Jeremy Clarkson will no longer host the BBC's Top Gear. Photo / Getty
Jeremy Clarkson will no longer host the BBC's Top Gear. Photo / Getty
I've been watching Top Gear since I was about 18. Never really by choice, it's just what happens when you have two brothers and a father obsessed with all things motor.
Sunday night dinners used to be specifically timed around Top Gear viewing. Dessert was served mid-screening and wolfed down in the ad break.
Then I went and married a Top Gear nut. Jeremy Clarkson and co. were integral to building father and son-in-law relations.
A man punched his co-worker for something that was beyond his control. And now he's been sacked.
When you put it like that, it seems pretty reasonable. In fact, it's pretty clear the BBC had no choice but to cull Clarkson.
Rather, it seems astonishing they ever let it get to this point.
There'll be no more Top Gear hijinks for Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May. Photo / AP
Despite the carefully phrased language used to originally describe the incident - a "fracas" that Clarkson tried to brush off as "handbags and pushing" - it's now emerged this was a genuine and serious assault.
Oisin Tymon drove himself to A&E after he was punched in the face.
Imagine that for a second. Imagine being punched in the face by your boss. Imagine the hurt, anger and humiliation he must have felt.
Clarkson reportedly turned himself in to BBC bosses, before anyone else got the chance. But I wonder if Tymon would have actually laid a complaint?
Television is an industry riddled with bullies. It operates an almost feudal system that allows a chosen few absolute power, while an army of grunters do all the work.
They work like dogs, get shouted at frequently and are blamed for everything going. And, from my experience, they never complain. At least, not to anyone official.
Clarkson's behaviour, while appalling, is probably not that surprising to anyone who's worked in television. Admittedly, physical violence is rare (although certainly not unheard of). But verbal abuse and raised voices are commonplace. Being bitched at and having your competence called into question is standard practice.
It is an industry of ego and privilege. And Clarkson's was allowed to get out of control.
Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has been sacked by the BBC. Photo / AP
There's a constant argument in television about what's more important: the talent or the platform. Who needs whom more?
Paul Holmes proved that top rating talent counts for little when he ditched TV One for Prime back in 2005. The audience didn't move with him.
On the flipside, the first incarnation of Seven Sharp proved viewers don't like change and will break the habit of a lifetime if you don't give them what they want.
The truth is you need both top talent and a major platform to achieve the kind of global success that Top Gear has. A fact the BBC is all too aware of.
It's the reason they kept hanging on as Clarkson charged ahead, out of control. But now the ride's over. And neither Top Gear, nor Clarkson, will ever know this kind of success again.
• Joanna Hunkin is the Herald's head of entertainment. Previously, she worked as a television reporter and producer for five years.
