What did you miss?

Jeremy Clarkson is shocked to find out it was going to cost him £20,000 to ask Richard Hammond to help him with a job for The Farmer’s Dog.

In the latest episode of Clarkson’s Farm, the star says in the voiceover: “Since we were only five weeks from opening [the pub], I was forced to agree to Buttons’ [a nickname for Hammond] terms.”

The ex-Top Gear presenter makes a special trip to see his long-time friend on Clarkson’s Farm. It is the first time the two friends have been seen together on TV since they wrapped up The Grand Tour finale with James May last year.

Travelling “hundreds and hundreds of miles” out of his way and “from civilisation” to a village, Clarkson drives to Hammond’s car restoration business, The Smallest Cog in Herefordshire. It is here that he is in disbelief to discover the price it will cost him to chrome and lighten his tractor so he can suspend it from the ceiling in The Farmer’s Dog pub.

Who, what and why?

Hilarious Clarkson’s Farm scenes unfold where The Grand Tour stars are reunited on-screen. Hammond gives Clarkson a warm welcome to his restoration business. He says: “This is it. That’s a really nice tractor… It’s a fine thing. We have worse turn up for this restoration.”

Clarkson explains he needs to get the tractor lightened to under 750kg or “it’ll pull the roof down” of the pub. “If we take all the internals out, everything,” Hammond recognises the work that needs doing to make this possible.

The farmer also asks if he can “chrome” the tractor’s “red bits”. At this point, Clarkson can’t resist poking fun at his “little” friend saying that he must get the restoration done before panto season begins. It gets a laugh from Hammond, but he insists that he won’t be going on stage as Buttons.

Clarkson also teases Hammond that he is finally getting a cameo in Clarkson’s Farm. “Your contribution is immense and in some ways not dignified!” He says.

In the voiceover, the Diddly Squat Farm boss admits it is about to be his “least favourite topic”: money. “On that pub everything costs too much money!” Complains Clarkson.

Hammond can get onboard with everything costing Clarkson a lot of money. “Are we talking hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands?” Hammond’s employee confirms the job will set Clarkson back “tens of thousands”.

“£20,000?” Clarkson says in disbelief. “To chrome it? What? I could have done it! £20,000 to paint a tractor!

Cheekily Hammond quips: “The point is as your bank balance is taking a beating. Let’s keep it going! Why give up? Then it’ll have strength and it’ll be resistant. Now it’s floppy and weak.”

Clarkson tells his friend to “be sensible”. He adds: “Or I will be at the front row at the Wyvern [theatre] and I will be making comments about your performance as Buttons.”

“I’m not doing panto!” Hammond insists. The car restoration employee informs the friends that the chrome paint will be £3,000 a litre.

Clarkson, fuming, says: “Why didn’t you tell me off before I set off? That it was going to be more than the GDP of most European countries?”

Hammond admits: “Then you wouldn’t have come… Now you have and you’ve brought the tractor. Basically you’ve lowered your plums into my price. I’ve nipped it up a little bit. And now…”

Clarkson asks: “If this was a normal farmer you wouldn’t be saying £20,000.”

He hits back: “What normal farmer would chrome his tractor you p******?”

Driving back in the car, Clarkson confirms he did the deal. In the voiceover, he says: “Since we were only five weeks from opening, I was forced to agree to Buttons’ terms.”

Richard Hammond is a Clarkson’s Farm fan

It’s no secret that Hammond loves Clarkson’s Farm, even when Clarkson joked that he was banned from appearing on it.

Back in 2023, Hammond called Clarkson’s Farm a “genuine” show and said his friend was doing it because it was his true passion.

He said on This Morning: “I think it’s, again, genuine. Our show has always worked together because we love our subject. You don’t have to, and we will argue about it, you don’t have to know or understand what the argument is.