Meet the UAE producer who hit the road with both Top Gear and The Grand Tour

Producer Kenton Oxley. Courtesy of Kenton Oxley

The UAE has long been home to some of the biggest motoring fans, and many of the world’s flashiest cars can regularly be spotted cruising on the roads.

The global TV industry seems to have noticed. The Grand Tour, starring former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond visited Dubai to film the final episode of its first season.

Top Gear, meanwhile, now presented by former Friends star Matt LeBlanc and motoring journalist Chris Harris, recently filmed in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Clarkson’s much-publicised departure from the latter – he was fired after punching a ­producer – with his co-stars ­quitting soon after, and the launch of their new show on ­Amazon Prime, set the two shows up as arch rivals.

One man has had the unique experience of working on the latest instalments of both shows. Kenton Oxley’s Knockout Productions was the UAE production partner for both.

“We’re very lucky in that we must be one of very few people in the world to have worked on both projects,” he says.

"With Top Gear, I can't say too much about the work we did yet as the show still hasn't screened. On The Grand Tour, we looked after the team as consulting ­producers, so we dealt with all the local production needs, and some of the creative needs too."

The latest Top Gear season marked the fourth time he and his team had worked with the show, and one of the most iconic moments from its jaunts to the UAE was his idea. "The [2014] Top Gear Yas Waterworld shoot is a great example of what we do," he says. "They came to us and said we've got this Mercedes 6x6 G-wagon. We want to film it in the desert, in rocky terrain, in glorious ­futuristic locations, we want to get some track time with it, and we need to go through at least a metre of water but it can't be salt water."

Oxley’s solution was to take the vehicle for a spin around the rides at Yas Waterworld as bewildered visitors looked on.

“It was a tough ask,” he says. “But we figured, let’s turn it into a bit of a gimmick. In the end, that’s the bit everyone remembered, not the 6x6 driving through the desert, even though the Liwa Desert is one of the most extreme environments in the world. “That’s got to be my favourite moment so far.”

There must be differences between working on the two shows, particularly given the reported budget for The Grand Tour is said to be £5 million (Dh23m) an episode, about four times that of Top Gear.

"There are obviously differences between working for a government organisation like the BBC and a private one like [Grand Tour producer] Chump, but the overall budget isn't really one of them," says Oxley.

“It’s more the little things, with the BBC being publicly accountable. Things like what hotels the team stays in. You can’t be too flashy.”

Top Gear has been running for 23 seasons and so is a slick, well-oiled machine. The Grand Tour is made by an entirely new ­production company specially set up for that purpose. "It's very well run but, still, it's all new," he says.

“They’ve never filmed a rolling roadblock in the UAE before, for example, but we can help with that.

“They’re very different shows – but, and I’m not just being diplomatic, they’re both great to work on.

"After working on four series of Top Gear I already know the old team are a great bunch of guys, but the new team are too. Chris Harrison is so down to earth, and Matt [LeBlanc], too. Just a really normal guy, not at all showbiz."

As for Clarkson and co, Oxley concedes that their roles have changed in the new show.

"I definitely think Clarkson and the team have more scope in terms of what they can say now," he says. "There is a real sense with Grand Tour that they want to push the boundaries of what is achievable.

"They ask what they can't do, and then want to do that. It's a win/win for everyone because Top Gear has responded to that and raised its own bar too."