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Off-Road with Clarkson, Hammond & May: The Highs, Lows and Laughter on Tour with the Motoring Legends
For over 12 years Phillipa Sage worked alongside Clarkson, Hammond and May as their PA, gofer, and fixer where she saw the boys at their best and, hilariously, at their worst. A closet petrol head, Phillipa first worked with Jeremy Clarkson and Andy Wilman (Grand Tour's Executive Producer) in 1997. She proved to be a loyal, trusted friend and colleague to the now infamous trio and became a key member of 'The Bubble', the exclusive, dysfunctional working family that toured the world. With an enormous budget, they travelled like rock stars, taking their unique brand of motoring madness to 18 countries and to over 2 million fans in arenas from New Zealand to Norway. Supported by a large crew and their personal entourage, Clarkson, Hammond and May, when not performing in their high octane, live action show, indulged in extravagant holidays. They and their 'Bubble' family relaxed in luxury resorts or private houses entertaining themselves with pool parties, drinking, motorboat cruises, drinking, jet skiing, drinking and eating. In Off-Road with Clarkson, Hammond & May, Phillipa shares the tour highs, lows and laughter of three incredibly talented, stupid and naughty boys.
272 pages, Paperback
Published June 29, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 14, 2021
Well, I bought this pretty much knowing it would be a tabloidy behind-the-scenes story about my favorite motoring journalists. I guess it demonstrates how hard it is to keep a worldwide traveling show going.
But honestly, the drunkenness, stupid jokes, and the diva behaviors were hard to take.
"And, oh, by the way, I somehow became Jeremy's 'girlfriend' in the course of all this craziness....and I felt bad for his family when all of it came out..." Uh, really, now? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And considering how much of a prat Jeremy comes across in this book, why in the world would this author get involved with him in any case?
Ay-yi-yi.
But honestly, the drunkenness, stupid jokes, and the diva behaviors were hard to take.
"And, oh, by the way, I somehow became Jeremy's 'girlfriend' in the course of all this craziness....and I felt bad for his family when all of it came out..." Uh, really, now? Doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And considering how much of a prat Jeremy comes across in this book, why in the world would this author get involved with him in any case?
Ay-yi-yi.
September 23, 2022
Nobody comes out of this well.
did-not-finish
January 30, 2026Det känns som att samma.sak berättas om och om igen med väldigt lite diff. Jag hade räknat med lite mer tror jag.
Efter 55 % ger jag upp.
Efter 55 % ger jag upp.
May 23, 2021
Whilst this seems a very honest report the sheer excesses don’t come across very well. I’ve come away thinking worse of everyone involved
August 12, 2025
The concept of the book is excellent and there is some great moments in it, but I can't help feel it got a bit repetitive and in all honesty seems to joke about some of the behavior in public when it wasn't all that funny
July 20, 2021
As a big fan of Clarkson, Hammond and May and their work, solo or together, this is a book I had to read. The Top Gear / Clarkson, Hammond and May live shows came to my hometown twice and I saw them both times (once even meeting James May). What happened behind the scenes? Any gossip?
Well, the two shows I attended didn’t rate a mention first time round and barely a mention of the second. By the end of the book, I realised that this was a good thing. And I’m sorry that the boys didn’t like doing media or promotion but they made my day, week, month and year when I got to listen to them.
This is a story of ‘The Bubble’, which the author was part of, as the PA for the trio from the first shows in the UK through to the final non-Top Gear branded tour prior to the start of The Grand Tour. It’s an awkward read for several reasons – one, reading about people you’ve looked up to behaving badly and two, it needs a big edit and proof. The live shows were completely separate to the TV show and had a much bigger budget and therefore opportunity for good food, drink and fun. I don’t begrudge the trip any of that, as it’s clear that they worked hard on many different projects to make millions of people happy. For the most part, the excesses were relatively harmless. But there are some uncomfortable parts of ‘diva like’ behaviour (that seems to have been reined in later on). But there was only so much I could read of getting drunk, being hungover and repeat with a few demands thrown in. It would have been great if there had been less of that and more unique stories. As for the writing, it’s quite repetitive at times and it seems like the author needed to justify to the reader multiple times her role within the group and changing status from colleague to girlfriend. There are also multiple typos and changing of the spelling of people’s names (e.g., Denzel turns to Denzil and then back again), which I found irritating.
