General Chat

Um. Birmingham isn't Warwickshire, Rollo, it's West Midlands. Surprised you didn't know that.

A nice summer's day out in Warwickshire
http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2015/01/09/50-sentenced-following-violent-birmingham-edl-protest/

*Surbiton? Harrogate? Bromley?*

Warwickshire, actually. I have lived in and visited other places but have never seen any street violence, apart from on TV. *shrug*

The most violence I've been subjected to was from the police at anti-war demos in the 60s. They really were thugs.

He hit an employee!!


In any other business he would have been sacked on the spot.


No man is bigger than the show.

Only two Mayfield ?

"Most of us do manage to live civilised non-violent lives."

Surbiton? Harrogate? Bromley?

I have lived and worked in such salubrious places as Los Angeles South Side, Santa Cruz, Baghdad, Sana'a, Beirut, Eastern Turkey, Chelyabinsk,.Aberdeen, Belfast and Fermanagh ... Singapore was nice though. As to the UK whatever Theresa May may claim there is far too much unprovoked street violence at any time of the day.

Sure fisticuffs at sundown are not the way to go for progam team leads neither is getting lippy at the end of a bad day with a hungry bad lad. It wouldn't get you far on either side of the water.

These things happen and both parties - who have known each other for donkey's years - were quite happy to let it go. Cohen had let it be known to all and sundry for a long time that he intended to "get" Clarkson as he believes that Clarkson is the antithesis of the wonderful works which Cohen is trying to bring to our screens.

It is remarkable that there his been little mention that should Brave Dave's lot hang on to power the day's of the BBC Charter in anything close to its present shape are numbered. That is why Newsnight put out glaringly incorrect stats every night claiming that the blue team is winning. The messenger usually gets shot.

enjoy fast four legged horses and country yokels with any kind of accent you like except Cornish :-)

I suppose a couple of party leaders might be looking for a job soon ;-) ;-)

I do like a good beard, Kim. :-D

Guinevere..... I love the picture you use.....

In any case I am sure there are three blokes out there somewhere who can replace the TG lads and be just as entertaining... lol, answers on a postcard.

Does the Poldark star drive? I might tune in to ogle if nothing else, I don't drive myself but I have always liked fast cars driven by gorgeous men ;-)

There is a difference between a "bloke v bloke physical set to" ( implying they each threw at least one punch) and an unprovoked assault by a drunk though?

The facts as I know them are that Clarkson had been out on the lash, then returned two hours after the dining room had closed and took out his anger on the only member of the crew who was around, splitting his lip and calling him ( allegedly) a "lazy Irish **nt" now that isn't just someone who has a beef ( no pun intended re steak) and is a bit narky...

Such sympathy for poor Clarkson but none for the bloke who ended up at A & E with a split lip, followed by death threats for being daft enough to get hit and possibly be the cause of depriving people from watching their favourite on TV.

"Anybody who has got through life without ever seeing or being on one end or the other of a bloke v bloke physical set-to have led a sheltered existence."

Not sheltered just civilised. Most of us do manage to live civilised non-violent lives.

Top Gear was BB2's top show by some margin with audience figures in the UK of 5.1 million/week far higher than anything else on BBC2 and much of BBC1 come to that. On top it generated the lion's share of BBC World Wide revenue. It was far from fading away though increasingly unpopular with people who never watched it.

Before "Poldark" Danny Cohen had never brought in a top show with healthy audience figures though he is very well connected to all the right people in the BBC. Despite that if he doesn't replace the revenue stream by end 2016 or earlier he will likely be out on his neck. Poldark has already ahem, subsided from 8.1m viewers to 6.1m in the latest episode.

Anybody who has got through life without ever seeing or being on one end or the other of a bloke v bloke physical set-to have led a sheltered existence. Or maybe they are 2m tall, weigh 100kg and come from Neath...

I like you Sharron

I think that if Top Gear was still at its peak, the BBC would have been reluctant to sack Jeremy Clarkson. The fact that he's been sent off to the job centre indicates that the BBC realise that Top Gear is past its prime. Now is as good a time as any to knock it on the head.

Actually I didn't punch, I headbutted.

It happened, I live with the consequences. It will never be undone.

I don't drink now, can't think why I ever did really, and I don't feel I can take the moral high ground.

I've never punched anyone in the face, if I had I'd be so ashamed.

Being drunk is no excuse for violence.

That's ok then Sharron? supposing the producer had been a woman? if the 'reason' he punched is because he was drunk and so not responsible then it could just as easily have been a woman on the receiving end... the hotel staff for instance.

Is it then ok for a man to punch his wife and use the excuse that he is drunk ? or punch another bloke ( as happened outside my local pub a few weeks back... one single punch, one death! )

If you get aggressive when you drink...don't drink, simple as that ! he's a bg boy he surely knows that by now,

He was drunk, the employee did not make the fuss and , to be perfectly honest, I have done things that were just as bad.

Sharron, you think it's OK that he punched his employee in the face?

Bringing back "Top Gear" with anybody bearing the stamp of approval of Danny Cohen is just not going to happen ... viewing figures will fall of a cliff and the all important foreign earnings evaporate.

Nobody has as yet managed a successful consumer oriented car show ( eg 5th gear or Top Gear before Clarkson got hold of it) for the simple reason they are boring beyond belief. The Top Gear trio's banter and loony stunts are what made the show work.

Cohen's stuff is very PC but has poor ratings. He will get the chop after a decent interval has elapsed. And then ...