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Top Gear chat.
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Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 1 Apr 16 at 13:42
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I notice James May was interviewed wearing an HJ style hat...
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Loved James May's interview after the news broke of Clarkson's sacking.
"He's (Clarkson) a knob, but I quite like working with him"
I'm trying to find the video I saw last night of even offering the reporters cups of tea, but there were too many of them and he didn't have enough cups.
I wonder if his "I'm selling my Ferrari on ebay" comment was true?
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 26 Mar 15 at 09:57
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So what will Hammond and May do? They must be affected by BBC pulling the pug on the show. And all the crew, producers, and other staff employed are probably fuming. Are the BBC beholden to contracts to all those too?
Will the BBC TG magazine be afected too or is that a totally separate enterprise?
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Hammond and May's contracts are up for renewal too. They seem to not want to stay and that's their decision.
I would imagine the other TG staff will stay and be used elsewhere. Some will work on a new Top Gear. They can't all have been doing TG related work 100% of the time anyway. The show is only on for short runs and programmes are edited down to an hour.
I would think the magazine is separate with the trio doing some writing when they still worked for the BBC.
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BBC bids to air remaining Top Gear episodes
26 MARCH, 2015 | BY JAKE KANTER
BBC2 will attempt to get the final three episodes in the 22nd series of Top Gear on air despite sacking Jeremy Clarkson for assaulting a producer.
BBC director general Tony Hall said he has tasked BBC2 controller Kim Shillinglaw with completing the tail end of the series, which was pulled on 10 March following Clarkson’s suspension.
Hall told BBC News: “What I am hoping is that the BBC2 controller will be able to put together the last programmes in this current series, sadly without Jeremy.â€
Realising Hall’s ambition is unlikely to be straightforward. James May and Richard Hammond have both suggested that they will be loyal to their co-host and leave the show. “I think we are very much the three of us as a package,†May told reporters yesterday.
There is also uncertainty about the future role of executive producer Andy Wilman, who has been pivotal to show’s success since it was rebooted in 2002. He is a school friend of Clarkson’s and may also chose loyalty to the presenter over completing series 22.
While the Top Gear team is likely to have a significant amount of pre-recorded footage, the studio elements of the show are recorded close to TX and have not yet been filmed.
It is also not clear if the BBC would be prepared to include the pre-recorded footage it holds of Clarkson, following his attack on producer Oisin Tymon.
Features lined up for the remainder of the series include the presenting team testing second-hand SUV’s and Clarkson driving luxury limos around the Top Gear track.
Beyond series 22, Hall has tasked Shillinglaw with reinventing the motoring programme in 2016. “Then the most important thing is to look to 2016 and how we can renew the programme and give back to the fans, of which I am one, a programme which they love. That will be different and difficult, but that’s what we’ve got to do,†he said.
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Oh dear.
I think I've gone off motoring programmes. They're for 12-year-olds anyway and usually purvey misleading or erroneous information.
Today's comic had a long list of possible Clarkson replacements for TG if it continues, with betting odds against each, the egregious Chris whatsisname at the top. Apparently all or most of these people are supposed to be terrific drivers... Jeez, do me a favour.
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If they remade Top Gear as a Fifth Gear alike, or went to a consumer type programme about cars that would be all very lovely but I wouldn't find that particularly appealing.
If Netflix got the three of them together and sent them off to cock about in various ways around the world I'd watch that quite happily. They were the bits I liked best - the specials, the races, the making a caravan out of bicycle parts and so on.
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Is driving skill a requirement for presenting TG? That's what the Stig is for, JC was entertaining, it didn't matter that he didn't really have a clue about normal motoring or really skilled driving.
I, and I suppose many others, didn't watch TG to see JC and the others driving really well, we watched it for some great cars and a lot of entertaining messing about by 3 blokes who had great chemistry for entertainment.
Yes I know it was starting to look a bit tired, maybe it's a good time for a revamp, but its good times were very good.
end of rant....
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This producer must have been a real pussy to let himself get slapped by JC. He (JC) comes across as a lanky unfit gobby primadonna. Any self respecting object of his assault, should have put him on the floor and given him a quick kicking.
That would have made the news.
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Jezza may be unfit but he's a biggish bloke. And looking a pussy for not decking him is last thing on mind when being bullied by a superior.
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I think there us a big difference ( in my life at least) between being bullied and being hit. If someone hit me I would instinctively hit back, unless there was more than one of them or I knew they were hard nuts. In which case I would be a chicken. But I know a few lads who are considerably shorter, lighter, and older than JC who would put his lights out in double quick time.
