Jeremy Clarkson and Top Gear features

[faceless]

I've just downloaded the first two series of Top Gear off a torrent site and while I'm quite enjoying it, I've begun to notice how often Clarkson just changes his opinion without explanation. One example was when in series 1 he described the movie "Fast and The Furious" as a terrible movie, but here in the first episode of series 2 he's saying it's "a good movie" - maybe that's because the guest is Vinnie Jones who appeared in it... the pussy!

One good thing about the series 2 is the introduction of James May as the new presenter though - the "Fat Bloke" who presented alongside Clarkson and Hammond in the first series was a bit of a fanny...

[tasst]

These guy's have gone for strength to strength, now one of the best set of presentors, covering a wide range of topics, both car and non car related.

[faceless]

Clarkson rapped over 'gay' jibe
18/05/07
Jeremy Clarkson has been criticised by the media watchdog Ofcom for using a term which was "capable of giving offence to homosexual people". The Top Gear host described a vehicle on the BBC Two show last July as being "very ginger beer", taken to be rhyming slang for the term "queer". Ofcom said there was "no justification for using the word in this way".

In December, the BBC complaints unit said there has been "no editorial purpose" for the remarks. Ofcom said the complaint had been resolved because the BBC had already warned the production team and producers not to repeat the offence. The regulator decided the use of the word "gay" was not necessarily offensive, but Clarkson's use of the term was "clearly linking the reference to homosexual people". Clarkson used the phrase during a discussion with the studio audience about the two-seater Daihatsu Copen.

Last year, he was cleared of making a racist slur about Germany because this was adjudged to be amusing rather than offensive.

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[major.tom]

[alan1254]

Must say I have no interest in cars my wife has a minus score on interest in cars but we both like top gear doesnt matter if you dont know anything about cars or have or even dislike the subject top gear is a very entertaining show, its just plain good stuff very well presented

[faceless]

that's what I think too Alan - it's just good entertainment, even the moments where I want to reach through the screen and wallop Clarkson!

[alan1254]

yes he can have that, smug , i need slap, look on his face

[faceless]

We are failing
20/07/07
www.dailystar.co.uk

BUNGLING Top Gear stars were slammed by coastguards after trying to sail the Channel in three cars. Two of the specially-adapted vehicles sank within minutes of leaving Dover. Presenters James May and Richard Hammond had to hitch a lift on Jeremy Clarkson’s Nissan 4x4, which had an outboard motor tacked on. Daredevil Hammond, 37, had attached a propeller to a VW camper van while May, 44, adapted a Triumph Herald into a sailing boat. Clarkson, 47, casually brewed up a mug of tea and waited for his two floundering pals.

When they arrived in France they were told to hop it back home. An onlooker joked: “James May came a cropper pretty quickly, but Hammond didn’t seem to be expecting his VW camper to sink at all. Clarkson looked very smug.”

But Dover coastguards were furious because the stars failed to make hourly safety calls. A senior coastguard said: “Obviously a lot of people cross the Channel in weird and wonderful ways and if they don’t keep us up to date then hundreds of lives are at risk. It’s important to remember that the Channel is used by vessels of up to 300,000 tonnes. But the guys from Top Gear didn’t tell us they were going and didn’t keep us updated on their course so we could track them on our radar. It’s totally irresponsible. I know everything Clarkson does is a stunt but this is a bit too much. It has caused a bit of a fuss. I certainly won’t be watching Top Gear again.”

James May had admitted: “None of us has any knowledge of sailing – well I have read a Ladybird book about it, Clarkson once had a boating holiday and I’m not sure about Hammond."

No-one from the BBC was available for comment. The episode is on BBC2 in the autumn.

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I don't get it - they did a similar challenge with exactly these vehicles a couple of series ago...

[Bob]

I saw the polar special and thought it was pretty amusing, and if nothing else, it was a good advert for toyota.

[alan1254]

i enjoyed the special very much , they have that sick humour, and i also could not believe it had not been done before , did think the coolest but was actualy the guide kite sking or whatever they might call it

[faceless]

Clarkson flouts the smoking ban
15th October 2007
www.dailymail.co.uk

BBC chiefs faced more embarassment as Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May openly flouted the smoking ban on the popular motoring show. Anti-smoking campaigners called for an apology from the BBC after the speed-mad Top Gear presenters lit up Porsche branded pipes and puffed away during the news section of the controversial programme. Clarkson was then shown 'eating' the pipe's bowl before running from the stage having burned his tongue.

