128-651: Invergordon ( / ˌ ɪ n v ər ˈ ɡ ɔːr d ən / ; Scottish Gaelic : Inbhir Ghòrdain or An Rubha ) is a town and port in Easter Ross , in Ross and Cromarty , Highland , Scotland. It lies in the parish of Rosskeen . The town built up around the harbour which was established in 1828. The area became a police burgh in 1863 and Invergordon Town Hall was completed in 1871. The Invergordon Grain Distillery, operated by Philippines-owned whisky giant Whyte & Mackay ,
256-442: A 19% fall in bilingual speakers between the 1911 and 1921 Censuses. Michelle MacLeod of Aberdeen University has said that there was no other period with such a high fall in the number of monolingual Gaelic speakers: "Gaelic speakers became increasingly the exception from that point forward with bilingualism replacing monolingualism as the norm for Gaelic speakers." The Linguistic Survey of Scotland (1949–1997) surveyed both
384-515: A central feature of court life there. The semi-independent Lordship of the Isles in the Hebrides and western coastal mainland remained thoroughly Gaelic since the language's recovery there in the 12th century, providing a political foundation for cultural prestige down to the end of the 15th century. By the mid-14th century what eventually came to be called Scots (at that time termed Inglis ) emerged as
512-411: A challenge in which the presenters have to purchase a class of a vehicle and see which is the best through a series of tests given through text messages from the show's producer. Alongside these episodes, the programme's format between 2016 and 2019 also included special episodes in similar format to Top Gear specials , focused on the presenters on journeys in a specific type of vehicle or class all over
640-805: A challenge to revitalization efforts which occur outside the home. Positive engagements between language learners and native speakers of Gaelic through mentorship has proven to be productive in socializing new learners into fluency. In the 2022 census, 3,551 people claimed Gaelic as their 'main language.' Of these, 1,761 (49.6%) were in Na h-Eileanan Siar, 682 (19.2%) were in Highland, 369 were in Glasgow City and 120 were in City of Edinburgh; no other council area had as many as 80 such respondents. Gaelic has long suffered from its lack of use in educational and administrative contexts and
768-480: A deal with Amazon to develop a new car show that followed a similar format as Top Gear , with both Hammond and May joining him as co-hosts, and Wilman producing. Other personnel from Top Gear going to the new show included director Phil Churchward, the husband of Fifth Gear ' s Vicki Butler-Henderson . The deal included 36 episodes across three series which would be available to Amazon Prime members starting in 2016. Wilman stated that Amazon promised them to have
896-506: A discussion period on various topics within a segment entitled "Conversation Street", which had a running gag of opening with an intro of the presenters in silhouette doing something comedic and/or unusual. Celebrities were not initially part of the programme to begin with, due to concerns over legal issues that the BBC could raise if it competed against the celebrity format used in Top Gear . As such,
1024-702: A distinct spoken language sometime in the 13th century in the Middle Irish period, although a common literary language was shared by the Gaels of both Ireland and Scotland until well into the 17th century. Most of modern Scotland was once Gaelic-speaking, as evidenced especially by Gaelic-language place names. In the 2011 census of Scotland , 57,375 people (1.1% of the Scottish population aged over three years old) reported being able to speak Gaelic, 1,275 fewer than in 2001. The highest percentages of Gaelic speakers were in
1152-672: A fixed tent location on the Great Tew Estate, near Chipping Norton. Two-hundred parking spaces already used for hosting the Cornbury Music Festival on the same site would be used to accommodate 350 guests per week, plus 80 members of staff. The time window allowed for the series 2 filming was between October and December 2017. For the third series, the tent was allowed to remain at the Great Tew Estate, with filming taking place between October and December 2018. Filming for
1280-504: A format similar to Top Gear , including car reviews and timed laps, motoring challenges and races, studio segments, and celebrity guests, with the team using a studio within a large tent during this time; in its first series, the tent was located at different locations across the globe before taking a fixed site within the Cotswolds . Segments and road trip specials have been filmed in various locations worldwide, including across Europe, Africa,
1408-540: A full range of language skills: speaking, understanding, reading and writing Gaelic. 40.2% of Scotland's Gaelic speakers said that they used Gaelic at home. To put this in context, the most common language spoken at home in Scotland after English and Scots is Polish, with about 1.1% of the population, or 54,000 people. The 2011 UK Census showed a total of 57,375 Gaelic speakers in Scotland (1.1% of population over three years old), of whom only 32,400 could also read and write
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#17328697637831536-577: A language ideology at odds with revitalization efforts on behalf of new speakers, state policies (such as the Gaelic Language Act), and family members reclaiming their lost mother tongue. New learners of Gaelic often have a positive affective stance to their language learning, and connect this learning journey towards Gaelic language revitalization. The mismatch of these language ideologies, and differences in affective stance, has led to fewer speaking opportunities for adult language learners and therefore
1664-537: A lot and they know it." According to insider information reported by The Daily Mirror , Amazon paid £160 million for all three series. Wilman denied the show cost this much, but did admit the show was costly, partially due to Amazon's intent to have it filmed in 4K resolutions . The production of this show would be based in the United Kingdom, and done by W Chump & Sons, a company set up by Wilman, Clarkson, Hammond and May. The show's name, The Grand Tour ,
1792-786: A national centre for Gaelic Language and Culture, based in Sleat , on the Isle of Skye . This institution is the only source for higher education which is conducted entirely in Scottish Gaelic. They offer courses for Gaelic learners from beginners into fluency. They also offer regular bachelors and graduate programs delivered entirely in Gaelic. Concerns have been raised around the fluency achieved by learners within these language programs because they are disconnected from vernacular speech communities. In regard to language revitalization planning efforts, many feel that
1920-519: A new nickname for May – "Dingleberry Handpump" – failed to raise a titter even among the super-fans gathered for the London premiere" but also said that "for each wobble, there are just as many moments when The Grand Tour manages the clever trick Top Gear could pull off at its best: raising a chuckle while sneaking in a bit of serious journalism at the same time." and ultimately gave the episode 3 out of 5 stars. Jeremy Clarkson himself believed that they had "hit