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>>This producer must have been a real pussy to let himself get slapped by JC
The point could be argued, but lets assume for a moment that he is a pussy.
That doesn't really change much. Clarkson physically assaulted someone at work, in an argument over work.
Nothing else really comes into it, does it?
However the BBC managed the process, its difficult to see any other result they could have gone for.
I agree on a personal level, I can stand and take any amount of verbal abuse and simply get even; I doubt that I could take physical abuse without reacting. But that hasn't arisen, and nor should it. Arguably someone should be punished less for hitting me because I'm big and bad tempered and should be punished more for hitting a wimp, but its not really relevant.
He hit a work colleague on work time over a work-related matter.
Of course, its saved the BBC ever having to replace Clarkson as his popularity inevitably waned, and saved him from having to either quit or fade and die, so its not that bad a result for anyone.
Except the producer, perhaps.
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I see from the your link No FM2R that matey got slapped at Simonstone Hall, just north of Hawes. ( a pal of mine once addressed the WI there and began his talk by saying '' good evening Hawes''. He thought if funny. I digress)
Stayed there with the exex for a birthday celebration before the unpleasantness. Superb location, very, shall we say, traditional. I drive past regularly when helping a carpenter friend with work in Swaledale ( Swoddle as it is pronounced) at holiday homes in Keld & Muker. A fine driving road over the Buttertubs, although only a few weeks ago my pal had a long detour home after rain in Swoddle fell as snow up on t'tops and closed it overnight. Long way to any A & E from there. Clarkson knows the area. He road tested the actual Quattro I once owned ( third hand) around the Tubs & Bainbridge in snowy conditions. Still available to view on YouTube, and being a saddo I still watch it very occasionally. Oh dear....
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Oh, and if anyone wants a holiday rental with stunning views down Swaledale I can thoroughly recommend the place I have worked on.
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>> Oh, and if anyone wants a holiday rental with stunning views down Swaledale I can
>> thoroughly recommend the place I have worked on.
Can you get it moved to the Derbyshire Dales? The Missus wants to go to Chatsworth, and I want to visit Butterley.
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Never heard of Butterley until now. However, it is close enough to the Settle Carlisle, and the midweek steam specials start in a few months according to a drinking chum who works as sometime fireman on them.
Trust me, the view down Swaledale, especially when the wild flower meadows are in full bloom, is simply stunning. And can be viewed from the hot tub.
Beamish would make a grand day out from Angram (Swoddle) should the weather be inclement.
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The last ever episode of Top Gear leaked:
youtu.be/iLRna0RRvxo
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Let us, for a moment, consider Oisin Tymon;
Didn't hit or attack anyone.
Didn't report or complain about any assault.
Made no statements to the press.
Now refusing to "press charges".
And yet now being abused by various low-life on the internet for ruining top Gear, Clarkson, etc.
You have to wonder where [and how] these idiots breed.
Personally I'd say he's handled himself about as well as has been possible since the incident happened. Credit to him.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Fri 27 Mar 15 at 12:28
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>> Let us, for a moment, consider Oisin Tymon; Didn't hit or attack anyone. Didn't report or complain about any assault. Made no statements to the press. Now refusing to "press charges".
Yep, not his fault that Clarkson is a cock. (to steal May's phrase)
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 27 Mar 15 at 12:53
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To give the devil his due, JC is reported today to have denounced those abusing Oisin Tymon on the internet.
A lot of veiled pugnacity and aggression from posters in this thread, 'I'd have decked him', 'I know a few lads (in their fifties or sixties!) who could give him a right kicking', that sort of thing.
Calm down chaps.
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>> To give the devil his due, JC is reported today to have denounced those abusing
>> Oisin Tymon on the internet.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32083181
youtu.be/BOUK5GMHAaQ
"I wish people would leave Ois alone cos none of this is his fault"
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AC, there was absolutely no veiled aggression in my post. Put simply. I can take bullying in the workplace. Taunts. Snide remarks. But when it becomes physical, and should someone physically assault me, even a single smack in the mouth, then my self control would be exceeded.
I think Mr Tymons self restraint was exemplary in not retaliating. Personally, once that line is crossed, I could not turn the other cheek. Unless I thought I would get badly pulverised, and even then, once the red mist comes down...I know very few people who would not retaliate after being hit, but then I live in the country when many of my acquaintances are builders & farmers.
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Anyone punched for no good reason would hit back legacy. Your posts are reasonable. I wasn't getting at you.
It's just that the thread was getting a bit heated.
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I really despair of civilisation.
