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Clarkson's Farm - General Discussion

badhaggis

By badhaggis
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badhaggis

badhaggis

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It really is relaxing. 

We used to watch "Escape to the Chateau" on Sunday nights before bed. The season is over and now we watch this. It has the same effect for us. Just a fun show to enjoy before bed for us!

I loved the little homages to his Top Gear persona. Lamborghini tractor anyone?  

 

 

 

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SunnyBeBe

SunnyBeBe

(edited)

Oh yes, I like Chateau as well.  I’m going to try to introduce my dad to the show.  He grew up on a small family farm and is quite knowledgeable about crops, livestock, etc.  While it was a wholesome lifestyle, it was a lot of hard work.  He said it was too much work for kids and teens and doesn’t hold the fond memories you’d think.  We’ll see.  
 

How many episodes have you watched?  

Edited by SunnyBeBe
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badhaggis

badhaggis

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Just now, SunnyBeBe said:

Oh yes, I like Chateau as well.  I’m going to try to introduce my dad to the show.  He grew up on a small family farm and is quite knowledgeable about crops, livestock, etc.  While it was a wholesome lifestyle, it was a lot of hard work.  He said it was too much work for kids and teens and doesn’t whole the fond memories you’d think.  We’ll see.  
 

How many episodes have you watched?  

We finished the third episode last night. How many have you watched?

Running a far is very hard work and I admire anyone that has done this. I know I could not do it!

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SunnyBeBe

SunnyBeBe

(edited)

I was doing some projects around the house when some of these were on, but saw more of the episodes through 5.  The lambing, potatoes, covid, etc.  

Edited by SunnyBeBe
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Melina22

Melina22

We binged the whole season pretty quickly and loved it. We weren't sure what to expect after watching Jeremy on his various car and travel series. I was worried it would just be a big joke, with him endlessly swearing and pretending to farm, but the reality was much better. I actually learned a lot about farming! 

They sure don't sugarcoat things though. It looks like a gruelling, difficult life that pays badly if at all. But what a great season. I'd definitely watch a second. 

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CoderLady

CoderLady

23 hours ago, Melina22 said:

We binged the whole season pretty quickly and loved it. We weren't sure what to expect after watching Jeremy on his various car and travel series. I was worried it would just be a big joke, with him endlessly swearing and pretending to farm, but the reality was much better. I actually learned a lot about farming! 

They sure don't sugarcoat things though. It looks like a gruelling, difficult life that pays badly if at all. But what a great season. I'd definitely watch a second. 

I finished it in a very few days and loved it. It was a treat, and I was sorry to get to the end of the series. I was impressed at how seriously he took what he was doing and even when things went wrong with stuff due to his inexperience, or uncooperative weather or the dozen or so other unavoidable things that happened, he solved the problems and kept going.

This series (season?) is all about getting started. I hope there will be another one following up. 

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Danny Franks

Danny Franks

I just found this topic. I've been a conflicted fan of Clarkson for a long time because, while I know a lot of his on-screen persona is a very exaggerated, blustering character, he is still very conservative and prone to bigoted views. But he is undeniably funny, and not more so than when he's making a fool of himself by arrogantly rushing in to something he's not thought through.

This show highlighted the best aspects of him, and did a lot more than even he expected, in showing a lot of the challenges and difficulties of being a farmer. He was not prepared, and his initial 'how hard can it be?' mantra was almost immediately proved wrong (as it always is). I've read that the initial concept was going to be him cocking everything up and making things explode, but he quickly realised he actually wanted to be good at farming. The stuff about rewilding was really interesting as well - creating habitats, clearing trees to allow more sunlight to get to the forest floor, the meadows and longer grasses.

The supporting cast were great, especially Kaleb and Gerald, the two locals who had to deal with Jeremy and his foolishness. Kaleb just not taking any of Clarkson's nonsense was great, and the image of this twenty-one year old lad telling Jeremy off was fantastic. I also really liked that Gerald, despite his incomprehensible speech, was still someone Jeremy was clearly fond of and had a warm, engaging presence.