2048-502: A potential American broadcaster, as the terms of Clarkson's non-compete clause with the BBC stipulated he could not make a rival car show with a BBC competitor, such as ITV . Among those that had been approached included Netflix , who felt Clarkson's team wanted too much money for what they were worth, and BT Sport , believing this show would be a better fit on a network with a more global reach. In July 2015, Clarkson announced he had signed
2176-600: A proportion of Gaelic speakers greater than 65% (the highest value is in Barvas , Lewis , with 64.1%). In addition, no civil parish on mainland Scotland has a proportion of Gaelic speakers greater than 20% (the highest is in Ardnamurchan , Highland , with 19.3%). Out of a total of 871 civil parishes in Scotland, the proportion of Gaelic speakers exceeds 50% in seven parishes, 25% in 14 parishes, and 10% in 35 parishes. Decline in traditional areas has recently been balanced by growth in
2304-400: A second track for the specific purpose of being used in the newly created celebrity segment "Celebrity Face Off". They eventually decided to situate the new track at Enstone Airfield , close to the fixed studio tent location - a site originally planned for use with Top Gear . The track was mostly designed as an oval, with half of it involving a gravel track. The track was dropped from use in
2432-532: A selection of artists tells the stories of the local community and the area. This trail is a result of a community project which was initially designed to integrate local community groups (17 in total took part). The trail, which was opened by the Princess Royal , now acts as a major tourist draw. The town is served by Invergordon railway station which lies on the Far North Line , and is in close proximity to
2560-414: A show that feels like it's finding its feet." The Times was also positive, giving the show 4 out of 5 stars, stating "Some parts of the show are flat but mostly it works, the production values remain high and it has clearly been hit with a juggernaut of money." The Daily Telegraph , while not as positive, still approved of the episode, stating "The writing is still rather ropey. Clarkson's suggestion of
2688-536: A situation where new learners struggle to find opportunities to speak Gaelic with fluent speakers. Affect is the way people feel about something, or the emotional response to a particular situation or experience. For Gaelic speakers, there is a conditioned and socialized negative affect through a long history of negative Scottish media portrayal and public disrespect, state mandated restrictions on Gaelic usage, and highland clearances . This negative affect towards speaking openly with non-native Gaelic speakers has led to
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#17328697637832816-605: A translation of the New Testament. In 1798, four tracts in Gaelic were published by the Society for Propagating the Gospel at Home, with 5,000 copies of each printed. Other publications followed, with a full Gaelic Bible in 1801. The influential and effective Gaelic Schools Society was founded in 1811. Their purpose was to teach Gaels to read the Bible in their own language. In the first quarter of
2944-483: A year due to the pandemic. The final episode featuring Clarkson, Hammond and May was filmed in September 2023. Following the public naming of the show, Amazon offered new customers a £20 discount for their first year on Amazon Prime during 14–16 May 2016. A trailer announcing the release date of the show as 18 November 2016 was posted on the show's YouTube channel on 15 September 2016. A second, full-length trailer,
3072-432: Is a British motoring television series, created by Jeremy Clarkson , Richard Hammond , James May , and Andy Wilman , for Amazon Prime Video , and premiered on 18 November 2016. The programme was devised in the wake of the departure of Clarkson, Hammond, May, and Wilman from the BBC television series Top Gear with an initial order of 36 episodes that were released over three years. The show initially followed
3200-490: Is a significant step forward for the recognition of Gaelic both at home and abroad and I look forward to addressing the council in Gaelic very soon. Seeing Gaelic spoken in such a forum raises the profile of the language as we drive forward our commitment to creating a new generation of Gaelic speakers in Scotland." Bilingual road signs, street names, business and advertisement signage (in both Gaelic and English) are gradually being introduced throughout Gaelic-speaking regions in
3328-607: Is classed as an indigenous language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages , which the UK Government has ratified, and the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 established a language-development body, Bòrd na Gàidhlig . The Scottish Parliament is considering a Scottish Languages Bill which proposes to give the Gaelic and Scots languages official status in Scotland. Aside from "Scottish Gaelic",
3456-411: Is no evidence that Gaelic was ever widely spoken. Many historians mark the reign of King Malcolm Canmore ( Malcolm III ) between 1058 and 1093 as the beginning of Gaelic's eclipse in Scotland. His wife Margaret of Wessex spoke no Gaelic, gave her children Anglo-Saxon rather than Gaelic names, and brought many English bishops, priests, and monastics to Scotland. When Malcolm and Margaret died in 1093,
3584-407: Is no irony. It feels uncomfortably hubristic" but once the presenters were in the tent "Normal service has been resumed" and that "It seemed to me that Grand Tour is a TV show that wants to be – and quite possibly should be – a movie". The Independent described The Grand Tour as "the best of Top Gear but with a greater budget". TheWrap reported an estimate by Symphony Advanced Media that
3712-514: Is often skewed away from the cars as the presenters, namely Clarkson, seemed to chase controversy and headlines". Anderson continues that in-studio segments became repetitive quickly, particularly "Celebrity Brain Crash", also noting that all three hosts seem to spend far too much time needling each other, and test driver Mike Skinner offers no worthwhile commentary. Digital Spy was positive of series 2, episode 1, calling it "An understated premiere for
3840-695: The A9 trunk road. As of 2012, there is a controversial scheme for a waste incinerator at the Cromarty Firth Industrial Park in Invergordon, which the Scottish government are now reviewing following protests by the local community. The £43 million plant would be built by Combined Power and Heat (Highlands) Ltd. Invergordon has one secondary school, Invergordon Academy, which is fed by four primary schools, Newmore Primary School, Park Primary School, South Lodge Primary School and Milton Primary School. In 2013
3968-596: The Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. Remains of the naval base are evidenced in the tank farm lying behind the town centre; the port used to contain fuel oil and water supplies for naval ships (see Inchindown oil tanks ). One German bomb hit one of the tanks during the Second World War when a large flying boat base occupied much of the northerly coast of the Cromarty Firth . The naval base closed in 1956 (though