There were some interesting insights, but in the end, this isn’t my favourite Top Gear book and it’s not because of the excesses described. It’s a hard book to pick up after putting down as the writing style really isn’t engaging and what’s described is rather repetitive.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Well, the two shows I attended didn’t rate a mention first time round and barely a mention of the second. By the end of the book, I realised that this was a good thing. And I’m sorry that the boys didn’t like doing media or promotion but they made my day, week, month and year when I got to listen to them.
This is a story of ‘The Bubble’, which the author was part of, as the PA for the trio from the first shows in the UK through to the final non-Top Gear branded tour prior to the start of The Grand Tour. It’s an awkward read for several reasons – one, reading about people you’ve looked up to behaving badly and two, it needs a big edit and proof. The live shows were completely separate to the TV show and had a much bigger budget and therefore opportunity for good food, drink and fun. I don’t begrudge the trip any of that, as it’s clear that they worked hard on many different projects to make millions of people happy. For the most part, the excesses were relatively harmless. But there are some uncomfortable parts of ‘diva like’ behaviour (that seems to have been reined in later on). But there was only so much I could read of getting drunk, being hungover and repeat with a few demands thrown in. It would have been great if there had been less of that and more unique stories. As for the writing, it’s quite repetitive at times and it seems like the author needed to justify to the reader multiple times her role within the group and changing status from colleague to girlfriend. There are also multiple typos and changing of the spelling of people’s names (e.g., Denzel turns to Denzil and then back again), which I found irritating.
There were some interesting insights, but in the end, this isn’t my favourite Top Gear book and it’s not because of the excesses described. It’s a hard book to pick up after putting down as the writing style really isn’t engaging and what’s described is rather repetitive.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
April 27, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley and Ad Lib Publishers for the opportunity to review 'Off-Road with Clarkson, Hammond & May' before its publication date.
Now I've always loved watching 'the boys' on TV. When I still lived at home, it became a Sunday night ritual to all sit down together to watch Top Gear, and this continued when I moved out. I thankfully found a husband who was also into the boys' antics, and we continued my tradition of Sunday night viewing, so when I was given this opportunity to read all about their escapades on tour, I jumped at the chance.
Phillipa Sage, the author, became a piece of the furniture when Clarkson, Hammond & May were on tour, I can't remember what her official title was but she held everything together, dealing with Jeremy's diva moments (and yes, there were many), whilst organising hotels, restaurants and seemingly every little thing related to the tours. Phillipa reflects on her memories of the years she was with the boys, entertaining us with her stories of what went on behind (and not behind) the scenes! She shares with us the list of things that HAD to be available to them all at every venue, as well as the list of necessities they required before they even got to where they were going. Who knew that a Range Rover was 'that' important!
I really enjoyed reading Off-Road with Clarkson, Hammond & May, and I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in Top Gear, the three 'boys' and some degree, cars in general. However, there isn't actually a lot of time dedicated to cars in this book, it's more about the people and how they all lived and worked together in 'the bubble' and for this reason, it offers a greater appeal to a wider audience.
Now I've always loved watching 'the boys' on TV. When I still lived at home, it became a Sunday night ritual to all sit down together to watch Top Gear, and this continued when I moved out. I thankfully found a husband who was also into the boys' antics, and we continued my tradition of Sunday night viewing, so when I was given this opportunity to read all about their escapades on tour, I jumped at the chance.
Phillipa Sage, the author, became a piece of the furniture when Clarkson, Hammond & May were on tour, I can't remember what her official title was but she held everything together, dealing with Jeremy's diva moments (and yes, there were many), whilst organising hotels, restaurants and seemingly every little thing related to the tours. Phillipa reflects on her memories of the years she was with the boys, entertaining us with her stories of what went on behind (and not behind) the scenes! She shares with us the list of things that HAD to be available to them all at every venue, as well as the list of necessities they required before they even got to where they were going. Who knew that a Range Rover was 'that' important!
