Clarkson’s Farm

[TheDeuce]

the-norseman said:

Just finished season 3 and enjoyed it. Bit of a tear jerker at the end, Gerald thanking them all for looking after him.

For me, having worked in TV and Films for 20 years, it was that he broke the fourth wall rule and directly acknowledged the crew.

I can assure you he would have been coached not to do that ahead of being put on TV, and also can assure you that there's an inordinate amount of time between filming where the crew and those being filmed are stalled and do tend to spend time together and bring each other drinks, tell stories etc. he obviously chose to take his moment and say his words to all those around him, over and above silly TV rules. That's lovely, and it's a mark of anything Clarkson and Wilman is involved in to allow and share such moments.

It's the little bits of unplanned realism that make amazing TV, which is something Clarksons Farm delivers endlessly.

Very touching from Gerald

[the-norseman]

Yeh I realised that, I have been around a little bit of filming TV , most recently an episode of Car SOS, they obviously chose to not to edit that bit out as it was from the heart.

[Cupid-stunt]

croyde said:

I was chatting to a very attractive Lithuanian lady at work who said it was a great programme so, in order to have more to talk about next time I would see her,

Edited by croyde on Thursday 6th June 21:29

is she now charmed by your observations of farm life?

[croyde]

Cupid-stunt said:

is she now charmed by your observations of farm life?

Sadly, for me, she's married with kids.

[RizzoTheRat]

TheDeuce said:

For me, having worked in TV and Films for 20 years, it was that he broke the fourth wall rule and directly acknowledged the crew.

They acknowledge the crew a fair bit, they've had them doing of bits of work occasionally.

[FiF]

Sorry for being behind the times but only just watched episode 4.

Wtaf were the council thinking of with regards to the shop, justifying a very small car park on the grounds that customers only needed 5 minutes to park, go to shop, browse, and another 5 minutes to choose, pay, and leave.

[Dave200]

FiF said:

Sorry for being behind the times but only just watched episode 4.

Wtaf were the council thinking of with regards to the shop, justifying a very small car park on the grounds that customers only needed 5 minutes to park, go to shop, browse, and another 5 minutes to choose, pay, and leave.

Were it a normal farm shop, this would be fairly close to the truth in my experience. Instead it's a "farm shop" which attracts a load of weirdos who want to queue up for 45 minutes just to browse a fairly mediocre shop in the hope that they catch a glimpse of the back of Caleb's head.

Asking the council to make allowances for the latter is wildly outside of the norm of what they deal with (or want) in a quiet rural hamlet, so hardly surprising that they said no.

[bloomen]

Dave200 said:

Were it a normal farm shop, this would be fairly close to the truth in my experience. Instead it's a "farm shop" which attracts a load of weirdos who want to queue up for 45 minutes just to browse a fairly mediocre shop in the hope that they catch a glimpse of the back of Caleb's head.

Asking the council to make allowances for the latter is wildly outside of the norm of what they deal with (or want) in a quiet rural hamlet, so hardly surprising that they said no.

You could earn yourself some Twitter death threats with that attitude.

Pretty funny reading the Tripadvisor reviews. It sounds like an overwhelmingly pointless trip with a large dollop of incredible hassle.

On a good day there'll be a few pots of this and that and everything else has to be bought online. And definitely no sign of the stars.

[popeyewhite]

Dave200 said:

Were it a normal farm shop, this would be fairly close to the truth

15 or 20 would be reasonable. 5 is pathetic, 45 generous. Most seem to use the farm shop near me as a meeting place and stay a couple of hours.

[FiF]

Dave200 said:

FiF said:

Sorry for being behind the times but only just watched episode 4.

Wtaf were the council thinking of with regards to the shop, justifying a very small car park on the grounds that customers only needed 5 minutes to park, go to shop, browse, and another 5 minutes to choose, pay, and leave.

Were it a normal farm shop, this would be fairly close to the truth in my experience. Instead it's a "farm shop" which attracts a load of weirdos who want to queue up for 45 minutes just to browse a fairly mediocre shop in the hope that they catch a glimpse of the back of Caleb's head.

Asking the council to make allowances for the latter is wildly outside of the norm of what they deal with (or want) in a quiet rural hamlet, so hardly surprising that they said no.

If those conditions were imposed on our farm shop that would be tantamount to declaring war. People can spend 10 minutes just discussing the weekend joint prep with the butcher, never mind the browsing. Then go for a coffee, cake and a bit of a sit down.

