Clarkson’s Farm Series Four: Meet the New Kaleb
A promotional trailer for the new series of Clarkson’s Farm was released late last week, suggesting that the show has a new Kaleb Cooper. The trailer, which was published on Amazon Prime Video, showed former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson telling the camera that 26-year-old Kaleb Cooper, the rosy-cheeked farmhand, had left him "a little bit in the lurch" and that he needed new help on Diddly Squat, his 1,000-acre establishment near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire.
According to The Times, the new series of Clarkson’s Farm will feature 24-year-old Harriet Cowan, a local nurse and farmer, who has joined the show as Kaleb’s replacement. Cowan, who is from the same area as Clarkson’s farm, seems like a female version of Kaleb himself – hard-working, blonde, and ruddy of cheek. In an interview with The Times, Cowan said that she had seen the show, but was not fazed by Clarkson’s global fame. "Yeah," she replied with a wry look. "Have you?" he countered. "No," she said, making her one of the few people from rural England who hasn’t feasted on a series that shows, warts and all, the highs and lows of life in the countryside.
Cowan’s addition to the show is seen as a clever move by the producers, who have managed to find someone who is just as down-to-earth and knowledgeable about farming as Kaleb. Clarkson himself has praised Cowan, saying that she is "brilliant" and that she knows her way around a farm. The show’s roster of characters also includes "Cheerful" Charlie Ireland, the farm’s adviser and land manager, and Gerald Cooper, the farmhand and dry-stone waller with the famously impenetrable accent.
As reported by The Times, the arrival of Cowan simply looks like good television, clever casting in a clever show that doesn’t actually do casting. Clarkson’s Farm is a series that knows what it is doing, entertaining viewers and making the BBC green with envy when it is forced to consider this American streamer’s almost accidental public service achievement in educating millions about what an important and difficult business farming in the UK is.
The upcoming series of Clarkson’s Farm is all about Clarkson’s new pub, the Farmer’s Dog, and of course, in Cowan, perhaps the best new female Kaleb in the world. According to The Times, the show’s producers have managed to winnow down thousands of hours of footage into television magic, with each series having a fresh theme and twist. Last time it was the farming competition between Kaleb and Clarkson and the arrival of the Diddly Squat pigs.
Kaleb Cooper, who has become a fan favourite on the show, will not be sidelined in the new series. In fact, The Times reports that he was front and centre of the action when they were filming the series that is about to go out. During an interview with The Times last year, Kaleb showed no signs of losing his vim and enthusiasm. He grinned at most of his answers, repeating a joke that clearly tickled him. "Is that all right or is that just a three star answer … hope that was OK. Four stars maybe … how was the interview? Five stars?"
As The Times notes, Kaleb’s fame has brought him millions of Instagram followers and book deals and a stage tour, which is the reason Clarkson needed Cowan’s help. Kaleb refuses plenty of offers from high-end salons to style the farmer’s thatch that Clarkson is constantly mocking, and still prefers to get it done at the local barbers he has always been to. Kaleb is always going to be a farmer, and the one we see on screen is simply the hardworking lad with big ambitions who started farming chickens before he turned 13 and was last year described by Clarkson, quite seriously, as "easily the most entrepreneurial person I have ever met".
The fifth series of Clarkson’s Farm is currently in production, and according to The Times, it will include a visit from the Prince of Wales, who had the honour of being pictured with Kaleb himself. The new series of Clarkson’s Farm will begin on Prime Video on May 23.
Source: www.thetimes.com