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4096-660: The NC500 . Scottish Gaelic language Scottish Gaelic ( / ˈ ɡ æ l ɪ k / , GAL -ik ; endonym : Gàidhlig [ˈkaːlɪkʲ] ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic , is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family ) native to the Gaels of Scotland . As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as both Irish and Manx , developed out of Old Irish . It became
4224-548: The Outer Hebrides , accommodation ethics exist amongst native or local Gaelic speakers when engaging with new learners or non-locals. Accommodation ethics, or ethics of accommodation, is a social practice where local or native speakers of Gaelic shift to speaking English when in the presence of non-Gaelic speakers out of a sense of courtesy or politeness. This accommodation ethic persists even in situations where new learners attempt to speak Gaelic with native speakers. This creates
4352-426: The Outer Hebrides . Nevertheless, there is a language revival , and the number of speakers of the language under age 20 did not decrease between the 2001 and 2011 censuses. In the 2022 census of Scotland , it was found that 2.5% of the Scottish population had some skills in Gaelic, or 130,161 persons. Of these, 69,701 people reported speaking the language, with a further 46,404 people reporting that they understood
4480-659: The Scottish Lowlands . Between the 2001 and 2011 censuses, the number of Gaelic speakers rose in nineteen of the country's 32 council areas. The largest absolute gains were in Aberdeenshire (+526), North Lanarkshire (+305), the Aberdeen City council area (+216), and East Ayrshire (+208). The largest relative gains were in Aberdeenshire (+0.19%), East Ayrshire (+0.18%), Moray (+0.16%), and Orkney (+0.13%). In 2018,
4608-466: The Top Gear Test Track, called the "Eboladrome". The track is not only used for reviews, but also for conducting timed laps of vehicles that are reviewed, except for ten cars which were timed outside of filming before the launch of the first series. Timed laps are conducted by a professional driver assigned to the programme - while the first series involved former NASCAR driver Mike Skinner , who
4736-454: The United States . On 15 January 2019, Amazon Game Studios released a companion video game for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One , to coincide with the third series of the programme, entitled The Grand Tour Game . Designed as an episodic, casual racing game , players take on a series of challenges based upon those from the series and using the same cars involved - for each new episode of
4864-759: The significant increase in pupils in Gaelic-medium education since that time is unknown. Gaelic Medium Education is one of the primary ways that the Scottish Government is addressing Gaelic language shift. Along with the Bòrd na Gàidhlig policies, preschool and daycare environments are also being used to create more opportunities for intergenerational language transmission in the Outer Hebrides. However, revitalization efforts are not unified within Scotland or Nova Scotia, Canada. One can attend Sabhal Mòr Ostaig ,
4992-587: The 19th century, the SSPCK (despite their anti-Gaelic attitude in prior years) and the British and Foreign Bible Society distributed 60,000 Gaelic Bibles and 80,000 New Testaments. It is estimated that this overall schooling and publishing effort gave about 300,000 people in the Highlands some basic literacy. Very few European languages have made the transition to a modern literary language without an early modern translation of
5120-404: The 2011 Census. The 2011 total population figure comes from table KS101SC. The numbers of Gaelic speakers relate to the numbers aged 3 and over, and the percentages are calculated using those and the number of the total population aged 3 and over. Across the whole of Scotland, the 2011 census showed that 25,000 people (0.49% of the population) used Gaelic at home. Of these, 63.3% said that they had
5248-544: The Americas, and Asia. After the conclusion of the third series, the production team switched out of this format, and towards a focus on producing special motoring films for future series, with individual episodes released at select intervals. The final episode featuring Clarkson, Hammond, and May as presenters was released on 13 September 2024, ending the 22-year-long partnership between the trio. The Grand Tour has received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for
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5376-480: The BBC in their dust". On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes , the first series of The Grand Tour has a "fresh" rating of 86%, based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 8.0/10. The Grand Tour received a nomination in the Original OTT Streamed category at the 2017 Television and Radio Industries Club Awards. However, BBC Arts Editor, Will Gompertz said of the opening that "there
5504-559: The Bible; the lack of a well known translation may have contributed to the decline of Scottish Gaelic. Counterintuitively, access to schooling in Gaelic increased knowledge of English. In 1829, the Gaelic Schools Society reported that parents were unconcerned about their children learning Gaelic, but were anxious to have them taught English. The SSPCK also found Highlanders to have significant prejudice against Gaelic. T. M. Devine attributes this to an association between English and
5632-588: The EU's institutions. The Scottish government had to pay for the translation from Gaelic to other European languages . The deal was received positively in Scotland; Secretary of State for Scotland Jim Murphy said the move was a strong sign of the UK government's support for Gaelic. He said; "Allowing Gaelic speakers to communicate with European institutions in their mother tongue is a progressive step forward and one which should be welcomed". Culture Minister Mike Russell said; "this
5760-538: The Forth–Clyde line and along the northeastern coastal plain as far north as Moray. Norman French completely displaced Gaelic at court. The establishment of royal burghs throughout the same area, particularly under David I , attracted large numbers of foreigners speaking Old English. This was the beginning of Gaelic's status as a predominantly rural language in Scotland. Clan chiefs in the northern and western parts of Scotland continued to support Gaelic bards who remained
5888-652: The Gaelic Act falls so far short of the status accorded to Welsh that one would be foolish or naïve to believe that any substantial change will occur in the fortunes of the language as a result of Bòrd na Gàidhlig 's efforts. On 10 December 2008, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights , the Scottish Human Rights Commission had the UDHR translated into Gaelic for
6016-744: The Gaelic aristocracy rejected their anglicised sons and instead backed Malcolm's brother Domnall Bán ( Donald III ). Donald had spent 17 years in Gaelic Ireland and his power base was in the thoroughly Gaelic west of Scotland. He was the last Scottish monarch to be buried on Iona , the traditional burial place of the Gaelic Kings of Dàl Riada and the Kingdom of Alba. However, during the reigns of Malcolm Canmore's sons, Edgar, Alexander I and David I (their successive reigns lasting 1097–1153), Anglo-Norman names and practices spread throughout Scotland south of