If you actually believe that it's a reasonable factor for refusal is that it's indirectly connected to whose shop it is plus the comments about people should go to other farm shops then frankly it supports the view that it's not the council don't want a farm shop per se, but that they don't want JC to have a farm shop. Ref Cheerful Charlie's observation in season 1.

Council, can think of another word beginning with C.

[Dave200]

bloomen said:

Dave200 said:

Were it a normal farm shop, this would be fairly close to the truth in my experience. Instead it's a "farm shop" which attracts a load of weirdos who want to queue up for 45 minutes just to browse a fairly mediocre shop in the hope that they catch a glimpse of the back of Caleb's head.

Asking the council to make allowances for the latter is wildly outside of the norm of what they deal with (or want) in a quiet rural hamlet, so hardly surprising that they said no.

You could earn yourself some Twitter death threats with that attitude.

Pretty funny reading the Tripadvisor reviews. It sounds like an overwhelmingly pointless trip with a large dollop of incredible hassle.

On a good day there'll be a few pots of this and that and everything else has to be bought online. And definitely no sign of the stars.

I can't imagine the combination of boredom and celeb adulation that would lead me to visit the farm shop, and that's said as someone who really enjoyed the series.

[98elise]

Dave200 said:

FiF said:

Sorry for being behind the times but only just watched episode 4.

Wtaf were the council thinking of with regards to the shop, justifying a very small car park on the grounds that customers only needed 5 minutes to park, go to shop, browse, and another 5 minutes to choose, pay, and leave.

Were it a normal farm shop, this would be fairly close to the truth in my experience. Instead it's a "farm shop" which attracts a load of weirdos who want to queue up for 45 minutes just to browse a fairly mediocre shop in the hope that they catch a glimpse of the back of Caleb's head.

Asking the council to make allowances for the latter is wildly outside of the norm of what they deal with (or want) in a quiet rural hamlet, so hardly surprising that they said no.

I really don’t get the attraction. If I was passing (literally) and it wasn’t busy I'd pop in for 5 minutes. There's no way I'd specifically visit or queue for anything.

[TheDeuce]

Dave200 said:

FiF said:

Sorry for being behind the times but only just watched episode 4.

Wtaf were the council thinking of with regards to the shop, justifying a very small car park on the grounds that customers only needed 5 minutes to park, go to shop, browse, and another 5 minutes to choose, pay, and leave.

Were it a normal farm shop, this would be fairly close to the truth in my experience. Instead it's a "farm shop" which attracts a load of weirdos who want to queue up for 45 minutes just to browse a fairly mediocre shop in the hope that they catch a glimpse of the back of Caleb's head.

Asking the council to make allowances for the latter is wildly outside of the norm of what they deal with (or want) in a quiet rural hamlet, so hardly surprising that they said no.

However... In terms of principle either a farm shop and car park is ok, or it isn't. The fact some farm shops might become particularly busy, for whatever reason, is just part of the chaos of a complex world. In other words, st happens.

And it's "good news!" for other farmers too, the highly public spat with the local council has affected a change to permitted development laws for farms: https://www.homebuilding.co.uk/news/jeremy-clarkso...

I imagine the filmed meeting with Rishi at No10 was a result of interest from the planning secretary that has ultimately resulted in the rule change - and Clarksons local council being advised to kindly fk off, hence the farm winning the appeal which now allows them everything they wanted, restaurant and car park included.

Hopefully his next programme will be about the NHS, force some common sense into that clusterfk too!

[TheDeuce]

Dave200 said:

bloomen said:

Dave200 said:

Were it a normal farm shop, this would be fairly close to the truth in my experience. Instead it's a "farm shop" which attracts a load of weirdos who want to queue up for 45 minutes just to browse a fairly mediocre shop in the hope that they catch a glimpse of the back of Caleb's head.

Asking the council to make allowances for the latter is wildly outside of the norm of what they deal with (or want) in a quiet rural hamlet, so hardly surprising that they said no.

You could earn yourself some Twitter death threats with that attitude.

Pretty funny reading the Tripadvisor reviews. It sounds like an overwhelmingly pointless trip with a large dollop of incredible hassle.

On a good day there'll be a few pots of this and that and everything else has to be bought online. And definitely no sign of the stars.

I can't imagine the combination of boredom and celeb adulation that would lead me to visit the farm shop, and that's said as someone who really enjoyed the series.

Nor me, I avoid the weirdness of flocking to celebrity.

But clearly millions are obsessed with such pilgrimage.

[FiF]

Dave200 said:

I can't imagine the combination of boredom and celeb adulation that would lead me to visit the farm shop, and that's said as someone who really enjoyed the series.

