Both my sons enjoy watching Top Gear, but we missed it last weekend when Richard Hammond 
returned to the screen following his terrifying crash.
So I didn’t hear the offensive comment made to him by presenters Jeremy Clarkson who asked him if he was “mental”, while James May offered him a tissue in case he started dribbling. I wonder how that made him feel after what he had gone through, this is no joking matter, and it wasn’t not even funny.
As a trustee of Headway Cambridgeshire, those comments were totally insensitive and unnecessary. It’s not surprising that the charity, which helps rehabilitate adults who have been brain injured, many of them from road accidents, should deplore such offensive remarks, that complaints have been made by angry viewers. Remember, it could happen to any of us at any time.
I also agree with Headway’s Chief Exec Peter McCabe, who chairs our Cambridgeshire branch , criticising footage of the crash being published when Richard Hammond was driving at 280 mph.
It gives the impression that people can recover easily from brain injury , and that is certainly not always the case. Richard Hammond was extremely lucky, but for many people, their lives are devastated for ever. Perhaps Top Gear should visit Headway and film some of their members whose lives have been irreparably damaged as a result of road accidents.
Thanks Ellee for raising this on your blog. Many of the clients here at Headway Cambridgeshire are incensed by Clarkson’s ignorant and oafish comments and we are glad that Headway UK has made a statement and complained to the BBC. The ‘lads together all having a larf’ tone of Top Gear is always pretty unbearable, but this time it really was offensive.
Ellee- This is a hard one.
Insensitive? Yes.
Offensive? Probably.
Clarkson? 100% vintage.
I know we shouldn’t have different standards for different people, but Clarkson needs to be left unrestrained. His one man anti-PC show hits all targets, sometimes crassly, sometimes hitting the nail on the hand, like a stream of bigoted consciousness, only snappy and to the point.
Sometimes he shocks, sometimes he comes up with real Gems. I have laughed with him one minute ans sat stunned with righteous indignation the next.
On the whole I think it’s worth it just to let him be, he’s priceless.
His argument over why Brunel should have been the greatest Briton moved me when I watched it.
He is a sort of Nietzsche of post-modernism, the man who challenges all taboos.
Restrain himand you lose him for what he is.
Joe, I must admit I have always been a fan of Clarkson, but how could he have made such a crass remark – and on TV too – as well as his co-presenter. Head injuries are a very serious and devastating problem and should not be made light of in any way, especially in this way.
Ellee, sorry, problem with your pictures obscuring your text. Need to fix. Can’t read the post.
But making light is what Clarkson does- you can’t really take him seriously. It is partly that semi-ironic tirade against all niceties, conventions and taboos that makes him interesting. It is why I watch him even though normally I’d never watch a programme just about motoring.
By assaulting all social niceties equally he can get away with real truisms that others can’t. But you have to let him be equally offensive to everybody. He doesn’t mean half of it, but the half he does mean is valuable. He just has to disguise in a general anti-all convention position.
Put bluntly, if he stopped shocking he’d have stopped being the overall asset he is. I think he’s basically one of the good guys, whilst his No1 nemesis, the loathsome Piers Morgan, is a self righteous, sanctimonious, holier than thou hypocrite.
i’m not disputing his offensiveness here, I’m just saying there’s a baby in the bath water…
James, The pics look ok this end, I’m not sure what the problem is.
Joe, I agree to an extent about Clarkson and his style, but felt it was not appriate in this case.
Ellee – I’ve known Clarkson and the others for many years through my motor industry PR career. I did see the programme and felt the comments weren’t offensive (although probably insensitive to others) when taken in the context of their audience, their characters and how blokes who are mates (but clearly not metrosexual) would respond. If Richard hadn’t recovered so well – these guys would have still been there for him. As would the fans. I’ve been to filming of the show and it is amazing how much people love these guys and their ways.
Humour is an important release when confronted with something dreadful – not always PC, but human nevertheless. It is how we coped when my dad nearly died – and how many people survive in the modern world of high risk.
I think that showing this footage is important – and can actually be helpful. I don’t feel anyone is taking the accident lightly, but recognising its severity and how fortunate the Hamster has been.
Of course everyone isn’t so fortunate – and any brain injury, especially in a car accident is tragic. But let’s stop taking offence on other people’s behalf all the time – the Top Gear presenters were not laughing at people with brain injuries or learning disabilities, but expressing affection and relief that their mate was okay.
Sometimes, being lucky to be alive is enough reason for a joke, even if in poor taste.
Hammond is lucky to escape the way he did. Many victims can be injured for life. Clarkson is known for controversial remarks, but this will offend anybody.
Heather, what you say is true, of course, it IS the way us (admittedly sometimes juvenile) males behave with eachother.
My friend’s partner summed up once ‘you can tell the pair of you have been friends half of your lives, the way you insult eachother perpetually without it being serious’
I realised of course, she was right.
If you’re a bloke and there is somebody who always leaves chimpanzee noises on your voicemail if you don’t answer, it’s almost certainly your best mate. (I get one almost every day-same culprit every time).