6144-561: The Highland Council announced plans for a new "super school" to serve Ross-shire with the preferred option being that it be built in Invergordon. This has seen much protest by locals and is currently under review. If it went ahead Alness and Tain academies would close and there would also be a change to the local primary schools. In Season 3 of Amazon Prime motoring series The Grand Tour , Jeremy Clarkson , James May and Richard Hammond visited Invergordon as part of their journey along
6272-601: The Highland and Island region. In 1616, the Privy Council proclaimed that schools teaching in English should be established. Gaelic was seen, at this time, as one of the causes of the instability of the region. It was also associated with Catholicism. The Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SSPCK) was founded in 1709. They met in 1716, immediately after the failed Jacobite rising of 1715 , to consider
6400-416: The Highlands and Islands, including Argyll. In many cases, this has simply meant re-adopting the traditional spelling of a name (such as Ràtagan or Loch Ailleart rather than the anglicised forms Ratagan or Lochailort respectively). Some monolingual Gaelic road signs, particularly direction signs, are used on the Outer Hebrides , where a majority of the population can have a working knowledge of
6528-503: The Indian audience. The footage showed a car with a body frame that was made of a cow's bones and organs; removal of the footage resulted in a significant reduction in the length of an episode. During the first series, the studio segments were filmed in various locations around the world. Studio recording for the first series began in Johannesburg , South Africa on 17 July 2016. Recording in
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#17328697637836656-695: The Inner Hebridean dialects of Tiree and Islay, and even a few native speakers from Western Highland areas including Wester Ross , northwest Sutherland , Lochaber and Argyll . Dialects on both sides of the Straits of Moyle (the North Channel ) linking Scottish Gaelic with Irish are now extinct, though native speakers were still to be found on the Mull of Kintyre , on Rathlin and in North East Ireland as late as
6784-583: The Oil Fuel Depot was retained in service until 1991). On 27–28 May 1957 the Royal Navy held a fleet review in the waters off the town. Since 1978, the former naval base has been used as a deep water port which has been visited by many large cruise liners and allows disembarkation for coach tours in the northern Highlands . In the summer of 2017, the port was visited by the new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth during her sea trials. On 19 June 2021
6912-591: The UK Government as Welsh . With the advent of devolution , however, Scottish matters have begun to receive greater attention, and it achieved a degree of official recognition when the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act was enacted by the Scottish Parliament on 21 April 2005. The key provisions of the Act are: After its creation, Bòrd na Gàidhlig required a Gaelic Language Plan from the Scottish Government. This plan
7040-755: The United States took place on 25 September 2016 in Southern California , with further recording taking place in Nashville on 21 November 2016. Studio recording in the United Kingdom took place in Whitby on 13 October 2016, with further recordings taking place at Loch Ness in December 2016. Further studio recording took place in Rotterdam on 22 October 2016 and Lapland on 3 November 2016. Stuttgart ( Ludwigsburg )
7168-800: The Western Isles (−1,745), Argyll & Bute (−694), and Highland (−634). The drop in Stornoway , the largest parish in the Western Isles by population, was especially acute, from 57.5% of the population in 1991 to 43.4% in 2011. The only parish outside the Western Isles over 40% Gaelic-speaking is Kilmuir in Northern Skye at 46%. The islands in the Inner Hebrides with significant percentages of Gaelic speakers are Tiree (38.3%), Raasay (30.4%), Skye (29.4%), Lismore (26.9%), Colonsay (20.2%), and Islay (19.0%). Today, no civil parish in Scotland has
7296-589: The Western Isles. The Scottish Qualifications Authority offer two streams of Gaelic examination across all levels of the syllabus: Gaelic for learners (equivalent to the modern foreign languages syllabus) and Gaelic for native speakers (equivalent to the English syllabus). An Comunn Gàidhealach performs assessment of spoken Gaelic, resulting in the issue of a Bronze Card, Silver Card or Gold Card. Syllabus details are available on An Comunn's website. These are not widely recognised as qualifications, but are required for those taking part in certain competitions at
7424-408: The annual mods . In October 2009, a new agreement allowed Scottish Gaelic to be formally used between Scottish Government ministers and European Union officials. The deal was signed by Britain's representative to the EU, Sir Kim Darroch , and the Scottish government . This did not give Scottish Gaelic official status in the EU but gave it the right to be a means of formal communications in
7552-413: The bill be strengthened, a revised bill was published; the main alteration was that the guidance of the Bòrd is now statutory (rather than advisory). In the committee stages in the Scottish Parliament, there was much debate over whether Gaelic should be given 'equal validity' with English. Due to executive concerns about resourcing implications if this wording was used, the Education Committee settled on
7680-625: The census of pupils in Scotland showed 520 students in publicly funded schools had Gaelic as the main language at home, an increase of 5% from 497 in 2014. During the same period, Gaelic medium education in Scotland has grown, with 4,343 pupils (6.3 per 1000) being educated in a Gaelic-immersion environment in 2018, up from 3,583 pupils (5.3 per 1000) in 2014. Data collected in 2007–2008 indicated that even among pupils enrolled in Gaelic medium schools, 81% of primary students and 74% of secondary students report using English more often than Gaelic when speaking with their mothers at home. The effect on this of
7808-404: The chemistry of its original presenters and strong production values. It is one of Prime Video's most viewed original series, setting viewership records with several of its episodes. It is also one of its most expensive series by production budget. A video game based on the programme, The Grand Tour Game , was released on 15 January 2019. Throughout the first three series of the programme,
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#17328697637837936-419: The cities and professors of Celtic from universities who sought to preserve the language. The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 provided universal education in Scotland, but completely ignored Gaelic in its plans. The mechanism for supporting Gaelic through the Education Codes issued by the Scottish Education Department were steadily used to overcome this omission, with many concessions in place by 1918. However,
8064-450: The concept of 'equal respect'. It is not clear what the legal force of this wording is. The Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament unanimously, with support from all sectors of the Scottish political spectrum, on 21 April 2005. Under the provisions of the Act, it will ultimately fall to BnG to secure the status of the Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland. Some commentators, such as Éamonn Ó Gribín (2006) argue that
