When Jeremy Clarkson was suspended from the BBC in March of 2015, it seemed like the beloved BBC series Top Gear would never be the same again. Despite returning with a new set of hosts shortly after Clarkson's departure from the series, fans have been waiting to see how Clarkson, along with original co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May would continue working together. Luckily, this year fans were given the reunion they'd been waiting for.

That, of course, came in the form of Amazon's new original series, The Grand Tour, which kept the same format and style of Top Gear, with the hosts that made people fall in love with it in the first place. It looks like Amazon's faith in the trio's pull has paid off for the streaming service, too.

Deadline is reporting that The Grand Tour's series premiere was welcomed with some record-breaking streaming numbers for Amazon. While the company wouldn't divulge specific numbers, they did reveal that the series has officially overtaken The Man in the High Castle as their most-watched original series to date. Viewership was apparently up in the millions in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Austria, and Japan over the weekend, starting Friday at midnight.

The series wasn't only met with strong numbers, but positive reviews from both fans and critics alike, all of whom seemed glad to see the original trio back to their on-the-road shenanigans once again. This should come as welcome news in general, but especially for the fans who watched in utter confusion as Top Gear got passed over to Chris Evans (the BBC radio host, not Captain America) and Matt LeBlanc originally as the new hosts of the series, only for Evans to leave the series, and LeBlanc to be signed for two full seasons as the sole host.

An additional 11 episodes of The Grand Tour's first season will be released subsequently over the next 11 weeks for Amazon Prime members, with the show then premiering worldwide for all customers in December. Suffice it to say, it looks like Clarkson, Hammond, and May have not only brought back the same camaraderie and style that made Top Gear the hit it was, but some similar viewership numbers also. Now, it'll be interesting to see how well the series continues to fare in the coming weeks, but so far, The Grand Tour seems off to a fairly remarkable start.

The Grand Tour continues next Friday on Amazon Prime as the team heads to Johannesburg.

Source: Deadline