Top Gear’s top ‘hot water’ moments
11 November 2009
Top Gear has been in trouble again – this time for screening a spoof advertisement for Volkswagen that showed a man committing suicide by shooting himself in the head.
But this is unlikely to worry the Top Gear team too much – the popular trio are no strangers to controversy and have been in trouble with TV regulators Ofcom on several occasions before.
Here are some of Clarkson and company’s more notorious moments, and who and how they managed to offend.
1. Lorry drivers
Clarkson attracted investigation from Ofcom in 2008 when he described a lorry driver’s day as consisting of: “Change gear, change gear, change gear, check mirror, murder a prostitute, change gear, change gear, murder. That’s a lot of effort in a day.”
The reference was to the conviction of lorry driver Steve Wright for the murder of several Ipswich prostitutes and attracted 339 complaints.
Verdict: Not guilty
2. The gay community
In July 2006 Jeremy invited an audience member to comment on a Daihatsu Copen the team had in the studio.
The audience member described the car as “a bit gay,” and Jeremy went on to say it was “a bit ginger beer”.
The BBC responded by saying: “The executive producer of Top Gear has reminded the presenters and the production team of the importance of avoiding derogatory references to sexual orientation.”
Ofcom concluded Clarkson had broken the rules, but said the producers’ punishment was enough.
Verdict: Guilty, but unpunished
3. Tree lovers
Jeremy annoyed tree lovers in a Somerset village when he tested the strength of a Toyota Hilux by driving into a tree in 2004.
The locals thought the tree had been damaged by accident until the stunt was broadcast on Top Gear, showing it had been done intentionally.
The show got away with it, but agreed to pay £250 compensation to the village, along with an apology for its actions
Verdict: Guilty, but not officially punished
4. Crash victims
We all breathed a sigh of relief when Richard Hammond returned to our screens after his near fatal crash in 2007.
But there were 21 complaints to Ofcom after Jeremy made a joke about the incident on the show.
After the team had shown the footage of the crash, Jeremy pointed to his co-presenter and said: “Speed kills.”
It was claimed he was suggesting that speed doesn’t kill, but the complaints were dismissed.
Verdict: Not guilty
5. Animal lovers
May, Hammond and Clarkson set off to drive across America in $1000 cars in May 2007, and were challenged to eat road kill along the way.
Jeremy returned from his search with a dead cow on the roof of his car, which fell off when he turned sharply.
A raft of animal lovers complained that the stunt was demeaning to animals.
There is no record of any complaints being upheld on the Ofcom website.
Verdict: Not guilty
Gallery: When Top Gear goes wrong
6. Germany
When discussing the inclusion of typically British items in the German-built Mini Clubman in 2005, Jeremy suggested there should be a German equivalent.
“We should do a car that’s quintessentially German,” he said. “Give it trafficators that go like this.”
He then lifted his left arm and then right arm, imitating the Nazi salute.
The complaints said Clarkson’s comments were “poisonous rubbish” and it couldn’t be dismissed as “a bit of fun”.
Despite this, the complaints were not upheld.
Verdict: Not guilty
7. Norfolk
Jeremy is a well-known and long-standing critic of almost everything to do with Norfolk and has described it as “not the sort of place where they point and say “Ooh look. A Mercedes AMG65SL Black”. Instead they said “Ooh look. A car””
So far he has failed to attract any official punishments, but he has been criticised in various Facebook groups and newspaper comments thanks to his controversial statements.
Verdict: Not guilty
8. Gordon Brown
Unsurprisingly Jeremy is not a fan of our current Prime Minister, and has landed himself in trouble on several occasions for publicly insulting Gordon Brown.
In February 2009 he made reference to Brown’s loss of the sight in one eye when he was a child, saying: “In England we have this one-eyed Scottish idiot. He keeps telling us everything's fine and he's saved the world and we know he's lying.”
Spokesmen for the Royal National Institute of Blind People attacked him over the statement, but the BBC took no action after Clarkson apologised.
Verdict: Guilty, but let off for good behaviour
9. Conservationists
In 2007, Jeremy and the team took a mini convoy of vehicles across the Makgadikgadi salt plains in Botswana for an episode of Top Gear.
The Environmental Investigation Agency said their actions could inspire more people to follow their lead.
"The problem with the Top Gear thing is that it's not so much the area they are promoting, as the activity. The programme is extremely popular in southern Africa with car fans,” said a spokeswoman.
The BBC defended Top Gear’s actions, saying any tracks made would disappear in the rainy season.
Verdict: Not guilty
10. Drink-driving activists
James May and Jeremy even managed to attract criticism on their most famous expedition yet – driving to the North Pole in a specially adapted Toyota Hilux.
The pair were filmed drinking gin and tonic while at the wheel, an action that was slammed by the BBC Trust’s Editorial Standards Committee.
“The Committee did not think that the scenes of drinking while driving were editorially justified in the context of family entertainment,” it said.
Once again, the producers stepped in to defend its presenters, but the Trust said that: “Repeats of this programme should not be shown pre-watershed unless the scene was edited out."
Verdict: Guilty
Video: Watch the Jeremy Clarkson beatbox
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