8192-420: The creation of a dedicated test track for the purpose of being used for reviews of testing of vehicles by presenters, alongside the establishment of lap times by cars that are reviewed. The track was eventually sited at the former RAF Wroughton airbase, with its layout consisting of two loops - one large and one small - connected by a single stretch of tarmac between them and christened as the "Eboladrome", due to
8320-412: The crew admitting that the real reason for the nature of the segment was a last-minute panic. "Celebrity Brain Crash" was replaced in series two by "Celebrity Face Off" where two celebrities compete to be the fastest around a track, avoiding legal complications with the BBC. An episode was censored by Amazon Prime Video in India because it included footage that could have been construed as offensive by
8448-407: The design of the track resembling the structure of the Ebola virus . The track was designed to "trip cars up" and included sections devised under a humorous arrangement, such as "Isn't Straight", "Your Name Here", "Old Lady's House", "Substation" and "Field of Sheep". The track was dropped from use from the programme after the third series. For the second series, the production team decided to create
8576-444: The dialect of the Scottish Gaelic language, and also mixed use of English and Gaelic across the Highlands and Islands. Dialects of Lowland Gaelic have been defunct since the 18th century. Gaelic in the Eastern and Southern Scottish Highlands, although alive until the mid-20th century, is now largely defunct. Although modern Scottish Gaelic is dominated by the dialects of the Outer Hebrides and Isle of Skye, there remain some speakers of
8704-430: The early modern era . Prior to the 15th century, this language was known as Inglis ("English") by its own speakers, with Gaelic being called Scottis ("Scottish"). Beginning in the late 15th century, it became increasingly common for such speakers to refer to Scottish Gaelic as Erse ("Irish") and the Lowland vernacular as Scottis . Today, Scottish Gaelic is recognised as a separate language from Irish, so
8832-448: The early dating of the traditional accounts and arguing for other interpretations of the archaeological evidence. Regardless of how it came to be spoken in the region, Gaelic in Scotland was mostly confined to Dál Riata until the eighth century, when it began expanding into Pictish areas north of the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Clyde. During the reign of Caustantín mac Áeda (Constantine II, 900–943), outsiders began to refer to
8960-456: The eighth century. For the first time, the entire region of modern-day Scotland was called Scotia in Latin, and Gaelic was the lingua Scotica . In southern Scotland , Gaelic was strong in Galloway , adjoining areas to the north and west, West Lothian , and parts of western Midlothian . It was spoken to a lesser degree in north Ayrshire , Renfrewshire , the Clyde Valley and eastern Dumfriesshire . In south-eastern Scotland, there
9088-470: The final episode of the fifth series. In September 2023, filming for an eighth episode began in Zimbabwe , which concluded in Botswana . Titled "One for the Road", it was released on 13 September 2024 as the only episode of the sixth series. The episode marks the end of Clarkson, Hammond, and May's working collaboration after 22 years. Clarkson, Hammond and May had been presenters on BBC's Top Gear . In May and Clarkson's case they had served as part of
9216-634: The final episode of the fourth series. A fifth episode was originally scheduled to be filmed outside of the United Kingdom in mid-2021; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic , travel restrictions meant this could not happen until March 2022, when filming for the fifth episode began in Norway before travelling through Sweden and concluding in Finland . Titled "A Scandi Flick", it was released on 16 September 2022, as
9344-601: The first episode of the fifth series. In June 2022, filming for the sixth episode began in Poland before travelling through Czech Republic , Slovakia , Hungary and concluding in Slovenia . Titled "Eurocrash", it was released on 16 June 2023. In May 2023, filming for a seventh episode began in Mauritania and concluded in Senegal . Titled "Sand Job", it was released on 16 February 2024 as
9472-480: The first series with the Namibian special episodes on 29 November 2017 and L'Équipe (TV channel) broadcast episodes 1 and 13 on 15 January 2018. At the start of 2018, high-speed Eurostar train services between Paris or Brussels and London began to feature The Grand Tour as part of the available on board entertainment package. Starting September 14, 2024, The Grand Tour will be syndicated to local stations across
9600-545: The first time. However, given there are no longer any monolingual Gaelic speakers, following an appeal in the court case of Taylor v Haughney (1982), involving the status of Gaelic in judicial proceedings, the High Court ruled against a general right to use Gaelic in court proceedings. While the goal of the Gaelic Language Act was to aid in revitalization efforts through government mandated official language status,
9728-535: The format and regular segments. Named elements from Top Gear like The Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, the Cool Wall, and the Stig could not be used at all, but they also had to clear other legal concerns. For example, the lawyers said they could test cars on a test track, but they could not post the times using hand-written signs as they had done on Top Gear ; instead, they used a digital leaderboard. Wilman said that some of
9856-473: The format was focused on a similar arrangement to that of Top Gear , involving a mixture of pre-recording television films - a mixture of single or multi-part films - and live-audience studio segments, though for legal reasons it was designed with significant differences to avoid clashing with the BBC's motoring series. Films focused primarily on car review, motoring challenges, and road trip journeys, often in similar mould to those seen in Top Gear , such as
9984-768: The fourth series began in June 2019. Clarkson made the announcement on Instagram. By mid-June, filming had taken place in Cambodia. Later that month, Clarkson, Hammond, and May were spotted filming in Vietnam. Another fourth series special was shot in Madagascar around November 2019, though its post-production to a final product was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were plans to film in north Russia in March 2020, but those were delayed for at least
10112-460: The freedom they wanted to make the show how they wanted along with the necessary budget. Additionally, by using a subscription-based service over an advert-based network, they would not be beholden to commercial pressure from their advertisers. Jeff Bezos , CEO of Amazon, said he was "very excited" about bringing this programme to Amazon, and that producing the show would be "very, very, very expensive", but added, "[Clarkson, Hammond and May are] worth
10240-513: The gender balance of guests on the "Celebrity Face Off" segment during an episode, with Paris Hilton as the only female guest. The Grand Tour is released to viewers across more than 195 countries and territories. attracting favourable viewing figures since its premiere episode, Australian free-to-air network Seven Network started broadcasting the first series of The Grand Tour in mid-October 2017. Series 2 and 3 have not been broadcast. French channel RMC Découverte started broadcasting
