Complaints over Clarkson's Top Gear quip near 1900

by Ben Bold, Brand Republic 06-Nov-08, 11:25

LONDON - The number of complaints to the BBC about Jeremy Clarkson's joke on 'Top Gear' that truck drivers have a hard job "driving and murdering prostitutes", are continuing to rise and now stand at almost 1900.

The BBC said it had now received 1869 complaints. The number of complaints reached 1717 yesterday and that figure is still rising although 158 have also voiced their support for Jeremy Clarkson.

According to BBC sources, the figure has been largely driven by media coverage of Clarkson's comments, rather than by people who actually watched the show.

Sunday's edition of the programme was viewed by an audience of 7m and initially drew 188 complaints by the following day.

Following much indignant media coverage, that figure escalated to 517 yesterday and surged once more today.

A source close to the BBC said that many of the people who have complained pointed out that they would not watch 'Top Gear' anyway, but had been prompted into complaining after reading about Clarkson's comments in the press.

The Daily Mail, which ran a moralising campaign to get Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand sacked from the BBC last week, used an image of lorry driver and Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe to generate outrage.

The BBC issued a statement, saying: "The vast majority of 'Top Gear' viewers have clear expectations of Jeremy Clarkson's long-established and frequently provocative on-screen persona.

"This particular reference was used to comically exaggerate and make ridiculous an unfair urban myth about the world of lorry driving, and was not intended to cause offence."

In contrast to Mail readers, the chief executive of lorry fleet operator Eddie Stobart took the joke in his stride.

Stobart pointed out: "They were just having a laugh."

During 'Top Gear' on Sunday, Clarkson drove his HGV through a brick wall at about 90km/h as part of a series of lorry-driving tasks.

Clarkson's cab crumpled as the truck hit the wall, leaving him with a heavily bruised shin and back, and an index finger that looked like "a burst sausage".

Comments

Morley#99

Morley#99 - 05/11/2008

AAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
 
 
Nuts n Seeds

Nuts n Seeds - 05/11/2008

Tiresome gobshite who is well overdue a slapping down. A joke is a joke, but there's limits to what can and should be broadcast.

 
 
 
tim cato

tim cato - 05/11/2008

There have been loads of films about mad lorries and lorry drivers. shall we ban those as well and commit the writers and directors who made these films? Have some more nuts and get a life . Mr Clarkson made this comment knowing many people had watched films and also knew about the ripper giving a sarcastic viewpoint which was more humerous and applicable to the sort or jokes that are circulated by text. Misinterpreted by do dooders who happily change history to suit todays PC extremists. LONG LIVE CLARKSON !

 
 
 
Stacy Norman

Stacy Norman - 05/11/2008

I cant belive that people have time to complain about something so minor! People who watch Top Gear every week know full well That the legend that is Mr Clarkson will make a Politically incorrect statement some where in the show! I am sick and tired of being told what I can and can not say! What happened to freedom of speech! If you are a bloody do gooder that may I suggest dont watch top gear! Watch songs of praise!!!!!

 
 
 
B J HOPPING

B J HOPPING - 05/11/2008

So, it's o.k to comment on murder? Well, if it had been another topic instead of lorries and he had said "Murder a child or murder an Iranian or Muslem" or something else politically incorrect WOULD THAT BE O.K??

 
 
 
Dominic Gudgeon

Dominic Gudgeon - 05/11/2008

Can everyone just fuck off for a moment please.

 
 
 
B J HOPPING

B J HOPPING - 05/11/2008

Whatever you say DOMINIC!! but only for a moment?

 
 
 
A DIAZ

A DIAZ - 05/11/2008

If anything needs complaining about it's the Daily Mail. Now they see themselves as having one victory over their long time nemesis, the BBC, it will be any excuse to rouse their braindead readers into a rapture of righteous indignation and hatred. Meanwhile Paul Dacre listens to onward christian soldiers on full blast in his office. Now there's somoene who is morally bankrupt.

