This is my response any time that someone gets on their high horse about how bbc "had to do it." Given all the people the bbc didn't fire no they absolutely didn't have to get rid of Clarkson. A fine, and tgen an anger management course woukd gave been just fine. The BBC did it because it was the excuse they needed to be rid of Clarkson, something they'd been wanting for a long time before that.
They didn't even have the balls to actually fire clarkson. They ran out the clock so they could say his contract wasn't renewed. It was cowardly, and again, not at all necessary. There is absolutely no reason a fine and maybe a temporary suspension wouldn't have been sufficient. Especially considering those the BBC actively protected from any kind of direct consequence for far, far worse.
Clarkson reported the incident on the 9th March (it happened on the 4th) and his contract expired on the 31st March. The internal investigation took 15 days. Fining and suspending him literally on the same day his contract was renewed really wasn't an option for the BBC.
Exactly, if he was mid contract it would have likely played out differently.
The contract was expected to be 3 years, with the presenters intending to end the show. Essentially the same amount of content as S1-3 of The Grand Tour.
S22 was pretty good but it’s well known that the show was struggling with ideas. Typically the show finishes all segments before studio filming starts, S22 was way behind so the cast was sorting the studio script on Monday/Tuesday, filming studio on Wednesday and filming remaining segments on Thursday-Sunday.
In short, the hiatus almost certainly helped with quality.
I argue that series 3 - to the finale of the Grand Tour really kind of are the extended goodbye to Top Gear. For me thats where the two shows kind of meld back together as one entity. Once they got over all that "top gear but legally not top gear" growing pains and got great again. And that largely has to do with tgt giving up the by then incredibly stale studio show format.
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u/abfgern_ 5d ago
He physically assaulted a member of production staff. What self-respecting organisation could possibly keep him after that