BBC Audience Services
PO Box 1922
Darlington
DL3 0UR
11/03/15
To Whom It May Concern at BBC 2,
I am shocked and appalled with the news today that Top Gear is to be suspended from the air for at least the next 2 weeks due to an alleged internal grievance case.
Those who are being punished here are the licence fee payers & fans of Top Gear. Those who are not Top Gear viewers are not being punished or affected, unless they happen to ardent fans of the red arrows. And this is certainly not the only nor best way to deal with Jeremy Clarkson himself.
No-doubt that if Jeremy Clarkson did punch producer Oisin Tymon then this needs to be investigated and dealt with internally as appropriate. However this needs to be managed separately to the airing of the shows which are already scheduled.
No doubt that Jeremy Clarkson is a 'controversial figure' but this character and personality goes hand in hand with his talent and appeal. Any controversy around Jeremy Clarkson, is largely started and fuelled not by the viewers and fans of the Top Gear show, but those who search and hunt for things to be unjustifiably offended by, the suspension of the show will only prove a hollow victory to those non-viewers who wouldn't have enjoyed the last few episodes of the series anyway. A swore loss those for all the millions of fans and viewers across the world.
The BBC is funded primarily by license fee payers like myself and there is mass uproar at present about this issue. Jeremy Clarkson is one of the key talents at the BBC at present. Further, Top Gear is one of the last BBC resources I still access, with Sky, Netflix and others taking the large portion of my attention.
I trust you will swiftly re-instate the programs to the schedule and separate these already commissioned episodes from the internal disciplinary procedure regarding Jeremy Clarkson and Oisin Tymon.
Many Thanks,
Dave Norman
