Topic: Clarkson sacked

[Simon]

Jeremy Clarkson's contract will not be renewed after an "unprovoked physical attack" on a Top Gear producer, the BBC's director general has confirmed. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32052736

Personally, I think this has all be blown out of proportion.  It's a workplace scuffle, which should have been sorted out internally.  Sure, Clarkson shouldn't have done what he did, but in dropping him, the BBC have effectively killed the programme, punishing it's millions of worldwide fans, and costing the corporation hundreds of millions of pounds of future revenue.  I hope that the BBC live to regret this decision when Hammond and May also quit, and the show continues with all three of them on another channel. 

[Clive]

I take the opposing view and think he deserved to be sacked for putting someone in hospital.  Nobody should have to put up with behavior like that.  So you think Top Gear can't survive without Clarkson?  Clarkson only looked good because of the producers and cameramen he had working around him.  All BBC people.  Dozens of so-called BBC "stars" have defected to other channels but they don't succeed because it's the writers and producers have the real talent and they won't leave the beeb to work for channels they look down on.  And once you leave the BBC, you are not usually welcomed back with open arms by ex colleagues who feel betrayed.  A few years ago I was invited to a wedding where almost all the guests worked for the BBC.  Outsiders (like myself) were made to feel very inadequate and uncomfortable!   

[Simon]

I don't think Top Gear could survive in it's present format without Clarkson, especially as there are now likely to be three new presenters if a new series is made.  It will be a totally different show, because the dynamic of Clarkson, Hammond and May was what made it so popular.  It was a highly entertaining show, even for people who weren't really all that into cars, and I think the BBC will struggle to find that sort of chemistry between presenters again.

I certainly agree that Clarkson's actions merited a severe punishment, but the effective axing of a worldwide TV franchise, along with the costs involved, seem disproportionate to the severity of the 'crime', and goes to show how namby pamby left wing the BBC is now.  What should have happened was, it should have been kept 'in-house'.  Clarkson should have been suspended without pay for a year, the producer he hit should have been sent on a bloody good holiday with all of his family, at Clarkson's expense, and that should have been the end of it.

[daveeb]

Just to stick my two penneth in, I can't imagine any other profession where you could give a working colleague a load of verbals, then punch them, and not be sacked, other than boxing maybe  Just because he helps to make the Beeb a shed load of money shouldn't come in to it. 

I must admit i find him amusing and annoying in equal quantities.

I'm sure someone like Chris Evans or Dara O'brian could adequately fill the vacuum.

[Clive]

And they will.  Nobody is inexpendable. 

[Den]

If Chris Evans was on Top Gear I would never watch it again. I switch my car radio off as soon as I hear his voice, Jonathon Woss has the same affect on me. If Clarkson hit the producer who ended up in A&E then he should go, he would in any other job. The trouble is the presenters seem to think that they are Gods and can do anything. I worked for a BBC morning presenter early last year and she (and her Husband) were so rude and dishonest, living in their great big house one the Duke of Westminsters estate (costing the BBC £3,000 per month rent) and thinking they were wonderful. I spoke to someone the other day and she said her daughter went to the same school as this persons daughter and said she was so rude to everyone even though she comes across so nice on TV. 

[Clive]

They are certainly a cut above the rest of us.  The wedding guests weren't stars, they were producers, researchers and camera people.  The bride was a BBC researcher and the groom was the son of a friend of ours who worked for the Guardian.  Within twelve months the marriage was over.   

[Simon]

The BBC will rue the day it lost Jeremy Clarkson

[Clive]

I don't think the BBC will even notice Jeremy Vine has left Top Gear.