10368-644: The ground running with series 2 of the Grand Tour". Richard Hammond was criticised by Stonewall and Peter Tatchell for a comment he made in the sixth episode of the first series where he implied that men who eat ice cream and people who like grilling outside are homosexual. It was later revealed that the comment may have been an in-joke for the Finnish audience as a reference to a controversial TV commercial that aired in Finland many years earlier. Radio Times criticised
10496-483: The highest-viewed factual television programme. Due to several incidents involving Clarkson , the BBC chose not to renew Clarkson's contract with the show in March 2015. Both May and Hammond affirmed they would not return to Top Gear without Clarkson, even though the BBC offered them lucrative salaries to remain on for additional series. Along with their departure, their long-time producer and Clarkson's classmate Andy Wilman also opted to leave at this time. BBC retooled
10624-479: The initiatives must come from within Gaelic speaking communities, be led by Gaelic speakers, and be designed to serve and increase fluency within the vernacular communities as the first and most viable resistance to total language shift from Gaelic to English. Currently, language policies are focused on creating new language speakers through education, instead of focused on how to strengthen intergenerational transmission within existing Gaelic speaking communities. In
10752-670: The language may also be referred to simply as "Gaelic", pronounced / ˈ ɡ æ l ɪ k / GAL -ik in English . However, "Gaelic" / ˈ ɡ eɪ l ɪ k / GAY -lik also refers to the Irish language ( Gaeilge ) and the Manx language ( Gaelg ). Scottish Gaelic is distinct from Scots , the Middle English -derived language which had come to be spoken in most of the Lowlands of Scotland by
10880-644: The language, but did not speak, read, or write in it. Outside of Scotland, a dialect known as Canadian Gaelic has been spoken in Canada since the 18th century. In the 2021 census , 2,170 Canadian residents claimed knowledge of Scottish Gaelic, a decline from 3,980 speakers in the 2016 census . There exists a particular concentration of speakers in Nova Scotia , with historic communities in other parts of North America , including North Carolina and Glengarry County, Ontario having largely disappeared. Scottish Gaelic
11008-495: The language. Compared with the 2001 Census, there has been a diminution of about 1300 people. This is the smallest drop between censuses since the Gaelic-language question was first asked in 1881. The Scottish government's language minister and Bòrd na Gàidhlig took this as evidence that Gaelic's long decline has slowed. The main stronghold of the language continues to be the Outer Hebrides ( Na h-Eileanan Siar ), where
11136-469: The language. These omit the English translation entirely. Bilingual railway station signs are now more frequent than they used to be. Practically all the stations in the Highland area use both English and Gaelic, and the use of bilingual station signs has become more frequent in the Lowlands of Scotland, including areas where Gaelic has not been spoken for a long time. The Grand Tour The Grand Tour
11264-551: The last of the Batch-2 River-class offshore patrol vessels , HMS Spey , was commissioned at a ceremony at the former naval base. The Royal Marines Band Service was at the ceremony providing musical support. Invergordon is now the premier mural town of the Highlands and hopes to emulate the success of her mentor in Chemainus, British Columbia . Currently the town is adorned with a series of 17 murals. The paintwork created by
11392-434: The lawyers' concerns "got funnier and funnier", such as whether May could say "cock", or whether during one of their exotic roadtrips, if they could stop and admire the scenery by saying "it's beautiful" as they frequently did on Top Gear . Many outlets falsely reported that the BBC had explicitly told the crew they could not have celebrities come on the show and race around a track. This was later confirmed to be false, with
11520-657: The list included 5.11 Tactical . A DHL Boeing 757 was featured in the opening sequence of episode 5, the tent was located in Rotterdam and the DHL logo is featured on part of the crash barrier at the Eboladrome. In September 2024, Hammond confirmed reports that Amazon would likely continue the show with new presenters set to replace him, Clarkson and May. As of November 2016 the show has received positive reviews from critics, with The Guardian saying "Jeremy Clarkson and co leave
11648-630: The local culture around cars. According to Wilman, the idea to film audience segments in a tent came from Clarkson, who had seen an episode of True Detective that took place at a Baptist revival ceremony. On 13 December 2018, while shooting the final episode for Series 3, it was announced that the show had been renewed for a fourth series. However they would retire the tent format and instead and focus on large budget car specials, on staggered dates rather than regular episodes. Wilman said that lawyers for Amazon were very mindful of any perceived similarities in segments to Top Gear , requiring changes to
11776-453: The members of Highland school boards tended to have anti-Gaelic attitudes and served as an obstacle to Gaelic education in the late 19th and early 20th century. Loss of life due to World War I and the 1919 sinking of the HMY Iolaire , combined with emigration, resulted in the 1910s seeing unprecedented damage to the use of Scottish Gaelic, with a 46% fall in monolingual speakers and
11904-723: The mid-20th century. Records of their speech show that Irish and Scottish Gaelic existed in a dialect chain with no clear language boundary. Some features of moribund dialects have been preserved in Nova Scotia, including the pronunciation of the broad or velarised l ( l̪ˠ ) as [w] , as in the Lochaber dialect. The Endangered Languages Project lists Gaelic's status as "threatened", with "20,000 to 30,000 active users". UNESCO classifies Gaelic as " definitely endangered ". The 1755–2001 figures are census data quoted by MacAulay. The 2011 Gaelic speakers figures come from table KS206SC of
12032-532: The modern era. Some of this was driven by policy decisions by government or other organisations, while some originated from social changes. In the last quarter of the 20th century, efforts began to encourage use of the language. The Statutes of Iona , enacted by James VI in 1609, was one piece of legislation that addressed, among other things, the Gaelic language. It required the heirs of clan chiefs to be educated in lowland, Protestant, English-speaking schools. James VI took several such measures to impose his rule on
12160-687: The official language of government and law. Scotland's emergent nationalism in the era following the conclusion of the Wars of Scottish Independence was organized using Scots as well. For example, the nation's great patriotic literature including John Barbour's The Brus (1375) and Blind Harry's The Wallace (before 1488) was written in Scots, not Gaelic. By the end of the 15th century, English/Scots speakers referred to Gaelic instead as 'Yrisch' or 'Erse', i.e. Irish and their own language as 'Scottis'. A steady shift away from Scottish Gaelic continued into and through