I really enjoyed reading Off-Road with Clarkson, Hammond & May, and I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in Top Gear, the three 'boys' and some degree, cars in general. However, there isn't actually a lot of time dedicated to cars in this book, it's more about the people and how they all lived and worked together in 'the bubble' and for this reason, it offers a greater appeal to a wider audience.
May 18, 2023
Off-Road with Hammond Clarkson and May by Phillipa Sage, has been a disapointment for sure. It is the only book of this nature, it has no sequel or prequel. The book is about the backstage lives of Top Gear Hosts, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May. It doesn't really have a “theme” per say, but more just the activities they get up to, they get up to often. I give it 2 and a half stars out of 5.
Throughout the book there were few things I liked, and many things I didn't like. I of course liked to see more of the lives of the Top Gear Hosts, outside of Top Gear that is. Seeing more of the characters that only appear once or twice in the show is cool, and it creates a deeper understanding of the connection and friendship between the hosts. But that is as far as my praise goes. The book is written horribly formulaically, it is very repetitive. Going as far as to repeat details already mentioned. The book also fails to elaborate on other details, like the author's relationship with Jeremy Clarkson.
The Book, as mentioned before, covers some of the backstage lives of the hosts, and what it was like keeping such a cast together while moving all over the world for filming. This coverage was mostly enjoyable. The book also covers the, less glamorous side of being a TV star, like partying, intoxication and what-not. The book should have covered less of this and more of what was formerly enjoyed. You do certainly see a new side of the 3 hosts during these bits, I will say it's somewhat altered how I think of them, not for the better.
All in all, I do not recommend this book to anyone, unless you are a Top Gear Super-fan. The book is dull and boring, the only thing interesting about it is the topic itself.
Throughout the book there were few things I liked, and many things I didn't like. I of course liked to see more of the lives of the Top Gear Hosts, outside of Top Gear that is. Seeing more of the characters that only appear once or twice in the show is cool, and it creates a deeper understanding of the connection and friendship between the hosts. But that is as far as my praise goes. The book is written horribly formulaically, it is very repetitive. Going as far as to repeat details already mentioned. The book also fails to elaborate on other details, like the author's relationship with Jeremy Clarkson.
The Book, as mentioned before, covers some of the backstage lives of the hosts, and what it was like keeping such a cast together while moving all over the world for filming. This coverage was mostly enjoyable. The book also covers the, less glamorous side of being a TV star, like partying, intoxication and what-not. The book should have covered less of this and more of what was formerly enjoyed. You do certainly see a new side of the 3 hosts during these bits, I will say it's somewhat altered how I think of them, not for the better.
All in all, I do not recommend this book to anyone, unless you are a Top Gear Super-fan. The book is dull and boring, the only thing interesting about it is the topic itself.
May 24, 2021
Who doesn't love these 3 amigos ? With their quirky characters. This book was great. To see it from a different side and learn about the bits about the touring side of top gear. Also the demands the trio have, just had me laughing. Especially the big man JC with his little hissy fits and of course the slip of the tongue that keeps getting him into trouble. I still think he is amazing and love his opinions. This book follows the author as she is looking after the three,also including the decision to go out with the big man JC and the lead up to that punch. It takes a strong women to put up with all that and she trulyis. I really did enjoy it so much. Well done Phillipa Sage for bringing us this fantastic book.
Read
September 21, 2021I should not have read this book. I was a huge top gear fan, saw every episode, but this book only made the 3 stars to be heavy drinking, chain smoking buffoons who played childish often dangerous pranks on each other, abused their support staff, acted like severe prima donnas, and expected to be treated like royalty. The author just retells the same story over and over - support staff organize the event, “talent” arrives with little gratitude, put on show , have expensive drunken party, stay in luxury accommodations, driven around in Range Rovers as nothing else was acceptable, repeat.
The author doesn’t tell us much about her relationship with the star. ..somehow I became his girlfriend..
I used to like these characters, but think less of them and the group that supported them, now.