 
 
 
Jade Natasha Perkins

Jade Natasha Perkins - 05/11/2008

i think all the bad complaints are pathetic.... iwatched this with my boyfriend and 63year old nana and even she laughed at it... is stupid the way people are going off! its the 21st century guys.... speaking like this is normal now!!!!

 
 
 
Devin Parmar

Devin Parmar - 05/11/2008

Clarkson is a legend and the main selling point for Top Gear is the Banter and Camaraderie and that all it was!

 
 
 
Jacquie Bowser

Jacquie Bowser - 05/11/2008

I think Clarkson is hilarious. He pushes the boundaries sometimes but so what? The people making complaints need to settle themselves down.

 
 
 
Pyrrhic

Pyrrhic - 05/11/2008

B J HOPPING - of course it wouldn't be OK to joke about those things, but that is a completely different thing entirely. Surely you can see the difference? It's exactly that kind of blanket PC knee-jerking that makes most sane minded \(and good humoured) people shudder. Now fuck off and join your buddies on The Daily Mail boards

 
 
 
Jenny Miller

Jenny Miller - 05/11/2008

What has happened to the good old British sense of humour?? When I watch Top Gear I actually EXPECT to hear some opinionated and often slightly insulting comments from Clarkson, thats HIS style and what he is famous for. That is why I watch Top Gear!! There has been no sudden change, why all the complaints? Have poeple not got anything better to do, than to complain about comedians/entertainers these days. I would suggest some people need to get a life!!!!

 
 
 
Dominic Gudgeon

Dominic Gudgeon - 05/11/2008

People need to understand what makes a joke. Had Jeremy Clarkson actually become a trucker and killed a prostitute, it wouldn't have been a joke but a bizarelly timed confession. As he did neither, it's a joke and funny. Conversely, if you tell someone you have fucked their granddaughter, it is funny if it's not true. If it IS true then it's not funny it's insulting and cruel. Jokes such as the above work because they're NOT true, so offence should not be taken as IF they were... not that these things need explaining. Oh, wait...

 
 
 
NH

NH - 05/11/2008

"If you tell someone you have fucked their granddaughter, it is funny if it's not true." I understand your point, Dominic, but would tend to question the example you chose to explain it. Not that I give two shits about any of this, really.

 
 
 
Snowman

Snowman - 05/11/2008

Nuts and seeds what a silly comment

 
 
 
Dominic Gudgeon

Dominic Gudgeon - 05/11/2008

NH - that was my attempt at being flippantly topical. ha ha!

 
 
 
Stuart Aplin

Stuart Aplin - 05/11/2008

This crap is getting out of hand. Glad to see the article writer points out that the Daily Mail used specific imagery designed to 'generate outrage' but you've got to wonder how many of the people who complained about this were also the ones complaining about Ross & Brand. Do these people just go through life outraged at everything and spend their time looking for something to vent their anger on? If so ... please get a life

 
 
 
Ricky Harewood

Ricky Harewood - 05/11/2008

TOP GEAR RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So did top gun when I was a young nipper....

 
 
 
David P

David P - 05/11/2008

Good grief! Can nobody see through this at all? The ENORMOUS MAJORITY of people who are complaining weren't even watching the show. This means, that these are the same PC-promoting, limp, handwringing, apologist, busybodies who will go out of their way to complain about something which they disagree with. They are not complaining because it offended them, they weren't even watching the show, and therefore could hardly have suffered any offence. It is these people who are a direct threat to the fabric of British society, and who ensure that trivialities such as this get blown out of all proportion, which will leave us with the kind of PC, sanitised, Orwellian society of which they secretly dream. Pathetic!

 
 
 
AwallafaShagba

AwallafaShagba - 06/11/2008

1717 Daily Mail Readers!

 
 
 
Carl Martin

Carl Martin - 06/11/2008

David, Pathetic is the only word that springs to mind when I hear about these sad cases. Great choice of closing dialogue!