12288-518: The opening weekend viewer count for The Grand Tour was three times the size of the opening weekend of The Man in the High Castle . Episode 2 was somewhat less favourably received by fans and critics. The Telegraph wrote about the Jordan segment: "[...] a tedious action movie segment suggested that they were in danger of losing the run of themselves slightly and that Amazon's hands-off policy towards
12416-459: The outcome of the act is distanced from the actual minority language communities. It helps to create visibility of the minority language in civil structures, but does not impact or address the lived experiences of the Gaelic speaker communities wherein the revitalization efforts may have a higher return of new Gaelic speakers. Efforts are being made to concentrate resources, language planning, and revitalization efforts towards vernacular communities in
12544-551: The overall proportion of speakers is 52.2%. Important pockets of the language also exist in the Highlands (5.4%) and in Argyll and Bute (4.0%) and Inverness (4.9%). The locality with the largest absolute number is Glasgow with 5,878 such persons, who make up over 10% of all of Scotland's Gaelic speakers. Gaelic continues to decline in its traditional heartland. Between 2001 and 2011, the absolute number of Gaelic speakers fell sharply in
12672-406: The planet. Like Top Gear , car reviews on The Grand Tour functioned in a similar manner in which the presenters, either on their own or with their colleagues, take a look at various cars and test them out on various aspects such as performance, handling, and quality. Reviews are conducted in varying locales abroad, or within the United Kingdom, including a specially designed racetrack, parallel to
12800-491: The presenters sat around a trestle table and the audience seated in front of them. Initially, the first series involved these segments being filmed within a travelling tent that was set up in various countries, with audiences acquired from the local population at the site as part of an emphasis that the programme was on a " grand tour " around the world. However, Hammond's crash in Switzerland and Clarkson's pneumonia prior to
12928-519: The presenters travelling from one location to another in a selection of vehicles they have chosen for the task, in a similar manner to the feature-length specials of Top Gear , though expanding beyond cars, as did Top Gear on occasion. The first episode, titled "Seamen", was filmed on the Mekong Delta in Cambodia and Vietnam and released on 13 December 2019. A second episode, titled "A Massive Hunt",
13056-451: The production had potential downsides." Radio Times said that "many of the viewers were disgruntled to say the least, branding the show as dull and not funny." Kevin Yeoman of Screen Rant gave the show a positive review, stating "Fans can rest assured Top Gear hasn't gone anywhere, it's just hiding out at Amazon under a different name." Sonia Saraiya of Variety was also positive of
13184-493: The programme created a humorous segment for the first series entitled "Celebrity Brain Crash", which involved celebrities being "killed" in an accident while making their way to the presenter's tent - the segment was done for comedic effect, and either involved an actual celebrity who was filmed briefly for the segment before their death is staged outside the tent's location or with a look-alike, or involving someone representing them, despite not being clearly identifiable. This segment
13312-459: The prosperity of employment: the Highland economy relied greatly on seasonal migrant workers travelling outside the Gàidhealtachd . In 1863, an observer sympathetic to Gaelic stated that "knowledge of English is indispensable to any poor islander who wishes to learn a trade or to earn his bread beyond the limits of his native Isle". Generally, rather than Gaelic speakers, it was Celtic societies in
13440-519: The putative migration or takeover is not reflected in archaeological or placename data (as pointed out earlier by Leslie Alcock ). Campbell has also questioned the age and reliability of the medieval historical sources speaking of a conquest. Instead, he has inferred that Argyll formed part of a common Q-Celtic -speaking area with Ireland, connected rather than divided by the sea, since the Iron Age. These arguments have been opposed by some scholars defending
13568-454: The reform and civilisation of the Highlands, which they sought to achieve by teaching English and the Protestant religion. Initially, their teaching was entirely in English, but soon the impracticality of educating Gaelic-speaking children in this way gave rise to a modest concession: in 1723, teachers were allowed to translate English words in the Bible into Gaelic to aid comprehension, but there
13696-526: The region as the kingdom of Alba rather than as the kingdom of the Picts. However, though the Pictish language did not disappear suddenly, a process of Gaelicisation (which may have begun generations earlier) was clearly under way during the reigns of Caustantín and his successors. By a certain point, probably during the 11th century, all the inhabitants of Alba had become fully Gaelicised Scots, and Pictish identity
13824-438: The rotating hosts of the original Top Gear , with all three including Hammond being permanent hosts for the 2002 rebooted series from the second series in 2003 ( Jason Dawe having presented series one of the rebooted show alongside Clarkson and Hammond instead of May) up to the twenty second series in 2015. Under them, the show had an estimated worldwide audience of 350 million, and listed by Guinness World Records as
13952-410: The second series, although was briefly involved in a motoring challenge during the third series. On 13 December 2018, Amazon announced that The Grand Tour had been renewed for a fourth series. With this, Amazon and the production team retired the studio and audience format in favour of films dedicated to road trips and adventure specials. The new format focuses on these individual adventures which see
14080-403: The second series, led to the use of a travelling tent being dropped in favour of a more fixed location, resulting in studio segments being filmed on the outskirts of Chipping Norton for the second and third series. These live-audience segments act as breaks between pre-recorded films, much like in Top Gear , and operated on a similar format. Throughout all three series, the presenters often used
14208-488: The series, an episode of the game is simultaneously released with approximately 15 new challenges for the player to undertake. The game includes single player mode alongside local split-screen multiplayer for several of the challenges, with footage from the programme included in each episode's release. The presenters Clarkson, May, and Hammond provided voice-overs for the game. Since the game's release it has been met with mixed reviews from critics and positive reviews from fans of
14336-503: The show for 2016, bringing in a new line up of hosts. Shortly after his separation from the BBC, Clarkson stated his intent to start a new car show, saying "I have lost my baby but I shall create another. I don't know who the other parent will be or what the baby will be like." Rumours that Clarkson, Hammond, and May were developing a new show through discreet meetings with various networks emerged starting in April 2015. These rumors pointed to
