Well if you do a car check on the reg everything is spoton so IMO just bad luck and nothing else
Nothing bad luck about it, TG has form on this as any long standing viewers know, number plates never go unnoticed on TG.
What was probably intended as a 5 second throw away gag has rebounded on them.
Even if the plate was deliberate, what sort of idiot starts a riot over a number plate? Really?What are they, children throwing a tantrum? Grow up.
Maybe someone who lost a relative in the Falklands War?
Remember their people had wives and children too.
And, of course they knew what they were doing. It's not just 982, it's FKL as well.
Sack the producer- and he shouldn't work for BBC again. Not just because it wasn't funny, but because thinking they could get away with it by saying 'co-incidence. We never noticed' would be accepted. Basically, that is a lie. If an employee thought they could lie to me they'd be gone- mainly for thinking they could lie their way out of trouble, rather than the offence itself.
Maybe someone who lost a relative in the Falklands War?
Well that's a dignified and thoughtful way to commemorate them isn't it? Smashing up cars and chasing people out of your country in a mob.
Remember their people had wives and children too.
Were the Argentinians thinking of the wives and children of British soldiers and sailors when they sent their olympic athletes to train on the Falklands (who happily welcomed them in, note) then had them pose with a banner with the slogan 'To win on British soil, we train on Argentinian soil' on it? It's OK to make jokes about them, if if they make jokes about us we'll riot? That's a good attitude to have is it?
Either way there a difference : What Clarkson & co did was tasteless. The reaction was dangerous and illegal. Can your finely honed moral compass consider the difference between those two things? And which is empirically worse?
Sack the producer- and he shouldn't work for BBC again.
He doesn't work the BBC now, genius. Top Gear is made by an independent production company for the BBC. The producer actually owns a fair number of shares in that company, and Clarkson owns most of the rest. So he's not going to be sacked. The only sanction the BBC have is to stop paying for Top Gear to be made. Feel free to hold your breath until that happens.
Not just because it wasn't funny, but because thinking they could get away with it by saying 'co-incidence. We never noticed' would be accepted. Basically, that is a lie. If an employee thought they could lie to me they'd be gone- mainly for thinking they could lie their way out of trouble, rather than the offence itself.
Yep, probably a lie. Do they care you think that? Nope. Are they bothered you're upset? Nope. Millions of people watch Top Gear for every person that complains about it, so I suspect they really could not care less on the whole.
I think they may care less on the whole if the whole shoe gets cancelled.
It's not that sort of 'gear'..
Top Gear makes the BBC many times what they pay to have it made. It's a massive, massive profit maker. There is less chance of Top Gear getting cancelled than of some Argentinians developing a sense of humour.
Honestly, I don't mind that people don't like Top Gear. I mean, their taste is just as valid as anyone else's. And I don't mind people think Clarkson is an arse. I think Clarkson is an arse, you'd have to be blind and deaf not to. But the threat that 'If Clarkson says anything else Top Gear will get cancelled!' just simply doesn't scare anyone. It's got no basis in reality. if someone was paying you several million pounds a year, would you give that up because they said something rude to someone several thousand miles away who most of the people you know don't like that much anyway? if you did, you'd be utterly mental.
Unless/until Clarkson & Co do something that is actually seriously illegal - and we're not talking parking on a double yellow line here, we're talking putting some innocent bystander in hospital grade stuff - Top Gear is not going to be cancelled in the foreseeable future.
Stop saying it might happen. You're just making yourself look foolish.
Maybe someone who lost a relative in the Falklands War?
Remember their people had wives and children too.
And, of course they knew what they were doing. It's not just 982, it's FKL as well.
Sack the producer- and he shouldn't work for BBC again. Not just because it wasn't funny, but because thinking they could get away with it by saying 'co-incidence. We never noticed' would be accepted. Basically, that is a lie. If an employee thought they could lie to me they'd be gone- mainly for thinking they could lie their way out of trouble, rather than the offence itself.
I see quite a few German plates every day, I will have to start reading them more carefully to see if I can see some obscure connection to something to do with WWII - it seems the number and letters don't have to be right just near to some alleged obscure meaning.
Well that's a dignified and thoughtful way to commemorate them isn't it? Smashing up cars and chasing people out of your country in a mob.
