Clarkson's Farm Series 5: Darker, More Emotional — And Critics Are Divided Over Whether It's Still Fresh

Jeremy Clarkson is back behind the wheel of a tractor — and this time, things are getting personal. Clarkson's Farm series five lands on Prime Video on 3 June, with four episodes dropping in one bumper launch before the remaining four roll out weekly on 10 and 17 June. Set once again at the beloved Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire, the new series finds Clarkson navigating government budget chaos, a high-tech farm overhaul, and — most dramatically of all — a very real health crisis that shapes everything that follows.

Clarkson underwent emergency heart surgery in late 2024, having a stent fitted after a blocked artery left him, by his own account, "days from death." Series five doesn't shy away from any of it. Executive producer Andy Wilman has warned that the later episodes become "much heavier, and more emotional than anything we've seen before," adding: "When the series opens, he's side-lined with a heart problem, and that shapes everything that follows." The Radio Times gave the series four stars, noting that viewers will see a noticeably "gentler" Clarkson — one who fights back tears as his beloved pigs are loaded onto a truck headed on a one-way journey.

Not everyone is convinced the magic is entirely intact. The Telegraph's Benji Wilson acknowledged the show's charm but questioned whether its reliance on "stage-managed catastrophes" is wearing thin after five series. "There are only so many times you can laugh at someone failing to herd sheep or slipping in a cow pat," he wrote — before conceding that Clarkson remains the undisputed master of the staged farce. Meanwhile, The Times' Ben Dowell awarded it four stars, calling it "still deliciously funny" even when it feels "scrappy," and noting that later episodes take a "properly dark turn." The consensus? It's not perfect, but it's still very, very watchable.

For loyal fans, series five brings plenty of fresh chaos to enjoy. Diddly Squat welcomes two new breeds of sheep, geese, snails and guineafowl — all of which are, apparently, unhappy about it. Farm manager Kaleb Cooper embarks on his first ever trip abroad as the farm goes high-tech, while the whole team joins a march to London in a nod to the very real political pressures facing British farmers. Oh, and Irish pop group The Corrs are somehow involved — which is as baffling as it sounds. With Clarkson having confirmed a sixth series is already in the works, Diddly Squat isn't closing its gates just yet. But with the producer himself warning against making "one series too many," the clock may well be ticking on one of streaming's most unlikely success stories.