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>> I really despair of civilisation.
>>
Would you care to expand a little, so that we may make proper comment?
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1. That this actually a news story
2. And that some imbecile has been moved to threaten to kill someone over it.
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>> 1. That this actually a news story
>>
I thought it was a useful roundup of the story and a bit of background. It is in the magazine section on the news.
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>>2. And that some imbecile has been moved to threaten to kill someone over it.
I loath this sort of thing. These prats probably feel brave behind their keyboards and it is all a bit of a lark, but they don't understand the real fear that it can cause for the recipient because they have no idea if it is a joker with no intention to carry out the threat or a real nut job who may.
In the same way that bank robbers with a fake gun are convicted of going armed (because the victim can't tell the difference) these posted threats to kill should be treated like a real threat to kill and the penalties should be harsh enough to deter others.
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JC on Desert Island Discs in 2003: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0093775
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Take one rumour, add two and two to make five and you get:
James May has tweeted today he will "be away for a few days" and
www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/433548/Jeremy-Clarkson-James-May-Richard-Hammond
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Sounds unlikely.
Do a new thing in the old place.
Do the old thing in a new place.
But don't do a new thing in a new place.
This report suggests that they would do something new (a different show, more outrageous), in a new place (Netflix not FTA TV) and presumably therefore to a new audience.
Are the three of them at the stage where they would do anything just for the money, even if it might [will?] not work out? Perhaps. Maybe just to wave a finger at the BBC in the early days.
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>> Access denied
Same here.
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>> >> www.oddschecker.com/novelty/top-gear/who-will-replace-jeremy-clarkson-as-top-gear-host
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>> Access denied! Copy/paste please?
Actually it was only the VPN rather than the laptop blocking entry - can see it now. (And can see it's not amenable to copy/paste for Vx.)
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I would guess if you are at work your company router might well block it. And I woudl guess being a betting site that needs to confirm identity it might not like a VPN or Proxy
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 31 Mar 15 at 14:07
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>> (And can see it's not amenable to copy/paste for Vx.)
Just accessed the list via my iPad instead of though my work PC. Yes, quite a long list of names there.
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Be interesting if against his protestations Andy Wilman took over front of camera.
After all, he is the fourth unseen member of the team and always has been, and probably understands the chemistry more than anyone else alive.
Even if it were only for the "wrap up this series" bits.
Last edited by: Crankcase on Tue 31 Mar 15 at 15:36
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Interesting selection of names
The trio of Bruce Forsyth, Naomi Campbell and John Prescott would be good
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The majority of the show's current appeal is down to the chemistry between the three presenters, and of course Clarkson's presentation style. The chemistry, and Clarkson are both gone. There is no show now, at least in anything like its current format.
The only way Top Gear can continue now is with a fundamental relaunch and fresh start a la 2002. Any attempt to continue with it in its present format without Clarkson is so laughable it beggars belief.
Game over, as far as I am concerned.
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>> Interesting selection of names
>>
>> The trio of Bruce Forsyth, Naomi Campbell and John Prescott would be good
wont be on for long.
Episode 1: Campbell throws a tantrum, Prescott punches her, and Brucie falls over her prostrate body, has a heart attack and dies.
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Jeremy Clarkson to appear on rebranded Top Gear live shows
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32137424
A deal has been done to fulfil a series of live shows that were planned before the presenter was dropped from the show for hitting a producer.
The gigs will be stripped of all BBC branding and content and will be called Clarkson, Hammond and May Live.
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I was wibbling at the weekend about how I'm going to miss them fannying about in deserts and being stupid, and Mrs C said, well why don't you see how much it would be to go and see them one more time on stage, it'll be your last chance, go on.
It hadn't actually occurred to me so I checked. Two tickets, £209. That's way out of my league, especially as you'd have to add an overnight stop in somewhere like Sheffield, travelling costs, a meal out - it's going to be nudging £350, £400.
So, old specials on DVD it is.
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>> So, old specials on DVD it is.
...or Dave, if you don't mind the ad breaks.
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>> ...or Dave, if you don't mind the ad breaks.
..and one can find a time when she is ensconced far away in the East Wing library somewhere well away from the television, as being a sensible person of taste she cannot abide anything to do with any of them, viewing them as unamusing prats, one of whom is a confirmed unpleasant bully.
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>> ...or Dave,
Or BBC iPlayer, where ironically TG drew large viewing numbers after JC's suspension.
Four episodes of Top Gear took the first, second, third and fifth slots in the list of February’s most-viewed shows on the iPlayer.