Were the Argentinians thinking of the wives and children of British soldiers and sailors when they sent their olympic athletes to train on the Falklands (who happily welcomed them in, note) then had them pose with a banner with the slogan 'To win on British soil, we train on Argentinian soil' on it? It's OK to make jokes about them, if if they make jokes about us we'll riot? That's a good attitude to have is it?
Either way there a difference : What Clarkson & co did was tasteless. The reaction was dangerous and illegal. Can your finely honed moral compass consider the difference between those two things? And which is empirically worse?
He doesn't work the BBC now, genius. Top Gear is made by an independent production company for the BBC. The producer actually owns a fair number of shares in that company, and Clarkson owns most of the rest. So he's not going to be sacked. The only sanction the BBC have is to stop paying for Top Gear to be made. Feel free to hold your breath until that happens.
Yep, probably a lie. Do they care you think that? Nope. Are they bothered you're upset? Nope. Millions of people watch Top Gear for every person that complains about it, so I suspect they really could not care less on the whole.
And the families of the Royal Marines who they tried to kill in the initial attack, done without any warning.
Hardly anybody believes him. He almost certainly knows that. He's saying it as a piece of damage limitation. Everybody almost certainly understands that.
He doesn't care and the BBC almost certainly don't actually care. Nobody else has the will or ability to prosecute or punish him in any way that makes blind bit of difference.
So what's the next step? I'd suggest we all stop pretending this actually matters in any way at all. Because it doesn't.
I'm afraid I do believe him, because the time and effort to get a car with that number plate, which has been confirmed as genuine, or similar would be ridiculous and may not even have been possible. If you wanted to pull a number plate gag, you buy the car then put new plates on it, such as the replacement BE11 END plates found inside the car, because it's a lot simpler. The only thing I would question would be if they were really unaware of the coincidence beforehand.
I'm afraid I do believe him, because the time and effort to get a car with that number plate, which has been confirmed as genuine, or similar would be ridiculous and may not even have been possible. If you wanted to pull a number plate gag, you buy the car then put new plates on it, such as the replacement BE11 END plates found inside the car, because it's a lot simpler. The only thing I would question would be if they were really unaware of the coincidence beforehand.
Didn't I read somewhere that they bought the car on 14th August-and yes, they were the real plates for that car. But- if you were looking through a site of cars for sale, and you saw one with the reg H982 FKL wouldn't that (if you were Top Gear) immediately go to the top of your wish list? I expect they would have bought it whatever make it was, simply because it was too good a (juvenile) gag for them to want to miss.
People want the producers for an explanation, and when that explanation seems to be contrary to what those people had already determined was the truth, the BBC are disbelieved.
People want the producers for an explanation, and when that explanation seems to be contrary to what those people had already determined was the truth, the BBC are disbelieved.
You could not make it up.
Well, you could make it up.
Do you seriously expect him to say, 'Yes. I did it on purpose. Please sack me'.
Do you seriously expect him to say, 'Yes. I did it on purpose. Please sack me'.
QED
It would seem that the only truth is the truth that people here want to believe, what matches their hardened opinions, not what the production team relate to be the truth.
On that basis, neither Clarkson, Willman or the BBC are going to win are they. They are guilty according to the "baying mob", and no attempt at providing a reasonable explanation will suffice.
You can protest your innocence all you want, you can say that it was a genuine mistake or cock-up, but you won't be believed, the "baying mob" will want to carry out their view of "justice" regardless.
Firstly, for those buying into the coincidence line - do you want to buy some magic beans?
As other have said, very little is left to chance on TG, it is planned and stage managed to the hilt, and the coincidence of that reg is just too huge. Of course it was intentional, as someone above says it was meant as a cheap, throwaway gag.
Now as its caused absolute mayhem they can't be seen to admit it so have concocted this coincidence line, i'd rather they just admitted it ('We thought it may be funny, it wasn't, we are sorry) but due to the furore can totally understand why they don't
As for the reaction, I dare say it is a little OTT - isn't there a few more slighlty important, unjust and plain wrong things going on currently that our ire can be targetted at ? Or are the actions of 3 middle aged men trying to make a humorous programme about cars really the most important and unjust issue in peoples minds? Really?
Hold on a second - it didn't cause absolute mayhem. Nobody was required to riot because of the number plate. The cause of the riot was a mixture of intolerance, prejudice and political rabble rousing on the part of the Argentinians. If they'd just looked at and said 'haha, you idiotic middle aged tosser' or whatever the Argentinian equivalent of that is, there would have been no 'mayhem'.