 

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ProfCrash

ProfCrash

On 7/11/2021 at 8:59 PM, Quilt Fairy said:

It has been renewed for a 2nd season. 

Great news. We watched it as a family and really enjoyed it. We frequently reminded the 9 year old that he couldn't repeat the vast majority of the words that were being used. We play Settlers of Catan and like to call the folks who gather sheep Clarkson.

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Quilt Fairy

Quilt Fairy

On 7/22/2021 at 4:07 AM, Danny Franks said:

I've been a conflicted fan of Clarkson for a long time because, while I know a lot of his on-screen persona is a very exaggerated, blustering character, he is still very conservative and prone to bigoted views. But he is undeniably funny, and not more so than when he's making a fool of himself by arrogantly rushing in to something he's not thought through.

This.  I don't like him, and his firing by the BBC was totally deserved.  But damn, he can be funny, so I thought I would give the show a try, and was surprised as hell when I binged through it in a couple of hours and was disappointed when it ended.   A kinder, gentler Clarkson?  Who'd a thunk it?  I think the difference is that the people on this show, like Kaleb, would always bring him back to the real world, whereas with May and Hammond the silliness just gets multiplied until it's ridiculous.  I have read articles that say behind the scenes he was as much a jerk as ever, and he really antagonized people in the local village (with those annoying laws) with some of his stunts. 

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ProfCrash

ProfCrash

2 hours ago, Quilt Fairy said:

This.  I don't like him, and his firing by the BBC was totally deserved.  But damn, he can be funny, so I thought I would give the show a try, and was surprised as hell when I binged through it in a couple of hours and was disappointed when it ended.   A kinder, gentler Clarkson?  Who'd a thunk it?  I think the difference is that the people on this show, like Kaleb, would always bring him back to the real world, whereas with May and Hammond the silliness just gets multiplied until it's ridiculous.  I have read articles that say behind the scenes he was as much a jerk as ever, and he really antagonized people in the local village (with those annoying laws) with some of his stunts. 

Of course he did. The rules really were ridiculous and I can see Jeremy being an ass because he is an ass. I enjoyed the show but it is also easy for Jeremy to make bad decisions with little real regret because Amazon was paying for them. 

Jeremy is funny but he is a dick and does not treat people well. It isn’t shown but you read about it. It does make it hard to watch shows with him but his shows are entertaining. It is a conundrum. 

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BetyBee

BetyBee

I don't know anything about Jeremy's previous careers. We're a few episodes in and rather enjoying the show. It's sort of like a British Green Acres. Jeremy is so impulsive and tends to seek counsel from experts after he's mucked things up. By the end of each show though, it usually works out okay. I'm sure some of it is set up - it's not my first reality show, but it's entertaining and informative. The countryside is just beautiful!

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Aulty

Aulty

(edited)

Looking forward to read what you thought about series 2. A few things that stood out to me for different reasons:

  • When the vet suggested JC could use his media weight to get the laws around badger protection changed
  • When they found out they used the wrong oil/potatoe combo for their crisps - his signature 'can do attitude' without the slightest bit of research. I remember that potato crisp thing being a huge issue in the early 00s.
  • When he calls everything the 'police'. Especially the bird police regarding bird flu measures because what they are doing is exactly to prevent issues he wants prevented with TB. Can't have it both ways.

The issue with the planning permission has gotten very petty by the end. Why did he never entertain the thought of getting premises in a nearby village where access and security are less of an issue.
Doing what he wants on his land does not mean problems are limited to his land, as seen by the severe inconvenience (according to media reports) the run to his farm shop caused for the locals. The traffic jams alone would melt my head if I had to use that road. I don't know whether JC's team tried to coordinate with local council and police back then, if they haven't I can see why some people might have a bee in their bonnets about him. Can't wait to see the fallout of him putting this into his show so prominently, even naming and showing the guy who hired the lawyer.