 
 
 
Snowman

Snowman - 06/11/2008

zzzzz Darren you talk to much

 
 
 
Holly Martins

Holly Martins - 06/11/2008

Finally a sane and sensible point. There are probably too few swear words or spelling mistakes in your comment for Rikkard to agree with you Darren.

 
 
 
Snowman

Snowman - 06/11/2008

Holly glad you have made this comment; it has proven that busy bodies like yourself interfere . This is precisely what has happened to Mr. Clarkson. The only people who need to comment on Clarkson are those this insult was fired at.

 
 
 
Holly Martins

Holly Martins - 06/11/2008

Judging by how many comments you have made and the catty, bitchy nature of your comments, the only busy body round here Rikkard is you! And you still can't spell even after reading Darren's comment and correcting one of the two spelling errors you have made.

 
 
 
Bryan Marshall

Bryan Marshall - 06/11/2008

fire him! fire the BBC! ban peple having fun. free speech too - ban that!

 
 
 
Dukie

Dukie - 06/11/2008

Clarksons the daddy

 
 
 
Victor

Victor - 06/11/2008

Ban the Daily Mail - Please I know people that read this paper everyday and belive every word in it "Oh it must be true it was in the Daily Mail" Oh please come on get a life.At least the Sun doesn't take itself so seriously

 
 
 
Eddie Bongo

Eddie Bongo - 06/11/2008

I knew a trucker once...a prostitute killed him whilst she was driving.

 
 
 
TIm Rooke

TIm Rooke - 06/11/2008

I would be very very suprised if anyone that actually watches Top Gear week in - week out would have complained. Its generally people that hear about it and complain, even though they have know idea how it was said in context to the show. To repeat the 1st comment: AAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
 
 
Dukie

Dukie - 06/11/2008

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AGREE

 
 
 
Simon Young

Simon Young - 07/11/2008

I wish there was a way to actively uncomplain. Unless it involves buying something.

 
 
 
ormiston groove

ormiston groove - 07/11/2008

Why, every time there's a complaint, do mental midgets trot out the tired & lazy "it's the PC brigade gone mad" line ... it's not the liberal left complaining here, it's the right-wing Mail-reading moral majority with sticks up their arses who are getting upset.

 
 
 
David P

David P - 07/11/2008

Darren, what does any of this have to do with the salaries that any BBC employee receives?  The answer, is NOTHING.  Unless it's some horrendous basis on which to vent their jealousy at the fact that someone *shock* earns more than them for doing apparently less work.

If people want some "change" from their licence fee, then why not do something constructive, like writing to the BBC in protest.  As these people appear singularly incapable of doing this, we have to deal with this kind of knee-jerk, unfounded and out-of-proportion response to something which would not offend any sound-of-mind individuals.

When you see that those who are up-in-arms are not even the people who watched the show, it becomes very difficult to see that it is about anything other than complaining for the sake of complaining.

 
 
 
Roger OThornhill

Roger OThornhill - 07/11/2008

The fact that most people who complained didn't see the programme is irrelevant. They are all licence fee payers. Are you saying that you only have a right as a licence fee payer to complain if you watched Top Gear live as it happened? I agree with Darren. The thousands of complaints are about more than Clarkson's clanger but that doesn't make the complaints any less valid. BTW David P...the only thing worse than complaining is people who go to the trouble of whinging about others complaining. Ironic huh?

 
 
 
Eliska Dobson

Eliska Dobson - 07/11/2008

 Who are those people who constantly complain about what is said on TV and radio.  It is all over the top now.  Yes, he overstepped the line, but come on it was a joke!

 
 
 
David P

David P - 07/11/2008

Roger, you are yet another person (along with the c.1900) who is missing the point.  Why choose to make such a fuss about what is essentially a non-issue, when in reality your complaint is about something else entirely?  That is the behaviour of the mentally unbalanced, surely you can see this.

Clarkson's "gaffe" has nothing AT ALL to do with how the BBC spend the licence-payers money on "talent".  Why should your £140 a year allow you any more right than the rest of the licence-fee paying, Top Gear-watching (c.6m) to dictate exactly what presenters say and do?