The idea a number plate somehow compelled people to riot is the worst sort of rubbish.Every person who took part in the mayhem had the option not to, they chose to do so.
Are there any naive people who believe TG isn't staged managed in every way
All TV is stage managed. To a large extent it is absolutely necessary so all the establishing shots can be planned and recorded. The script will be written before they leave the UK. Imagine if they simply went to Argentina (or wherever) and just hoped something entertaining might happen. They could drive for a thousand miles without incident. If something random did happen the chances of them getting it all on film would be minute.
The naivety is believing it's some kind of fix to con the viewing public.
I don't think even TG could stage manage this, I think they got caught up in a coincidence as I don't think they would purposely dare pull a stunt like this knowing the tension that runs with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. But you probably cant buy that kind of publicity they have ended up getting, whatever they say the TG haters will want to try to pull them down for it and it's a laugh reading some stuff on here.
Is Top Gear about the programme and its contents or about the presenters ? Surely the presenters do not write the scripts and come up with the ideas so they are surely dispensable. The show would go on with new suitable presenters. The show is sold worldwide as a concept not because of individuals so surely Clarkson and Co. does not have that much clout.....That's my opinion. What do others think?
Is Top Gear about the programme and its contents or about the presenters ? Surely the presenters do not write the scripts and come up with the ideas so they are surely dispensable. The show would go on with new suitable presenters. The show is sold worldwide as a concept not because of individuals so surely Clarkson and Co. does not have that much clout.....That's my opinion. What do others think?
Top gear without Clarkson, is like having a cheese sandwich without the cheese. To be fair if any one of them left, the show just wouldnt be the same. The three do gel well together. It would be hard for someone new to join the current two presenters.
As for the comment about all they do is read a script. If you took a <insert favourite comedian> script, for a standup show and read it. Do you think you will get the same amount of laughs? Or maybe replace Pacino with Rowan Atkinson in the Godfather movies? You think they would be the same movies?
I think Clarkson has a lot of clout, you just need to look at his salary for that.
Is Top Gear about the programme and its contents or about the presenters ? Surely the presenters do not write the scripts and come up with the ideas so they are surely dispensable. The show would go on with new suitable presenters. The show is sold worldwide as a concept not because of individuals so surely Clarkson and Co. does not have that much clout.....That's my opinion. What do others think?
I pretty much disagree with everything you've said here, if they replaced JC with someone else like Chris Evans (god no) then the show would be cancelled in no time, not only that the presenters wouldn't want anyone else, it's them 3 or no one and rightly so.
Comments
Nothing bad luck about it, TG has form on this as any long standing viewers know, number plates never go unnoticed on TG.
What was probably intended as a 5 second throw away gag has rebounded on them.
Maybe someone who lost a relative in the Falklands War?
Remember their people had wives and children too.
And, of course they knew what they were doing. It's not just 982, it's FKL as well.
Sack the producer- and he shouldn't work for BBC again. Not just because it wasn't funny, but because thinking they could get away with it by saying 'co-incidence. We never noticed' would be accepted. Basically, that is a lie. If an employee thought they could lie to me they'd be gone- mainly for thinking they could lie their way out of trouble, rather than the offence itself.
Were the Argentinians thinking of the wives and children of British soldiers and sailors when they sent their olympic athletes to train on the Falklands (who happily welcomed them in, note) then had them pose with a banner with the slogan 'To win on British soil, we train on Argentinian soil' on it? It's OK to make jokes about them, if if they make jokes about us we'll riot? That's a good attitude to have is it?
Either way there a difference : What Clarkson & co did was tasteless. The reaction was dangerous and illegal. Can your finely honed moral compass consider the difference between those two things? And which is empirically worse?
He doesn't work the BBC now, genius. Top Gear is made by an independent production company for the BBC. The producer actually owns a fair number of shares in that company, and Clarkson owns most of the rest. So he's not going to be sacked. The only sanction the BBC have is to stop paying for Top Gear to be made. Feel free to hold your breath until that happens.
Yep, probably a lie. Do they care you think that? Nope. Are they bothered you're upset? Nope. Millions of people watch Top Gear for every person that complains about it, so I suspect they really could not care less on the whole.
Top Gear makes the BBC many times what they pay to have it made. It's a massive, massive profit maker. There is less chance of Top Gear getting cancelled than of some Argentinians developing a sense of humour.
Honestly, I don't mind that people don't like Top Gear. I mean, their taste is just as valid as anyone else's. And I don't mind people think Clarkson is an arse. I think Clarkson is an arse, you'd have to be blind and deaf not to. But the threat that 'If Clarkson says anything else Top Gear will get cancelled!' just simply doesn't scare anyone. It's got no basis in reality. if someone was paying you several million pounds a year, would you give that up because they said something rude to someone several thousand miles away who most of the people you know don't like that much anyway? if you did, you'd be utterly mental.
Unless/until Clarkson & Co do something that is actually seriously illegal - and we're not talking parking on a double yellow line here, we're talking putting some innocent bystander in hospital grade stuff - Top Gear is not going to be cancelled in the foreseeable future.
Stop saying it might happen. You're just making yourself look foolish.
which would probably offer a better budget to the show anyway
basically TG will go on for as long as JC wants it to go on
I see quite a few German plates every day, I will have to start reading them more carefully to see if I can see some obscure connection to something to do with WWII - it seems the number and letters don't have to be right just near to some alleged obscure meaning.
And the families of the Royal Marines who they tried to kill in the initial attack, done without any warning.
It certainly wasn't a coincidence; nothing on TG is, as it's stage managed to the hilt.
Saying that, the reaction was ridiculous though.
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-29581183
and if he says it's so, then it must be so. Right?
He doesn't care and the BBC almost certainly don't actually care. Nobody else has the will or ability to prosecute or punish him in any way that makes blind bit of difference.
So what's the next step? I'd suggest we all stop pretending this actually matters in any way at all. Because it doesn't.
Didn't I read somewhere that they bought the car on 14th August-and yes, they were the real plates for that car. But- if you were looking through a site of cars for sale, and you saw one with the reg H982 FKL wouldn't that (if you were Top Gear) immediately go to the top of your wish list? I expect they would have bought it whatever make it was, simply because it was too good a (juvenile) gag for them to want to miss.
You could not make it up.
Well, you could make it up.
Do you seriously expect him to say, 'Yes. I did it on purpose. Please sack me'.
QED
It would seem that the only truth is the truth that people here want to believe, what matches their hardened opinions, not what the production team relate to be the truth.
On that basis, neither Clarkson, Willman or the BBC are going to win are they. They are guilty according to the "baying mob", and no attempt at providing a reasonable explanation will suffice.
You can protest your innocence all you want, you can say that it was a genuine mistake or cock-up, but you won't be believed, the "baying mob" will want to carry out their view of "justice" regardless.
As other have said, very little is left to chance on TG, it is planned and stage managed to the hilt, and the coincidence of that reg is just too huge. Of course it was intentional, as someone above says it was meant as a cheap, throwaway gag.
Now as its caused absolute mayhem they can't be seen to admit it so have concocted this coincidence line, i'd rather they just admitted it ('We thought it may be funny, it wasn't, we are sorry) but due to the furore can totally understand why they don't
As for the reaction, I dare say it is a little OTT - isn't there a few more slighlty important, unjust and plain wrong things going on currently that our ire can be targetted at ? Or are the actions of 3 middle aged men trying to make a humorous programme about cars really the most important and unjust issue in peoples minds? Really?
The idea a number plate somehow compelled people to riot is the worst sort of rubbish.Every person who took part in the mayhem had the option not to, they chose to do so.
The naivety is believing it's some kind of fix to con the viewing public.
Top gear without Clarkson, is like having a cheese sandwich without the cheese. To be fair if any one of them left, the show just wouldnt be the same. The three do gel well together. It would be hard for someone new to join the current two presenters.
As for the comment about all they do is read a script. If you took a <insert favourite comedian> script, for a standup show and read it. Do you think you will get the same amount of laughs? Or maybe replace Pacino with Rowan Atkinson in the Godfather movies? You think they would be the same movies?
I think Clarkson has a lot of clout, you just need to look at his salary for that.
I pretty much disagree with everything you've said here, if they replaced JC with someone else like Chris Evans (god no) then the show would be cancelled in no time, not only that the presenters wouldn't want anyone else, it's them 3 or no one and rightly so.