Jeremy Clarkson’s latest book releases this week, and Richard Osman believes the star is aiming for a Christmas best-seller
Matt Jackson Trendswatch Content Editor
12:22, 21 Oct 2025
Richard Osman has labelled Jeremy Clarkson a ‘coward’(Image: Amazon Prime )
Richard Osman has labelled Jeremy Clarkson a “coward” as the former Top Gear presenter gears up for a significant career milestone. The motoring expert is preparing to launch his latest publication chronicling his experiences at Diddly Squat Farm.
Diddly Squat: The Farmer’s Dog is due to arrive in bookshops later this week. This comes as writers gear up for the fierce competition surrounding the highly sought-after Christmas number one position.
The period from September through November represents the prime window for book launches, with publishers keen to capitalise on festive consumer spending, reports the Mirror.
However, Richard, whose Thursday Murder Club series has achieved bestseller status, suspects Jeremy’s publication timing is strategically designed to boost sales figures.
During his The Rest is Entertainment podcast, Richard commented: “Clarkson is bringing out another Diddly Squat and is bringing it out quite close to Christmas, which is the cowards way of bringing out a book.
“It gives you more chance of being a Christmas number one. If he had any guts at all…if he was any sort of a man…he’s coming out late in an attempt to do it.”
(Image: Lia Toby, Getty Images)
Nevertheless, Richard has backed Charlie Mackesy to secure the prized top spot this Christmas. Mackesy’s previous work, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, was adapted into an animated special that aired on BBC One during Christmas 2022.
His newest title, Always Remember, launched on October 9. Richard predicted: “He has a new book out which has the same characters, it’s called Always Remember, and I think it will be our Christmas number one.
“I’d like to be the biggest selling book, but just in that Christmas week, in that very, very final week, which is the big one. I hope to sell more than him because I hope to sell more than everybody.”
Jeremy Clarkson has written a book about Diddly Squat(Image: PA)
The Guinness World Records 2025 claimed the title of Christmas’s top-selling book last year, and Richard expects the annual publication could once more compete for the summit.
He said: “Guinness Book of Records is always in the fight. In fact, it was Christmas number one last year. So that’s a possibility.”
Richard also spotlighted numerous celebrity memoirs that might perform strongly this year. These encompass autobiographies from actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, Olympian Sir Bradley Wiggins, footballer Paul Gascoigne and Strictly Come Dancing champion Chris McCausland.
He nevertheless forecasts Susie Wolf’s Driven will prove a bestseller this festive period. He added: “F1 and things like that sell incredibly well.
“Guy Martin, who does all the kind of motorbike shows and stunt shows on Channel 4, his autobiographies always sell like crazy.”
The Mirror has approached representatives of Jeremy.