Also, the money spent on things on this show, prep-kitchen, crisps-kitchen, new cultivator (the kitchens were probably rentals, did they mention whether he had to pay for the machine he drove into the pole with), new roof, new cattle-barn, barn-refurb.

What was nice is him hosting the hedge competition on his land.

Edited by Aulty
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BetyBee

BetyBee

I think we've seen 4 episodes of Season 2. I'm really enjoying it! I wish Jeremy hadn't dissed Meghan Markle so thoroughly and publicly. I'd have enjoyed a 3rd season as well. I'm falling in love with his cows. He's pretty snarky, but he does have the ability to laugh at himself, which is mitigating. 

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areca

areca

(edited)

The 3rd season is confirmed! I'm so glad Amazon knew what they were hiring with Clarkson, and didn't cancel him for his utterly uncurable case of foot-in-mouth disease.  Despite his many faults, he's doing a wonderful thing for the local farmers there, farming in general, great things with his oodles of land for local wildlife, and creating a tourism industry for the surrounding villages as well.

Edited by areca
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Shermie

Shermie

We just started watching this, stumbled upon it on Prime and are up to season 1, ep 4. Never heard of this guy, so we had no opinions of him going in. At least he owns his arrogance, after each attempt at thinking he knows better.

My husband is a farmer and has all that equipment and more, and he was laughing his ass off in the first ep, watching Clarkson muddle through cultivating. He could see Clarkson’s mistakes and consequences coming a kilometre away.

It always amazes me when someone decides to raise animals for meat and then gets all verklempt when they realize the animal has to die. Duh, circle of life.

Clarkson’s irritation with local rules might be common, but it’s on any business person to check out the regulations before doing stuff. Everybody thinks their idea/expansion/build/whatever is so awesome, but there can be issues with neighbours.

Looking forward to seeing more.

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areca

areca

May 3 for season 3 premiere!  Can't wait.  I don't know why, but I love this show.  Even when it's scripted bits.

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dancingdreamer

dancingdreamer

We watched  the 4 episodes  of season  3(  more to follow May 22nd..). We love this show, it's biting humour, it's uplifting  scenes of new ways to farm, and the sad parts that made me sob louder than Lisa.  Clarkson  farm is letting  us in, on just how hard farm life is. DH grew up on a farm, and can relate to many scenes.

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Quilt Fairy

Quilt Fairy

28 minutes ago, dancingdreamer said:

We watched  the 4 episodes  of season  3(  more to follow May 22nd..)

I thought they were dropping a new episode every Thursday?

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Shermie

Shermie

On 5/8/2024 at 2:32 PM, dancingdreamer said:

Clarkson  farm is letting  us in, on just how hard farm life is. DH grew up on a farm, and can relate to many scenes.

As a lifelong farm dweller, yes, it can be hard but Clarkson makes it unnecessarily difficult. Instead of focusing on 3 or 4 things and learning to farm them well, he constantly dives head first into every hare-brained idea that enters his head. 

Yes, you can have an Old McDonald farm with a little of everything and feed your family from it. But if every farmer did that, what would city people eat? Farmers have large barns of livestock and big fields of wheat or corn to make the cost of equipment make sense. Clarkson buys every gadget he finds to allegedly save himself physical labour but half of them don’t work. Hovercraft sprayer? Nettle picker? 

Actual farming can make you a good living without working your ass off 24/7. 

Clarkson’s pig venture was a mess. Sows will squash their young if left to their own devices because they just will. Real hog farmers have farrowing crates to save the piglets from getting crushed. When it got unseasonably cold, he should have put heaters in the pigloos. I’m actually stunned that he didn’t lose any piglets to forest predators (yes, they were fenced in, but that doesn’t stop hawks or raccoons or weasels).

The nettle soup should have been packaged frozen to increase shelf life. And she should have had a crockpot of it in the shop so that the delicious aroma would attract shoppers and then she could give them a little sample to try. Would have sold them easily.

