And they usually make me laugh out loud.
Top Gear is also one of the most profitable franchises for the BBC of all times and can sometimes challenge the BBC values of conservatism and fairness (as they did with Sir Cliff Richard in my opinion…).
Yet household name Jeremy Clarkson is all about provocative journalism because he knows this PR works best for Top Gear on a global scale.
So what went wrong in Argentina?
When news that a car with an offensive registration H982FKL (982 as in the 1982 war and FKL as in Falklands) was used in Argentina I instantly put this down to Jezza taking yet another PR risk too far. The thought that this could be a coincidence never entered my head.
Yet my husband instantly sided with Jeremy and was convinced this was an unfortunate accident whilst agreeing with me that this episode would command massive TV ratings at Christmas. Which it did of course.
Certainly Jeremy said a lot of unusually nice things about Argentina, and Tierra del Fuego in particular, all likely to boost their tourism receipts from the British brave. But we all know that this sounded out of character and would have been recorded after the event. I presume he/they had the consequences of not trying to make amends here writ large.
Well below BBC values?
I now read that Argentine’s Ambassador to the UK, Alicia Castro, has complained to the BBC saying that Clarkson’s behaviour in the country fell ‘well below’ BBC editorial values, accusing them of ‘covering up.’ Presumably she felt that the treatment of the BBC TV crew was ‘above reasonable’ by Argentinians in the circumstances?
Not in my book.
Yes I think someone at the BBC was particularly stupid (lax or out to be provocative) to allow the registration to be used but I also think that the treatment the film crew were subjected to was equally as stupid (scary and provocative). This could easily have escalated into a major Falklands-esque incident.
Does one dollop of stupidity justify another? I don’t think so but then perhaps I would say that…
On reflection, I’d say this was yet another perfect example of boys behaving badly, in keeping with the Top Gear identity and ethos. It made for sensational TV at Xmas of course but best put behind us in January.
Better BBC scrutiny is surely needed in future and, of course, one of these days Jeremy will move on, the programme will die a natural death without him and we’ll all be sad and glad to have had the fun we’ve had.
How has he/they got away with this for so long I wonder?
FOXY
PS: And how soon can I visit Argentina to see that beautiful country for myself?