Light-hearted winding up is a part of male comradeship.
I guess your right that some of the comments are publicly ill judged. However as Joe says its the way men talk – and often signals great fondness.
I saw the repeat on BBC 2 earlier this week and the impression I was left with was how genuine the friendship between the men was. I almost felt I was intruding. The more ribbing goes on – the more they are signally how much they care. Hammond looked shaken – but with the courage to share his experience with the audience. (Maybe they practised – but it look genuine to me ).
People should be able to own their own stories and tell them how they want to – without fear of a PC backlash.
If you missed the programme you all missed them playing Mrs T speeches over load speakers to inspire construction workers get a road ready on time ! (Mental reminder to self to buy a copy one day. )
Very interesting to hear the blokish/male bonding side to this which I can totally see, but they were still unfortunate comments to be made on TV bearing in mind the seriousness of the topic.
It’s that sort of thing keeps us close though Ellee.
My two closest friends have been my friends since university. We still see eachother at least once a fortnight and have a whole base of friends in common.
It’s the fact that we know deep down we are only messing that means we do really push the limits with eachother- beyond the pale, if you like.
We are TOO close to bother with social niceties, if you like.
I think the same is true in instance you describe.
Elle, I’ve got part of your text obscured by the pics at the top, too. I have not seen the programme over here but it sounds a terribly insensitive remark. Brain injury is a tragic thing and, as you know, I have personal experience of its consequences. Organisations such as the one you are involved with and the Stroke Association and Alzeimer’s Society do so much to try to increase awareness of this terrible type of injury and a remark like this is, at the least, unhelpful.
My ex-girlfriends mother is lying in a long-term ward in Scotland after suffering a massive head injury 4 years ago. She stepped out in front of a cyclist. Awful tragedy.
I accept Heather’s point but still feel that Clarkson is a goon.
I believe that Jeremy Clarkson and James May’s comments have been taken completely out of context.
People seem to have shut their ears after the “mental” comment and have not heard what Richard himself said right afterwards…about how for the last four months people have been waiting for him to “go bonkers” and “start dribbling”.
I firmly believe that Jeremy, James and Richard were in their own way having making a side-swipe at those very people that Richard was refering to. Top Gear on Sunday hopefully proved to those people – many of whom probably only tuned in for the very purpose of seeing if Richard’s eyes were “pointing in different directions” that people can and do recover from serious head injuries.
As from giving the families and sufferers of head injuries “false” hope, I believe that Richard’s tale can give hope to people who maybe today will be sitting at the bedside of someone in intensive care having had a similar injury. It may not work out as well as it did for Richard Hammond, but hope can keep you going in the bleakest times.
Regular viewers of Top Gear will know the context that these comments were made in – made in the very same context that many middle aged men in the same situation in this country would make them.
We simply can’t all go through life watching our words for fear of offending people. That way lies insanity and the death of freedom of speech.
HI, FIRST OF ALL I WISH PEOPLE WOULD WATCH A PRGRAMME ALL THE WAY THROUGH AND FOR A FEW SERIES THEN COMMENT, NOT JUST MAKE ACCUSATIONS ON EITHER SOMETHING THEY THINK HAPPENED HT WAY OR JUMPINGON A BANDWAGON.
LAST SUNDAY MUST HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFICULT FOR RICHARD JAMES AND JEREMY, THEY DASHED TO THE HOSPITAL AND SAYED THERE FOR 2 WEEKS, [I HAVE 1 FRIENDI CAN SAY WOULD DO THAT FOR ME NOT EVEN SURE MY FAMILY WOULD DO IT] SO THEY WENT THROUGHIT WITH HIM ONLY HEY AND MINDY AND RICHARDS FAMILYKNOW ALL THE DETAILS AND THEY AND IS DOCTOR WERE AT THE REORDING OF THE SHOW SO I WOULDIMAGINE THAT THEY [THE PRODUCTION TEAM] WERE ADVISED AS TO HOW THEY APPROACHED THE CAR ACCIDENT [AS THAT WHAT IT WAS ] AND AS WE ALL KNOW THE BOYS HAVE THIS BOND IT WAS OBVIOUS HEY WERE GOING TO MAKE LIGHT OF IT AND AS RICHARD SAID, HES FIXED LETS PUT THE ACCIDENT TO BED AND GET ON WITH THE REST OF OUR LIVES AS MINDY, RICHARD AND THE KIDS ARE DOING. WE NEARLY LOST HIM, WELL DONE TO YAA,LGI AND ALL THE SUPPORT HE GOT FROM THE COUNTRY AS HE SAID IT ALL HELPED TO GET THEM THROUGH THIS.
I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT ANY CHARITY DEALING WITH BRAIN INJURIES WOULD HAVE PUT IN THEIR TWOPENNETH ANYWAY KNOWING THAT THINGSLIKE THIS CAN SET BACK CONVALECENCE A GREAT DEAL.
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I don’t think the comments were maliciously meant, however it goes without saying that they shouldn’t have been said either. Am not surprised tho, that kind of comment is typical of Jeremy Clarkson, whether well or ill meant
‘I wonder how that made him feel after what he had gone through’
You’re not one of these people that think Top Gear isn’t scripted are you?
