Clarkson's Farm: Season 4

I've shown great enthusiasm for Clarkson's Farm in the past. Yes, I'm a seasoned Top Gear fan, especially of the seasons where the focus was on the silly, extremely entertaining friendship between the three hosts, and before it all got a bit too big, planned, and organised, but at the same time, pretty much everyone I've come into contact with about this spin-off focusing on Jeremy Clarkson's adventures as a professional farmer has fallen head over heels for it.

What is the secret ingredient here? Why is this particular programme concept so entertaining and wholesome? It's not necessarily Clarkson himself, who is still not always likeable, nor is it necessarily the whole idea of maintaining a large English country house and the challenges that come with it. No, the magic is somewhere beneath these superficial genre markers, and it's always been hard to pinpoint exactly why Clarkson's Farm works as well as it does, but it's clear after just 10 minutes that it just does.

The fourth season is a little different in that, for the first time, you can tell from the characters that the previous three seasons have been such a success. Caleb is no longer a local entrepreneurial farmer who has never been outside this relatively small part of England, he is now a stand-up comedian with his own show based at Clarkson's Farm. This loss of true, isolated authenticity stings a little here and there, and remains a small shadow over the first few episodes of the season.

But other than that, thankfully, everything is back to normal. Yes, Jeremy wants to start a pub to make it easier to sell all the resources he gets from his fields, his cattle, and the other animals that roam the large country estate, but beyond that, there's just a calmness, a relaxedness about the whole way this show is put together that instantly settles into your bones, signalling loud and clear that you can let your shoulders drop a little.

Whether the metal fatigue eventually sets in precisely because the show doesn't have the opportunity to reinvent itself or artificially construct new challenges, only time will tell, nor does it seem like Clarkson himself is interested in making TV forever, but this fourth season still shows how fundamentally entertaining this premise is.

That's not to be taken as a defence of Clarkson's ideas or opinions, but underneath the entertainment value is actually, perhaps unintentionally, quite a lot of information about the challenges both conventional and organic and progressive farming face with worsening weather conditions and unintended issues through Brexit. That this is seen through Clarkson's slightly sarcastic and financially convenient position is another matter, but thankfully the series is quite good at giving voice to other, less protected farmers who are clearly struggling to survive as it is right now.

Combine that with tight editing, subtle music, and a knack for finding the beauty in both cultivated and uncultivated nature, and you've got another season that plays the same tune, again, but one that you still love to dance to. It's impossible to say if this will last much longer, perhaps fame and artificiality will find a way in, but for now, Clarkson's Farm is one of the best programmes you can find in the shared library of all streaming services, and that's pretty impressive.