161 replies to this topic

[AVV IT]

Wether it's been a genuine dismissal, or a carefully orchestrated high publicity departure for Clarkson, I shall miss Top Gear in it's current format. I do agree that it's ptobably past it's best as a show, but as someone who rarely watches anything on TV anymore, (thanks to the god awful tripe that it mainly consists of these days), Top Gear was still a bit of a giggle, still watchable and one of the few things that I still actualy bothered watching.

I hope they don't try to resurrect it with new presenters, if they do, then I'm convinced that it will die horribly on it's backside quite quickly. As Hammond & May have already that suggested they won't be continuing with Top Gear without Clarkson, then I should imagine that it won't be too long before the three of them are back with a similarly themed show on another channel.

[cooperdan]

Are you all talking about the same top gear here...

If people are saying "oh its gone down hill these days"or "its not what it use to be" etc etc...

yeh your bloody right... since clarkson re formatted the show its become a huge huge success and has made a tonne load of money in the process. And alot is down to clarkson because of his

"Non bbc pc trained puppet"

He is dying breed of people who dont care if they offend or upset. Its like comedians they tell jokes which can be vile, racist or whatever. Its a joke for F'sake, if dont like it dont watch it. Anyway... what clarkson brought was unique quality to the show and with the other 2, it worked incredibly well... its something which cannot be replaced.. and that is very sad...

I wouldnt be suprised if the pc bbc use the opportunity to have a woman,black person and an asian just so they dont upset anyone.

Edited by cooperdan, 25 March 2015 - 06:58 PM.

[Tamworthbay]

????? So because you like the program it's ok for him to abuse and beat up a junior colleague? The BBC is 'pc' because it taps someone on the knuckles for repeated blatant racism? I wish some people would stop dragging their knuckles and join the 21st century. Anti pc has somehow become a byword for racist thug, he is nothing more, nothing less.

[The Matt]

The guy acted out of order, because of that they haven't renewed his contract.

 

The amount of posts on Facebook calling the producer that got hit every name under the sun is just insane.  The producer didn't even report it, not to the bosses nor to the Police, yet he's being blamed for the downfall of Top Gear.  If you want to blame someone for it, blame the ignorant ape that thought it was OK to punch someone that he worked with!

[Dan]

As many people know I work in this industry. I once worked on a film that we shot on the same stage as Top Gear at Dunsfold, with only a black drape separating our sets. From that and from other general work I know quite well a lot of people who either regularly work with the show or occasionally work on Top Gear's big stunts and features. I do not know anyone who enjoys spending time with Mr Clarkson, or really has a good word to say about him. I do however know quite a few people who cannot stand him and will happily rant about him at length given half a chance. I also know at least one person whose career the man has tried to harpoon.

[The Matt]

I guess after the GE in May has happened, the BBC could approach Nigel Farage to replace Clarkson.  They both have similar views on a lot of things and he'll probably have little else to do!

[Swift_General]

I personally will miss Top Gear and agree with many comments that Clarkson has made the programme. What I can't agree with however is that this is in anyway justification to retain him, given that he had recently received a 'final warning' and has gone on to physically attack a work colleague, what other decision did people think the BBC could reasonably make?

[mab01uk]

I am no fan of Top Gear or Clarkson, the shows format to me is now very predictable and no longer funny or informative. However as with Jonathon Ross and Russel Brand on the BBC a couple of years back, there is always another TV channel willing to step in after such events and offer a new contract. A pc version of Top Gear will inevitably fade away without Clarkson on BBC2 while Hammond and May will no doubt join Clarkson on another channel like Sky or Channel 4 with a new show and a new name.

Edited by mab01uk, 25 March 2015 - 07:45 PM.

[Mini Cheddars]

I don't like to speculate about what might happen with a lot of things these days. *If* Hammond and May stay on the show, great, I'll still watch it as I like those two as well. If they also both leave the show and someone else replaces them, I'll give them a go and see how I feel about it.

 

Either way, I will continue to support the three of them in whatever they do and am still a massive fan of Clarkson. This incident has not swayed me either way,

[xrocketengineer]

I am curious. BBC America started this new show which is kind of unusual because it has UK hosts but is totally filmed in the US. Is this show available in the UK?  I could not find anything about it on the BBC home page. Could this be related to the Top Gear fiasco?

 

http://www.bbcameric...t-gears/videos/

[Cooperman]

Had Savile's behaviour come to light whilst he was alive and had a BBC contract would the BBC have been justified in sacking him or should his popularity have saved him. We all know the answer to that. 

But JC assaulted a colleague who, in view of JC's status, could not effectively respond. That is the action of a bully and bullies in the workplace should never be tolerated, however famous they are, or think they are.

So he was sacked & rightly so. He needs to learn how to behave in a proper and acceptable way.

[robminibcy]

shame its ended but I've no doubt he'll be back elsewhere! I love top gear even though it is obviously staged at times. I like the fact that Clarkson will speak his mind whether other agree with it or not but certainly there is no excuse for abuse or violence and the bbc really didn't have a choice after that whatever the circumstances were that led up to the situation.

 

what I do struggle to understand us the moaning directed at Clarkson for the non pc thing he says on top gear. Someone surely has given him a script of sorts , then edited the program before signing the complete package of for airing so surely it is the production crews fault for broadcasting what some people might term oas offensive comments

[Black.Ghost]

It is pretty much the end of TG. Few can argue that however much support there might be for him, you can't hit a co-worker (or anyone for that matter) and follow it up with a torrent of verbal abuse. The only saving grace is that it was reportedly Clarkson who reported himself, rather that the producer. However, that might be viewed as a publicity stunt. Maybe he had had enough and didn't want to be the one to quit, so did something outrageous to get sacked and generate a bit of attention in the process. It also gives a lot of people chance to complain to the BBC as well, which he will no doubt have enjoyed. 

 

The show did work because of the three of them and I am not sure that May and Hammond with anyone else will really have the same pull. May said himself that it works because of the three of them and now they will have to think hard about what to do in the future. Top Gear with new presenters probably won't be as successful but I'll still give it a watch. Clarkson will no doubt end up with another show elsewhere - it may not even involve cars. You never know - someone might give him a talk show or something like that. Time will tell. 

 

One thing I would like to know about Clarkson 'speaking his mind' - are they really his opinions or does he do it because people seem to like it and if people like it they watch the show. More numbers = more money. Clarkson isn't stupid - look at how he turned the program round and has made a fair old bit on the side in doing so. It may all just be an act. 

[Ben_O]

I totally agree with the comments about the things he said in the shows being left in instead of being edited out.

 

I expect he was heavily involved in the final cuts but if his views were unacceptable then they should have been removed before the shows were aired.

 

I shall miss the show, especially the specials. yes they were staged and yes they were ridiculous but i always found them very enjoyable 

[Cooperman]

The BBC are very hypocritical really. They loved the £50m+ he made for them and just 'made noises' about some of the things he said which they found unacceptable whilst they were taking the money. How many times was he on a 'last warning'? In the end they had no option.

It was the same culture as with Savile, although there is no comparison between JC and Savile. The BBC, in general, knew all about Savile's penchant for sex with under-age girls, but they ignored it because he made a lot of money for them. Then, when he was dead and the proverbial brown stuff hit the fan, they tried to distance themselves from the reality of what he had been doing on their premises over years & years. They knew all about it. Lots of people knew about it. I met him once and I knew all about it. But everyone who mentioned it was ignored.

The BBC seem to wait until they are backed into a corner before they do the right thing. One wonders why they do this when they are publically funded by us, the licence payers. Too much 'double standards' there.