14464-501: The show, stating "When it comes to the cars, The Grand Tour delivers gearhead porn in spades... Clarkson, Hammond, and May's love for machinery... is still present, pure, and appealing, even with the shift in networks and formats." Conversely, in April 2017 Brad Anderson of CarScoops stated that he prefers Top Gear to The Grand Tour . According to Anderson, Top Gear had "become even better", whereas The Grand Tour "seemed more scripted, less natural and at stages, forced... attention
14592-542: The transport costs of the tent and mobile studio. In June 2016, in connection with the sponsorship deal, the presenters had uploaded videos of themselves attempting to assemble DHL-branded shipping boxes. The first episode stated that "promotional consideration" had been given by the Breitling Jet Team , DHL and Samsung . Eight of the Breitling Jet aircraft took part in the opening sequence flyovers. For episode 2,
14720-481: The word Erse in reference to Scottish Gaelic is no longer used. Based on medieval traditional accounts and the apparent evidence from linguistic geography, Gaelic has been commonly believed to have been brought to Scotland, in the 4th–5th centuries CE, by settlers from Ireland who founded the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata on Scotland's west coast in present-day Argyll . An alternative view has been voiced by archaeologist Ewan Campbell , who has argued that
14848-415: The word "Gear" could not be used for legal reasons. Initially, the show's format was to present individual television films, using location shooting without studio segments. They later came up with the idea of using a travelling tent to provide a mobile "studio", to go along with The Grand Tour name. They would be able to use local audience members, and would give the hosts the opportunity to explore
14976-399: Was accepted in 2008, and some of its main commitments were: identity (signs, corporate identity); communications (reception, telephone, mailings, public meetings, complaint procedures); publications (PR and media, websites); staffing (language learning, training, recruitment). Following a consultation period, in which the government received many submissions, the majority of which asked that
15104-669: Was also a filming location. The final studio filming took place in Dubai in December 2016. For the second series, following Clarkson's pneumonia and Hammond's car crash, the producers decided that there would no longer be a travelling tent. Instead the tent would be in one location near Clarkson's home in the Cotswolds as this would be more convenient for the crew to operate. It also would be useful for new features such as Celebrity Face Off. In September 2017, West Oxfordshire District Council gave planning permission for three months of filming from
15232-411: Was contracted to operate under the name "The American" and portray a stereotypical redneck accent and viewpoints alongside scripted character traits, the poor reception to his involvement led to him being replaced by British racing driver Abbie Eaton for the second and third series. Studio segments were primarily filmed within a large studio tent that could house an audience of around 300, with
15360-607: Was established in 1959. Connected to the distillery was the Invergordon Distillery Pipe Band which was formed in 1964. In 1971, the British Aluminium Company , which was 47% owned by Reynolds Metals , opened an aluminium smelter at Invergordon. The naval institute was designed in 1914 by Edinburgh architect Stewart Kaye in anticipation of the First World War . The naval base was the venue for
15488-554: Was filmed in Réunion and Madagascar . It was originally set to be released on 18 December 2020 but was released a day ahead of schedule on 17 December 2020. A third episode, titled "Lochdown", was filmed in Scotland in October 2020 and was released on 30 July 2021. A fourth episode, titled "Carnage A Trois", was filmed in the United Kingdom in early 2021 and was released on 17 December 2021 as
15616-713: Was forgotten. Bilingualism in Pictish and Gaelic, prior to the former's extinction, led to the presence of Pictish loanwords in Gaelic and syntactic influence which could be considered to constitute a Pictish substrate. In 1018, after the conquest of Lothian (theretofore part of England and inhabited predominantly by speakers of Northumbrian Old English ) by the Kingdom of Scotland , Gaelic reached its social, cultural, political, and geographic zenith. Colloquial speech in Scotland had been developing independently of that in Ireland since
15744-411: Was later dropped leading to the decision that celebrities would be a part of the programme for the second series in a new segment entitled "Celebrity Face Off". Much like Top Gear's "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car", the segment involved two celebrities, who shared similar backgrounds or connections to certain elements (e.g. magicians) who competed against each other on a separate race track, to see who
15872-486: Was long suppressed. The UK government has ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Gaelic. Gaelic, along with Irish and Welsh, is designated under Part III of the Charter, which requires the UK Government to take a range of concrete measures in the fields of education, justice, public administration, broadcasting and culture. It has not received the same degree of official recognition from
16000-506: Was no further permitted use. Other less prominent schools worked in the Highlands at the same time, also teaching in English. This process of anglicisation paused when evangelical preachers arrived in the Highlands, convinced that people should be able to read religious texts in their own language. The first well known translation of the Bible into Scottish Gaelic was made in 1767, when James Stuart of Killin and Dugald Buchanan of Rannoch produced
16128-677: Was released on 6 October 2016. Trailers for series one have used the music " Come with Me Now " by Kongos , while series two trailers have used " Live and Let Die " by Wings . As part of their marketing campaign, Amazon placed crashed Toyota Prius cars at Hackescher Markt in Berlin, in front of London King's Cross railway station , and on the Hollywood Walk of Fame outside the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. In mid-2016 DHL began sponsoring
16256-472: Was revealed in May 2016. Clarkson said the name brought to mind the tradition of Grand Tours , and reflected how the show would travel to several different countries to film. There was speculation that the show could be called Gear Knobs after a trademark application was made for that name by an associated company, but Clarkson stated in October 2015 that this would not be the title. He explained in April 2016 that
16384-407: Was the fastest, alongside conducting interviews with the presenters. The timed laps for this segment not only involved a different track, but also used a Jaguar F-Type R-Dynamic coupe to create the lap time. The use of celebrities was later dropped prior to filming of the third series, to dedicate more time to films. When the programme was first conceived and created, the production team opted for
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