The show was filmed at a hanger near Godalming in Surrey. An investigation is underway by the local Waverley Borough Council. A spokesperson said that it's environmental health department had not yet seen the footage, but would be investigating the matter further after it had been brought to their attention.

The BBC said they had received a number of complaints from viewers but initially claimed they had not broken the law because the presenters had smoked a herbal honey mixture and not tobacco. But the embarrassed broadcaster was forced to backtrack after being told it is illegal to light anything that is capable of being smoked in a workplace.

The stunt on Sunday's show featured as part of a discussion of Porsche branded products that are sold on the super car manufacturer's website. After joking about the available range of keyrings and t-shirts, Clarkson, May and co-host Richard Hammond each pulled out a pipe from under their chair. Clarkson and May lit their pipes but Hammond - who recently revealed he had quit smoking - said he was not a fan of the pipe and did not light up. As May reclined in his grandad-style armchair, Clarkson turned his pipe around and put it into his mouth joking "this is the 911 version - the hot bit goes at the back".

The Porsche Design website says the pipe is made of 40 year old Bruyere wood that "refines the taste of tobacco and turns the enjoyment of pipe smoking into a unique experience." It adds: "The cooling ribs cut into the material along the lines of the famous air-cool Porsche Boxster engines creating a thermal effect that cools the pipe bowl to a pleasant temperature."

Amanda Sandford, from anti-smoking campaign group ASH, said it was an obvious breach and called for an apology. She said: "It was a blatant breach of the law and the BBC should offer an immediate apology that acknowledges what they have done. I understand it was meant to be a light hearted part of the programme but it does not excuse the fact that they were flouting the law. It is inappropriate to have people smoking and breaking the law as blatantly as they did. The law is designed to stop people from smoking exposure in workplaces such as the television studio where the incident took place."

"The BBC could be fined over the incident but I think that is unecessary in this case, as long as they apologise and say it will not happen again. If it was really necessary for them to smoke they could have done the filming outside. It is supposed to be a programme about cars that has a young following and I do not think it is necessary to feature smoking on a programme like that.", she added.

The incident has ignited a fierce debate on internet chat rooms. Posting on the Yahoo webforum, a user calling himself Bonzo the Magnificient wrote: "Not being a lawyer, I don't know if Clarkson and May broke the 'thou shalt not smoke in the workplace' law on last night's show. Personally, I hope they did and in the process of puffing away on their Porsche pipes, managed to raise two fingers to the anti-smoking lobby. It was quite an amusing piece anyway, especially when Jezza put the wrong end in his big mouth."

A BBC spokesman said: "During an item in last night's Top Gear, making fun of car merchandise, the presenters lit up branded pipes, which contained herbal tobacco. We are very upfront about the style and tone of the show, so viewers know what to expect. There were no complaints from members of the audience present during the filming."

Businesses and authorities that fail to stop people smoking in prohibited areas can be fined £2,500.

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I thought this was a 'crime' when I saw it on the programme last night and couldn't work out how the producer had allowed it to stay in - they must have known what they were doing.

[Bob]

That's pretty amusing

[Mandy]

Yep, amusing but totally irresponsible.

On second thoughts, a bit more peaceful civil disobedience is maybe what is needed to wake up this government to the power of the people, so they stop listening to their donors.

[faceless]

I just watched tonight's Top Gear African Special, and thought it was pretty cool all the way through (aside from the obvious fakery of it) but the 'Archbishop Desmond' titles at the end made me wonder what the hell? It was possibly the least intelligent thing they've ever done - as opposed to just the usual plain stupid!

[faceless]

Clarkson hoisted by his own petard
5th January 2008

TV star Jeremy Clarkson has become the victim of his own brash confidence after someone set up a direct debit for a charity in his name after he printed his own bank account details in a newspaper column.

Last November, the nation was in uproar after the two discs containing the bank details of millions of Britons went missing in the Government benefit blunder. In his column, the Top Gear presenter argued that there was nothing to worry about as all of our details were readily available to any would-be fraudsters whenever we handed out cheques. To emphasise this point, he allowed his bank account number and sort code to be printed, in very large type, in his weekly column in the Sun.

However, in the newspaper today he revealed that someone has used his details to set up a direct debit with the British Diabetic Association to take £500 from his account every month. Suitably chastened, Clarkson now concedes: "So there you are. I was wrong. I have been punished for my mistake."

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arf arf!