The author doesn’t tell us much about her relationship with the star. ..somehow I became his girlfriend..
I used to like these characters, but think less of them and the group that supported them, now.
November 26, 2022
That Jeremy Clarkson works incredibly hard is well known. The quality and quantity of his output is correspondingly high. Love them or loath them the three presenters and Andy Wilman have built a huge international reputation and are journalism's equivalent of rock stars.
James May comes out quite well in this book. Clarkson comes across as a boarish diva. Motor journalism's Donald Trump, if you will.
Although Richard Hammond has been interviewed about his near fatal crash I cannot recall much being mentioned about the longer term affects prior to this book.
I felt that the descriptions of the stars was 2 dimensional and that is one thing you could never say about this trio. Basically the book paints a picture from the perspective of a facilitator and gopher.
James May comes out quite well in this book. Clarkson comes across as a boarish diva. Motor journalism's Donald Trump, if you will.
Although Richard Hammond has been interviewed about his near fatal crash I cannot recall much being mentioned about the longer term affects prior to this book.
I felt that the descriptions of the stars was 2 dimensional and that is one thing you could never say about this trio. Basically the book paints a picture from the perspective of a facilitator and gopher.
July 31, 2021
Very repetitive and uninteresting from the very start. Unable to bring myself to the end of the book despite passing half way through it. As a top gear fan I was looking forward to reading this however I did not realise at the time when I bought this that this was written from a fly on the wall trying to gain some limelight from the real stars. I get that you drank a lot of alcohol and had heavy hangovers but is their really not anything else to tell. Frustrating grammatical errors!! The attempt at being funny not working!! Hugely disappointing overall and would recommend saving your money.
January 2, 2025
Having seen every episode of Top Gear and The Grand Tour, I was 100% the target audience for this book, and yet I found myself bored and struggling to finish. It was a very formulaic set of loosely chained anecdotes from the tour that would probably work better as a live podcast format than in a book.
Furthermore, towards the end the layout is a bit confusing to the extent I thought I might have accidentally skipped and repeated some chapters. If the author did actually write this, it needs an edit pass. If this book was ghostwritten, they need sacking.
Furthermore, towards the end the layout is a bit confusing to the extent I thought I might have accidentally skipped and repeated some chapters. If the author did actually write this, it needs an edit pass. If this book was ghostwritten, they need sacking.
July 7, 2021
Awefull if i am honest, it reads like a person who was desperate to be in with "The Gang" but couldnt quite hack it, and be accepted by the others and is looking back with rose tinted glasses. Very repetative and to be honest i cannot understand how some people who claim to be TG fans can actually find this drival funny ! shame as it could have been a good insight too an Amazing historical TV phenonimum !.
March 17, 2023
I really enjoyed this insight into what it was like behind the scenes while Phillipa Sage was working as a PA for Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
I love watching Top Gear and The Grand Tour, so I was excited to find out more about the boys. I wasn't disappointed, and I had fun finding out more about their work lives and personal lives.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.
I love watching Top Gear and The Grand Tour, so I was excited to find out more about the boys. I wasn't disappointed, and I had fun finding out more about their work lives and personal lives.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.
December 26, 2021
While I enjoyed reading about the exploits of Clarkson, Hammond and May, I got quite frustrated at the writing and editing itself. Some incidental details are repeated multiple times and it gets very 'thin' in places, giving it the feel that the author has been given a word count to hit and was a few thousand words short in the first draft.
July 18, 2023
This was enjoyable book but I made the mistake and didn't look at the title clearly. I was trying to find a book about the show Top Gear and not their world tour. However, there were a lot of tidbits I learned and a lot of funny stories I enjoyed. And, as a bonus, the author does mention a book about behind the scenes on the show so I will be getting that book from the library shortly.
November 3, 2023
This is an ok tale of life on the trail of the Top Gear gang. This is a UK car thing which I do not understand and so was baffled by their goings and doings. But there are car lovers who will thoroughly enjoy the camaraderie and the antics of the clique.
December 28, 2021
Started Well, quite interesting to hear what went on behind the scenes, but quickly became repetitive and formulaic.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews