I have no idea what Clarkson's so-called "fracas" with his producer actually amounted to. But it better have been pretty bloody serious, otherwise several million regular viewers (including me) might feel a trifle aggrieved at being denied our regular dose of one of the few BBC programmes that isn't on BBC Four but is actually worth watching, and which can be guaranteed not to act as a Trojan Horse for steaming piles of leftie crap about climate change, the EU, the NHS, inequality, Health & Safety, Islam (did you know it's the religion of peace?), race, immigration, private schools or rich folk - i.e. the usual cultural Marxist claptrap.
Towards the end of my time at the BBC, there was a lot of talk about cosmically arrogant, teflon-coated "BAFTA Bastards" throwing their weight around, bullying staff, and generally getting away with blue murder. I saw it happen once or twice, and even got a taste of it myself, and have no sympathy for "stars" - whether behind or in front of the cameras - who monster production staff, knowing they'll get away with it because they deliver awards and/or big audiences. For instance, I cheered last year when a Radio 4 arts presenter was taken off air in the wake of bullying allegations.
But, while being a TV presenter doesn't incur the same pressures - or risks - as being a brain surgeon, a soldier or a policeman (well, one of those who actually deal directly with the less civilised stratum of society), it can be a seriously jitter-inducing (albeit well-rewarded) job. I've worked with at least two normally charming, level-headed politics presenters who got very snappish before the start of just about every programme, but whom everyone forgave because we understood how nerve-racking their jobs were. I also worked with several eminent news correspondents (one of whom is still regularly on our screens) who invariably behaved like pigs when the pressure was on, and who were pretty horrible even when it wasn't: I'd have been delighted to see them fired, preferably while they were strapped to a ground-to-air missile. And I'd have been only too willing to push the button.
But, given that I worked in live television for thirteen years, I witnessed remarkably little unpleasantness. That might be because news folk have to be thick-skinned - if you get a fit of the vapours whenever someone raises their voice to you or questions your parentage, you'd probably be well advised to choose another profession. Generally, it isn't people who lose their rag and then either apologise afterwards or simply forget it ever happened who are the problem at the BBC - it's the sadistic, warped shits who single out a specific underling as a whipping boy (or girl) and keep undermining them until the hapless employee resigns, has a breakdown, or manages to find a safe haven in another part of the organisation: I only saw two senior executives behave like that in all my time there (both have subsequently left) - the aforementioned news correspondents just seemed to hate everyone who wasn't a craven suck-up.
As for Clarkson, it'll be fascinating to hear what the investigation uncovers. If it was a single flare-up, and nobody was injured, well - so what? Ruffled feathers. And whoever decided to pull next Sunday's show will have questions to answer about their - and the corporation's - motive in denying millions of licence-fee payers an hour of harmless pleasure. If it was part of a pattern of bullying behaviour directed at a specific target, that might be a different matter. I await the results of the BBC's internal investigation with baited breath. Meanwhile, Clarkson can console himself with the thought that he can stroll over to ITV and pick up another fortune - there are signs, in any case, that Top Gear might well be on a downward slope.
Andrew Neil - the corporation's only other resident rightist - could be a bit of a handful at times (we had some interesting discussions) but I never saw him bully anyone or get involved in a "fracas" (or a brouhaha, or a set-do). Nevertheless, if the BBC has decided to cleanse itself of the handful of presenters who don't toe the Labour Party line, he'd better mind his ps and qs between now and May 7th.
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