SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson

(born 11 April, 1960) is an English broadcaster and journalist who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May. He also writes weekly columns for The Sunday Times and The Sun.

From a career as a local journalist in the North of England, Clarkson rose to public prominence as a presenter of the original format of Top Gear in 1988. Since the mid-1990s Clarkson has become a recognised public personality, regularly appearing on British television presenting his own shows and appearing as a guest on other shows. As well as motoring, Clarkson has produced programmes and books on subjects uch as history and engineering. From 1998 to 2000 he also hosted his own chat show, Clarkson. His opinionated but humorous tongue-in-cheek writing and presenting style has often generated much public reaction to his viewpoints. His actions both privately and as a Top Gear presenter have also sometimes resulted in criticism from the media, politicians, pressure groups and the public.

As well as the criticism levelled against him, Clarkson also generated a significant following in the public at large, being credited as a factor in the resurgence of Top Gear to the most popular show on BBC

Two, and calls for him to be made Prime Minister. Clarkson himself was keen to downplay his perceived influence on the British public, stating he regularly contradicts himself, and would make a "rubbish"

Prime Minister.



James Daniel May

(born 16 January 1963) is a British television presenter and award-winning journalist.

May is best known as co-presenter of the motoring programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond. He also writes a weekly column for The Daily Telegraph's motoring section. On Top Gear, his nickname is "Captain Slow", owing to his "careful" driving style. He has, however, carried out some exceptionally high-speed driving (including taking a Bugatti Veyron to its top speed during an episode of Top Gear.



Richard Mark Hammond

(born 19 December 1969), nicknamed "Hamster" due to his name and relatively small stature, is a British presenter of radio and television, best known for co-presenting the television programme Top Gear since 2002. Along with his Top Gear co-hosts James May and Jeremy Clarkson, Hammond also presents Top Gear Live at the annual MPH motorshow in Earls Court and Birmingham NEC.

He has also presented Brainiac: Science Abuse, Richard Hammond's Blast Lab, and writes a weekly column for The Daily Mirror.Along with Amanda Byram, he is currently presenting Total Wipeout, a British meshow, Richard Hammond's Engineering Connections and Richard Hammond's Blast Lab. In September 2006 he suffered a serious brain injury after crashing a jet car he was testing for Top Gear at high speeds (288.3 mph, 464.0 km/h). At the end of January 2007, after Hammond had recovered from his injuries, Top Gear was back on screen in the United Kingdom, showing.



THE STIG

is the name given to the racing driver on the BBC show Top Gear. In the show he is cast as a mysterious tame racing driver. He is fully credited as a presenter, albeit as the Stig, alongside Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

The Stig's primary functions on the show are to post lap times in various cars around the Top Gear Test Track in Dunsfold Park, and to train each week's guest in setting a lap time in the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car feature on the show. In addition the Stig carries out other driving duties when the need arises. The Stig has also appeared on some of Jeremy Clarkson's motoring specials, such as Heaven and Hell and Thriller.

Clarkson's comments and actions have sometimes resulted in complaints from viewers, car companies, and national governments. In October 1998, Hyundai complained to the BBC about what they described as "bigoted and racist" comments he made at the Birmingham Motor Show, where he was reported as saying that the people working on the Hyundai stand had "eaten a dog" and that the designer of the Hyundai XG had probably eaten a spaniel for his lunch. Clarkson also allegedly referred to those working on the BMW stand as "Nazis", although BMW said they would not be complaining.[47] In a later incident during a Top Gear episode broadcast on 13 November 2005, Clarkson, while talking about a Mini design that might be "quintessentially German", made a mock Nazi salute, and made references to the Hitler regime and the German invasion of Poland by setting the GPS system to Poland.[87]

In April 2007, he was criticised in the Malaysian parliament for having described one of their cars, the Perodua Kelisa, as the worst in the world, "its name was like a disease and suggested it was built in jungles by people who wear leaves for shoes". A Malaysian government minister countered, pointing out that no complaints had been received from UK customers who had bought the car.[88][89]

While in Australia, Clarkson made disparaging remarks aimed at the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in February 2009, calling him a "one-eyed Scottish idiot" and accused him of lying. These comments were widely condemned by the Royal National Institute of Blind People and also Scottish politicians who requested that he should be taken off air.[90][91][92][93] He subsequently apologised for referencing Brown's monocular blindness, but insisted: "I haven't apologised for calling him an idiot."[94]

In July 2009, Clarkson was reported to have called Prime Minister Brown "a silly cunt" during a warm-up while recording a Top Gear show. Although several newspapers reported that he had subsequently argued with BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow,[95] who was present at the recording, the BBC denied that he had been given a "dressing down".[96] John Whittingdale, Conservative chair of the Culture Select Committee remarked: "Many people will find that offensive, many people will find that word in particular very offensive [...] I am surprised he felt it appropriate to use it."[95]

On 6 July 2010, Clarkson reportedly angered gay rights campaigners after he made a remark on Top Gear that did not get aired on the 4 July's episode. But guest Alastair Campbell wrote about it on Twitter. Clarkson apparently said he "Demanded the right not to get bummed". The BBC later said that they cut this remark out as they "edited down" the interview as it was too long to fit into the show.[97]

His 4 September 2011 column for The Sun newspaper drew angry remarks[98] in response to Clarkson's call to abolish the Welsh language: "I think we are fast approaching the time when the United Nations should start to think seriously about abolishing other languages. What’s the point of Welsh for example? All it does is provide a silly maypole around which a bunch of hotheads can get all nationalistic."

On 30 November 2011 while being interviewed on the BBC's The One Show, Clarkson commented on the UK's public sector strike that day, lauding the capital's empty roads. After mentioning the BBC's need for balance, he said, "I would take them outside and execute them in front of their families." The programme later apologised for his remarks, with further apologies issued by Clarkson and the BBC.[99] These remarks had attracted 21,335 complaints to the BBC within 36 hours; the BBC also received 314 messages of support for Clarkson.[100]

Clarkson was criticised by the mental health charity Mind for his 3 December 2011 column for The Sun, in which he described those who jump in front of trains as "Johnny Suicide" and argues that following a death, trains should carry on their journeys as soon as possible. He adds: "The train cannot be removed nor the line re-opened until all of the victim's body has been recovered. And sometimes the head can be half a mile away from the feet. " ... "Change the driver, pick up the big bits of what's left of the victim, get the train moving as quickly as possible and let foxy woxy and the birds nibble away at the smaller, gooey parts that are far away or hard to find."[101][102]

On 12 January, the Indian High Commission lodged a formal complaint with the BBC over the "tasteless" antics of Clarkson's Top Gear Christmas special where he mocked India's culture and people. During the 90-minute special, which was aired twice over the Christmas break, Clarkson made a string of jokes about Indian food, clothes, toilets, trains and history.[103]

On an episode of Top Gear broadcast on 5 February 2012, Clarkson compared a Japanese car/camper van to a person with a growth on their face. A major UK charity that supports people with facial disfigurements, Changing Faces, complained to the BBC and Ofcom after Clarkson's remarks.[104]