The BBC played down the importance of Top Gear to the record iPlayer figures, insisting it had been driven by EastEnders. (but then they would say that wouldn't they)
www.theguardian.com/media/2015/apr/02/top-gear-bbc-iplayer-jeremy-clarkson-eastenders-lucy-beale
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Turns out the BBC have not dismissed him
He was dismissed by BBC Top Gear . . . .
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32214799
Now either they sacked him or they didn't and this is starting to smell.
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Nobody dismissed anybody.
He had a contract to present Top Gear which expired and was not renewed.
That's it.
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HIGNFY is produced by Hat Trick Productions for showing on the BBC. So no-one on that programme is employed by the BBC (unless they have another broadcast role).
My guess is the BBC could refuse to show that episode, but they'd be on dodgy ground if they did.
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Clarkson's contract expired and the BBC did not renew it. But that's not punishment, since it was not certain in any case. At worst it might be disappointment.
However, as far as I am aware, they did not end his existing contract early.
So there were no sanctions for his behaviour. Essentially the BBC is, by action. saying "it wasn't bad enough to do anything about it" whatever they said about crossing lines in press statements.
Unless, of course, they applied some punishment of which we are not aware.
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>> Unless, of course, they applied some punishment of which we are not aware.
I say, hard luck Clarkson! The DG wants to see you in his office after breakfast, and he said to remind you to take the cane...
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>> So there were no sanctions for his behaviour.
There was a sanction for his behaviour.
They declined to re-new what would have been a rubber stamped, lucrative contact.
He is down many thousands of pounds.
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>> He is down many thousands of pounds.
... And I heard the Beak talking to your ma and pa on the phone. Sounded as if they were complaining about your tuckshop account getting out of hand... The Beak thinks your allowance is too big...
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>> >> So there were no sanctions for his behaviour.
>> There was a sanction for his behaviour.
>
>> They declined to re-new what would have been a rubber stamped, lucrative contact. He is down many thousands of pounds.
I know what you mean, but it doesn't work like that.
Their legal relationship is the duration of the contract. There was no future contract, nobody was legally bound by anything.
Exaggeration for illustration. Assume that he did provably hit a producer and it was on the first day of a 10 year contract. Would you think it acceptable if the BBC said; "Don't worry, we'll sort him out. 10 years from now we won't renew his contract, that'll show him!".
Imagine tomorrow someone else under a similar contract hits a producer, what will you expect the BBC to do? Simply allow his contract to expire whenever that may be?
You cannot say that you have sanctioned somebody by taking away something they haven't got and which they have no legally binding expectation of, and allowing the thing that they do have [existing contract] to run uninterrupted.
I suspect that this "deal" or "result", had to be and was accepted by the Producer and that if he had refused to accept it, then it would have had to be dealt with further.
Perhaps the Producer is just a decent chap.
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If you like them then this ten minute montage will perfectly encapsulate their chemistry.
If you don't, the your head would explode with a poisonous combination of boredom and weariness, so best not to watch.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5GJLBE-9Cs
I like it a lot.
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>> I like it a lot.
I don't. No funny moments, just a lot of slightly forced guffawing. Awful.
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Did your head explode, oh dyspeptic one? :)
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>> Did your head explode, oh dyspeptic one? :)
No. It went all squishy and collapsed like punctured football.
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>> No. It went all squishy and collapsed like punctured football.
Reminds me of my first ever foray into Photoshop - I made a little macro that made wherever you clicked on the photo look as if it had swelled up like a balloon.
I spent many happy hours applying it amusingly to pictures of children's heads in publicity shots in the company leaflets, and saving them surreptitiously over the originals, before being asked to Move Along.
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I *really* enjoyed that. Infectious.
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Jeremy Clarkson pulls out of Have I Got News For You
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32244405
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And Sue Perkins is bookies favourite to replace Clarkson on TG.... Hmm not sure myself if true. She's okay on the Bake Off.
tinyurl.com/n78oacq
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>>And Sue Perkins is bookies favourite to replace Clarkson on TG.... Hmm not sure myself if true. She's okay on the Bake Off.
Sue Perkins has been sent death threats from people apparently on Twitter!
There are so many sick sods out there, it is clear that either care in the community is not working or all the nut jobs have not be caught and locked up yet.
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Richard Hammond is Bored
tinyurl.com/ocjqqkf - Daily Wail
youtu.be/1Z3Q3OzIJRY
youtu.be/1ZXYfjkZQaQ
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 21 Apr 15 at 13:51
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>> Richard Hammond is Bored
s'ok we are bored with him as well
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>> s'ok we are bored with him as well
Hardly surprising if that's all he can come up with. No wonder he and others have script writers, producers, directors, etc in the background.