We get a good laugh watching this show because he’s amusingly inept. It’s called Clarkson’s Farm, not Clarkson the Farmer after all.

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dancingdreamer

dancingdreamer

5 hours ago, Shermie said:

As a lifelong farm dweller, yes, it can be hard but Clarkson makes it unnecessarily difficult. Instead of focusing on 3 or 4 things and learning to farm them well, he constantly dives head first into every hare-brained idea that enters his head. 

Yes, you can have an Old McDonald farm with a little of everything and feed your family from it. But if every farmer did that, what would city people eat? Farmers have large barns of livestock and big fields of wheat or corn to make the cost of equipment make sense. Clarkson buys every gadget he finds to allegedly save himself physical labour but half of them don’t work. Hovercraft sprayer? Nettle picker? 

Actual farming can make you a good living without working your ass off 24/7. 

Clarkson’s pig venture was a mess. Sows will squash their young if left to their own devices because they just will. Real hog farmers have farrowing crates to save the piglets from getting crushed. When it got unseasonably cold, he should have put heaters in the pigloos. I’m actually stunned that he didn’t lose any piglets to forest predators (yes, they were fenced in, but that doesn’t stop hawks or raccoons or weasels).

The nettle soup should have been packaged frozen to increase shelf life. And she should have had a crockpot of it in the shop so that the delicious aroma would attract shoppers and then she could give them a little sample to try. Would have sold them easily.

We get a good laugh watching this show because he’s amusingly inept. It’s called Clarkson’s Farm, not Clarkson the Farmer after all.

He doesn't  purport to be a farmer though, and I thought  we were  supposed  to laugh, we sure did.

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Shermie

Shermie

8 hours ago, dancingdreamer said:

He doesn't  purport to be a farmer though, and I thought  we were  supposed  to laugh, we sure did.

I know that, which is what I said in my post. I was responding to another poster who said that the show lets us know just how hard farming is. And I pointed out that Clarkson makes it much harder and less profitable than it needs to be.

Good thing he has lots of spare cash kicking around to waste on all his crazy ideas.

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dancingdreamer

dancingdreamer

5 minutes ago, Shermie said:

I know that, which is what I said in my post. I was responding to another poster who said that the show lets us know just how hard farming is. And I pointed out that Clarkson makes it much harder and less profitable than it needs to be.

Good thing he has lots of spare cash kicking around to waste on all his crazy ideas.

I said that, about farming. My husband  grew up on a farm, without all the new equipment  they have now. Farmers have always  been at the mercy of the weather,  that hasn't  changed.  I just love his crazy ideas, that's what keeps  us watching,  that and Kaleb schooling him.

Anyway,  looking  forward to season 4! 

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pasdetrois

pasdetrois

On 5/13/2024 at 10:08 PM, Shermie said:

Instead of focusing on 3 or 4 things and learning to farm them well, he constantly dives head first into every hare-brained idea that enters his head. 

One can do that with deep pockets. I suppose the farm is generating income in that Clarkson gets paid handsomely to do the show. I hope the other characters are getting paid.

I just discovered this and started watching Season 1. Never heard of Clarkson but am enjoying it. It is very relaxing.

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pasdetrois

pasdetrois

We finished the three seasons. Despite his ability to lay on the charm, it's clear Clarkson and his gang are immensely entitled. He was determined to pretend he is a guileless new farmer, blundering along innocently, but he was performing for the show. Some of the latter scenes were clearly staged.

He chose to dirty up the area with porta-potties and the traffic and noise and crowds and muddy car parks. His massive machines - 15 to 20 of them? - don't help. I absolutely agree with the planning commission that he built the "lamb barn" with the intention of turning it into a restaurant. His spoiled partner defiantly jamming the farm shop with unauthorized products is loathsome. Neither of them needs the income; they could have approached this in a way that's better for that beautiful community.

Let's hope this fool and his money are eventually parted.

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