be the joyous return to Diddly Squat that you’ve wanted.
You can watch Clarkson’s Farm: Season 4 now on Amazon Prime.
Episodes 5-6 arrive on May 30th.
Episodes 7-8 arrive on June 6th.