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The headline is "James May 'will not return to Top Gear' without Clarkson" but that's not really what he says.
www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-32431956
What is interesting is this bit....
"May has said there "might be an opportunity for three of us to get back together on the BBC to do Top Gear or a car show of some sort".
"The BBC haven't completely closed the door on Jeremy's return," he told the Guardian.
"They've not banned him or fired him, only just not renewed his contract for the moment. It's a subtle difference, but an important one."
Earlier this week, Shillinglaw stressed there was no ban on Clarkson returning to the BBC, despite director general Tony Hall's decision to fire him last month, saying "a line has been crossed"
As I have said previously, nobody has been fired. There have been no sanctions.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Thu 23 Apr 15 at 13:22
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They let Ross, Brand and Bacon back into Auntie Beeb's bosom so JC should be no different.
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Top Gear producer Andy Wilman quits show
Wilman, who was an old school friend of Clarkson, helped reinvent the show and oversaw its growth into a globally successful programme.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32437814
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Wasn't all this pallava down to a lack of hot food? Only a couple of miles down the road is Hawes, where you will find Curry Cottage. Sorted in ten minutes, or less.
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>> Sorted in ten minutes, or less.
Clarkson doesn't do 10 minutes though. Now or thump.
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>> Andy Wilman gone
Mentioned a couple of places up from here yesterday by Henry ;)
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 24 Apr 15 at 12:59
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Hmm. It IS still March, yes?
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And the new team is
Jodie Kidd, Philip Glenister and Guy Martin,
according to the Telegraph.
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That could work. Glenister comes over quite well in his C4 series, and the other two can drive a bit.
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I guess it depends on what Top Gear becomes (wants to become).
The previous format required the correct chemistry between the presenters rather than any particular driving ability.
I will say that I found Guy Martin pretty contrived and intolerable in that Spitfire thing last year, although that is the only thing I've ever seen him in.
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If true, I'm surprised Guy Martin said yes. Always had him down as more sensible than that (for a motorbike racer with a speed complex). The Spitfire programme is about the worst thing he's done. He's been better in just about everything else he's done.
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Like most Yorkshiremen, he gets on your tits after the first pint. Boycott is the same
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>> Like most Yorkshiremen, he gets on your tits after the first pint. Boycott is the
>> same
Boycott gets on my tits before the first pint. Before breakfast, lunch and dinner. When it's dark and when it's light. When it's raining, when it's sunny.
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>> Philip Glenister
I watched him the other evening on Channel 4. The programme was about restoring some car or other. Didn't really rate him as a presenter though. And I can only recall him being in Life on Mars.
>> and Guy Martin,
Never heard of him until now.
I think the Beeb ought to just put TG to bed and be done with it.
Last edited by: VxFan on Wed 6 May 15 at 10:25
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VxFan beat me to it. Not many people outside the world of motor-cycles have heard of Guy, which may be a good thing or a bad thing, what is true is that he has a huge female following. I think it will spoil him. He's not a celebrity.
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>> >> and Guy Martin,
>>
>> Never heard of him until now.
On-board video of his (at the time - might still be?) record TT lap with his commentary over the top:
youtu.be/QVXc29ZgutI?t=22
Amazing! But not sure whether he (or the others) are right for TG...
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>> On-board video of his (at the time - might still be?) record TT lap
Several times he said "I'm terrible at names"
He'll be no good commentating whenever anyone goes around the TG test track at Dunsfold then. Nor when he's interviewing the SIARPC.
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>> Nor when he's interviewing the SIARPC.
Heres hoping that with the new presenters we get a new format. And the end of the SIARPC.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 7 May 15 at 12:59
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>> He'll be no good commentating whenever anyone goes around the TG test track at Dunsfold then. Nor when he's interviewing the SIARPC.
If this does go ahead, will it retain the same style?
Will they have a lead presenter with two subordinates? Who will that be?
Clarkson always interviewed the nonentity in a reasonably expensive car. Will that change?
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 7 May 15 at 12:58
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Oh come on.
"House of Cars".
Really? Good rumour but I bet Clarkson started it.
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Probably last ever Top Gear in the old format "coming soon" - here's the BBC trailer.
t.co/kI4ZXXxtcD
Clarkson is on TV again on Friday though, with Chris Evans on Channel 4.
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I wondered what they would do with the unused footage for the last series.
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Top Gear Chat Volume 20. - Runfer D'Hills
