Amazon Sets Original Series With Richard Hammond, Tory Belleci

By Tim Dams

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Amazon has greenlit a six-part survival-cum-engineering series featuring “The Grand Tour’s” Richard Hammond and “Mythbusters’” Tory Belleci. The commission was announced Wednesday by Georgia Brown, director of European original series, speaking at the .

The as-yet-untitled pop-science series from Chimp Productions sees Hammond and Belleci shipwrecked on a remote desert island, and using their engineering and scientific skills not only to survive, but to construct a paradise island playground.

The series follows the pair as they construct an exotic wonderland using what they have from the shipwreck and what they can find on the island. Each episode will see them take on huge feats of engineering to achieve epic builds, ranging from island hopping vehicles to a supersized hydro-power waterwheel.

“Somebody needs to take hold of Popular Science as a genre and reinvent it for a new age. And there are only two people to do that job. Unfortunately neither of them are available so it’s me and Tory Belleci,” said Hammond (pictured).

The six-part series will be available on Prime Video in over 200 countries and territories worldwide.

The executive producer is Gareth Cornick and the series producer is Samuel Simon.  It is commissioned for Amazon Studios by Dan Grabiner, head of UK unscripted originals.

The greenlight follows Amazon’s December 2018 announcement that “The Grand Tour” presenters Jeremy Clarkson, , James May and executive producer Andy Wilman had been signed for individual projects in addition to more “The Grand Tour.”