If something genuinely offends you, in a show that you are watching, then that is a perfectly acceptable basis for raising a protest.  However, if you are using something which is completely irrelevant in order to raise, and argue a separate point, then that is bordering on ridiculous - and is commonly called "bandwagon jumping".  This is the behaviour of those incapable of forming logical argument, who apparently thrive on controversy and complaining.

Persistence of this kind of behaviour will send the Beeb back to the dark ages.  Is that what these people are trying to achieve?

 

NB: To all those non-watching objectors, the above is an example of structured argument.

 
 
 
Holly Martins

Holly Martins - 07/11/2008

If a highly paid presenter on the BBC makes a joke about rape and people who the pay licence fee are offended whether or not they watch Top Gear, what that presenter or ones like them get paid has everything to do with the issue as these high profile presenters set the standard for the BBC's output. Regarding your second, muddled point. No one has suggested but you David P that anyone has more right than someone else to dictate what presenters say and do. If people complain it's because they will feel they are not being listened to, not because they are being listened to. Regarding the irrational rant your attempt at a "structured argument" ends with, when has the BBC ever lived in the dark ages? I have many friends who work there and other experience of the BBC. It has always been a well-funded, over-staffed gravy train. This remains the case. You're getting very emotional about people expressing opinions to the point of accusing them of being "mentally unbalanced". Reading through the other posts, you are the only one who sounds hysterical. Cheers/Holly

 
 
 
marcus evans

marcus evans - 09/11/2008

Can't you see you are alll being manipulated. This is what THEY want. First it was mammals and dinosaurs, then homosapiens and, well everything else, then the Romans and Christians, Christians and Islam, Catholics and Protestans, church and state, parliament and the king and on through history. Granted it is a bit of a jump from cataclysmic, war of the species, genocidal, empire building, brother against brother civil war - but mark my words, that's how it starts. Before we know it the Right To Roamers will have aligned with PETA, who in turn will seek an underground alliance with the National Trusts extreme left, Friends of the Earth will amalgamate with CND, the dangerously disgruntled No to Terminal Five sleper cells could reform and you would have a veritable powderkeg. Throw in copious ammounts of Shagnasty's Old Bowlscraper supplied by the ladies of CAMRA and all it takes is a surge of dangerous emotion such as the Brand& Ross/Clarkson hiatuses \(hiati?) and the whole country could go up. My advice is to leave whilst you can. I'm glad I live in the Middle East where it's safe.

 
 
 
Eliska Dobson

Eliska Dobson - 12/11/2008

 Well, that is a very negative post :).  You are scaring me there ... I do agree that all this is caused just by media and we let them manipulate us and make us talk about what they want us to talk about, however are you not taking a bit far with those theories :)

 
 
 
marcus evans

marcus evans - 12/11/2008

You think?

 
 
 
Eliska Dobson

Eliska Dobson - 12/11/2008

 Yes :).

 
 
 
marcus evans

marcus evans - 12/11/2008

OK, in that case I have some bad news for you - you might want to sit down. There is no Father Christmas. The tooth fairy does not exist. Though looking on the upside it is OK to walk on the cracks in the pavement and each time you tell a lie a fairy doesn't die.

 
 
 
Eliska Dobson

Eliska Dobson - 13/11/2008

 well thanks for that!You opened up my eyes :).  However, you might enjoy life more if you don't see everything so negatively ...

 
 
 
Dukie

Dukie - 13/11/2008

There is no Santa???

 
 
 
Nuts n Seeds

Nuts n Seeds - 13/11/2008

Love the fact that the same people hysterically defending free speech, Clarkson's human rights etc are at the same time hysterically attacking those who exercise it in the form of a few polite complaints to the BBC. It's like a missing scene from the Life of Brian.

 
 
 
Dukie

Dukie - 13/11/2008

Again there's no Santa?????????????????????

 
 
 

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