Grand Tour stars Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May bring their famous TV partnership to a close by agreeing to dissolve their production company

After 21 years, the TV partnership between Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May is definitively over.

Earlier this year, when the penultimate Grand Tour special was broadcast, all three men hinted that they wouldn't work together again, meaning that a final special, already filmed in Zimbabwe, would be their last hurrah.

But Richard Hammond insisted earlier this year that they three of them would make the decision: 'at a place, in a manner and at a time of our choosing.'

He added: 'We decided a long time ago. The one thing we wanted to be in control of is deciding when and where and how we landed.'

That time has now come, as it can be revealed that all three have signed off on the dissolution of their company W. Chump and Sons, which made the shows.

On July 11th, it filed three documents with Companies House – declaring solvency, appointing a voluntary liquidator and making a 'special resolution to wind up.'

The most recently filed accounts by the company indicate an annual turnover of £6 million and assets of £3.8 million.

The end of the road is truly the end of a televisual era as Top Gear was for over a decade by far the biggest show on the BBC, generating massive profits for BBC Studios in global sales, and it was followed by global success for the three men on Prime Video's The Grand Tour.

Top Gear was also one of the corporation's most beloved hits, and its devoted fans attended live events, bought merchandise and came to watch it being filmed at Dunsfold aerodrome.

One TV critic said that what made Top Gear special was the chemistry between the three men, who were friends in a way which felt 'like a power struggle between three spoilt delinquents from a luxury borstal.'

The three men became hugely wealthy – once a jobbing motoring journalist, Clarkson is now said to be worth £55 million, Hammond £35 million and May £31 million.

Clarkson bought the rights to Top Gear in 2002 from the BBC, and then persuaded them to revive it according to a blueprint devised by him and his friend, producer Andy Wilman. It moved into the studio, leaned into stunts, banter and fun and featured 'The Stig' and other beloved elements.

Richard Hammond was in the relaunch, alongside Jason Dawe. He was replaced from 2003 by James May, known as 'Captain Slow.'

In 2015, the BBC chose not to renew Clarkson's contract after an incident during filming in which he was said to have struck a producer. Hammond, May and Wilman also left and all went to make The Grand Tour for Prime Video. It was said that Clarkson was paid £10 million a year under the terms of the new contract, with May and Hammond getting £7.2 million each. Their most recent one off special Sand Job went out on Prime Video in February and they have made a further special in Zimbabwe which has yet to be broadcast.

Hammond said their strong relationship proved helpful as they filmed Sand Job in the intense heat of Mauritania in sports cars across the Sahara, following the route of the Paris-Dakar rally.

Hammond said: 'It was great to be back out somewhere a bit tough. We couldn't fall back on our incredible crew to capture a remote or hostile place.

'We had to fall back more on the relationship between us three and the banter and the nonsense.'

He said when the trio do argue it is only about cars. He said: 'I know how to push their buttons. They know how to push mine. We're passionate about what we do. If we'd all really fallen out we couldn't do the job, could we?'

Clarkson, who now presents the hugely successful Clarkson's Farm on Prime Video, said that the show was a big physical challenge as he was 'unfit and fat and old.'

He added: 'I've driven cars higher than anyone else and further north than anyone else. We've done everything you can do with a car. When we had meetings about what to do next, people just threw their arms in the air.'

Of his costars he said: 'We've spent more time in each other's company than our families' over the last 25 years so I don't think it would have lasted as long as it did if we'd hated each other as much as James likes to think.'

'James May thinks there's never been a more interesting time for how we move around and he's probably right, but I don't think it's very interesting television. An electric car is no different from a chest freezer or a microwave oven. There's no glamour or excitement. This week on Top Chest Freezer! I think it suits the written media more.'

Top Gear was axed by the BBC last year after presenter Freddie Flintoff was badly injured during filming.