With a regular drive down the A44 heading towards let's say Wallingford area can't even think the mile or so diversion would even be up for consideration, personally. Doesn't make the council view correct or reasonable.

[Dave200]

FiF said:

Dave200 said:

I can't imagine the combination of boredom and celeb adulation that would lead me to visit the farm shop, and that's said as someone who really enjoyed the series.

With a regular drive down the A44 heading towards let's say Wallingford area can't even think the mile or so diversion would even be up for consideration, personally. Doesn't make the council view correct or reasonable.

But the council planning process for a small farm shop and food truck (which is what it fundamentally is) doesn't make allowances for major tourist attractions. I suspect they are asking for several multiples of the space and amenities that similar farm shops have asked for or required. It's like trying to force a square peg into the rigid, round hole of local council planning.

[TheDeuce]

Dave200 said:

FiF said:

Dave200 said:

I can't imagine the combination of boredom and celeb adulation that would lead me to visit the farm shop, and that's said as someone who really enjoyed the series.

With a regular drive down the A44 heading towards let's say Wallingford area can't even think the mile or so diversion would even be up for consideration, personally. Doesn't make the council view correct or reasonable.

But the council planning process for a small farm shop and food truck (which is what it fundamentally is) doesn't make allowances for major tourist attractions. I suspect they are asking for several multiples of the space and amenities that similar farm shops have asked for or required. It's like trying to force a square peg into the rigid, round hole of local council planning.

Indeed. And now the square peg has won, and the round hole has been reshaped to fit it.

[Dave200]

TheDeuce said:

Dave200 said:

FiF said:

Dave200 said:

I can't imagine the combination of boredom and celeb adulation that would lead me to visit the farm shop, and that's said as someone who really enjoyed the series.

With a regular drive down the A44 heading towards let's say Wallingford area can't even think the mile or so diversion would even be up for consideration, personally. Doesn't make the council view correct or reasonable.

But the council planning process for a small farm shop and food truck (which is what it fundamentally is) doesn't make allowances for major tourist attractions. I suspect they are asking for several multiples of the space and amenities that similar farm shops have asked for or required. It's like trying to force a square peg into the rigid, round hole of local council planning.

Indeed. And now the square peg has won, and the round hole has been reshaped to fit it.

Which was absolutely the right result in the end, but it's quite easy to see why the original request was denied.

[TheDeuce]

Dave200 said:

TheDeuce said:

Dave200 said:

FiF said:

Dave200 said:

I can't imagine the combination of boredom and celeb adulation that would lead me to visit the farm shop, and that's said as someone who really enjoyed the series.

With a regular drive down the A44 heading towards let's say Wallingford area can't even think the mile or so diversion would even be up for consideration, personally. Doesn't make the council view correct or reasonable.

But the council planning process for a small farm shop and food truck (which is what it fundamentally is) doesn't make allowances for major tourist attractions. I suspect they are asking for several multiples of the space and amenities that similar farm shops have asked for or required. It's like trying to force a square peg into the rigid, round hole of local council planning.

Indeed. And now the square peg has won, and the round hole has been reshaped to fit it.

Which was absolutely the right result in the end, but it's quite easy to see why the original request was denied.

I agree, I can see why it was denied initially, based on the system and habits in place. But I also think that it's poor of councillors to have taken such stance and to not have taken into account the wider issues. It's not impossible to imagine an alternative universe where a councillor realised the potential positive impact on the local area, the wider industry and how planning is judged, and could have made it a pilot scheme.

The end result is the same either way, the only difference is that the council now look like a bunch of ineffective, short sighted, miserable, melts.

[Mont Blanc]

TheDeuce said:

Dave200 said:

I can't imagine the combination of boredom and celeb adulation that would lead me to visit the farm shop, and that's said as someone who really enjoyed the series.

Nor me, I avoid the weirdness of flocking to celebrity.

But clearly millions are obsessed with such pilgrimage.

I don't get it either. Not in the slightest.

I drove past about a year ago, as I was on my way to nearby Churchill. It was exactly as you would expect. A very long queue of Subaru jackets and Zafira VXR owners, all waiting to hand over £48 for a hoodie and £19 for a carrier bag.

I very much like JC and I think Clarkson's Farm is one of the best things on TV, but I cannot imagine what the appeal is in attempting to meet him, get an autograph, or buy anything from his shop.

But clearly I'm autistic or something, as I've never once seen the appeal of attempting to meet any celebrity, ever. But millions clearly do, so it's probably me who is weird.