First of all, Headway is a wonderful organisation that deserves all the support it can get. But I have to say, to the people who have taken the banter in Top Gear far too seriously, a sense of humour is one of the most important things to have on the road to recovery. Jeremy, James and Richard have been friends for years, and it was quite obvious to anyone watching that a) the whole thing of ‘Are you now a mental’ and ‘Here’s a tissue in case you start dribbling’ was scripted and intended to lead into Richard describing the state of his health, and that he WAS neither of those things! And b) just the look on Jeremy’s face as he was introducing his friend back onto our screens says it all. I’ve never seen him on the verge of tears before, but there was pure unadulterated happiness that his friend was alive and back!!
As to them showing his crash – I think if you’d survived a hideous accident like that, you’d want to say ‘Hey I’m still here!’, too. And also I think they did it to put to rest all the speculation that had surrounded the incident. I’ve seen Richard’s interview on Jonathan Ross, and I’ve read the articles he’s written about his recovery, and he is by no means making light of his injuries, or just how shear bloody lucky he is to have come away from this as relatively unscathed as he did!
Can I also add my twopenneth about Clarkson’s pretty ugly remarks to Hammond “And they says speed kills…”. Obviously, in this instance Hammond wasn’t killed, but that is surely down to an amazing bit of luck. Hammond’s survival does not mean that it is safe to drive fast.
Simon, I enjoy a good joke as much as anyone else, maybe Headway should consider launching a campaign to raise awareness about road accidents and brain injury.
It was A joke you see you lot are all fucking anal
and another thing in the thingy above (the story bit) it said this could happen to any of us how many times have you found your self on the way to work in a fucking jet car? huh?
It’s obviously early closing time where Hendrix lives…
That comment will soon be irrelevant, for those who that comment confuses and read this as comment 21 there were some obscene and unfunny comments above by a certain Hendrix which Ellee will not want to retain, I’m sure.
It’s interseing that we’ve begun this whole discussion with one frame of refernce, but that frame has broadened over time. That’s a good thing really. I’m usually seen as very PC by my friends, but I think that sometimes we can take it too far. Sometimes we can all take offence where none was intended and even where we shouldn’t be looking to spot it in the first place. I think this was a case in point.
As has been said, a very close interpersonal dynamic obviously plays between Jeremy and Richard and we were priveleged to glimpse it and maybe we shouldn’t judge it in wider societal terms.
Maybe we should just see it as an icebreaker which brought Richard Hammond back in to the thick of Top Gear, a caring welcome home by friends to friends.
Who are we to tell them how they should express that?
When we laugh it is partly as a release, it is a discomfort calming mechanism. It is how we excorcise our demons. Sometimes Jokes are close to the line.
Are we not grown up enough as a society to know the difference between banter and genuine offence?
And more importantly isn’t it patronising of us to assume that people with brain injuries can’t?
With so much real hatred in the world, why pick on a man who calls a spade a spade, but deep in down in all of this, has shown he really does have a big heart?
I cannot believe that this was even being discussed. Good PR for the charity by complaining, but surely that’s all this is about. Nobody can really have taken the comment seriously and if they did well then they really need to get over themselves and stop being so mental about everything.
I didn’t think Tories dug PC?
I guess times change.
Ellee, what is your view on the continued and often gleeful use of variations of the word ‘mong’ on the Guido Fawkes website?
Tch. Well, if you’re not going to answer this question, you may as well delete it.
This is the way those lads treat eachother. They had a pact that, should one of them die in a car accident, the show would go on, and in the next episode, Clarkson would look at the camera and say “As you all probably know Richard Hammond/James May died in a car crash last week…. ANYWAY, here’s the new jag!”
As Clarkson said, it was a joke, and then suddenly, it wasn’t. Him and James were really worried about our dear Hamster, and tried being nice to him. When that didn’t failed to get any reaction from the comatos Hammond, Jeremy reconded that it was because he was thinking “It sounds like them, but they’re being nice, so it can’t be.” He then said “Look, mate, the reason you’re here is because you’re a crap driver.” Which caused Richard to smile. That was the first reaction they got from him, and that says a lot about their friendship. They take the mickey all the time, that’s their way. I was actually surprised at how easy they were going on him during the show. I’d expected more teasing. My friends are exactly the same, so I know what I’m talking about. I once got hit with an iron bar in the forhead, and got the biggest lump ever on my forhead, TWO black eyes and a concussion. When my friends heard of it, they were first concerned, then then they started laughing and joking about how that could only happen to me. It never bothered me for a second, because I know they care, even if they joke about it, just as Richard know that James and Jeremy cares, even if they tease him.
Culf, Thanks for you comment, I hear what you say. I have no doubt that the Hamster’s team mates are very fond of him and did not mean the remarks to sound offensive. Your accident sounds pretty awful too.
Thanks. The accident was pretty funny, actually. I was having a sun bath, when wind tipped an parasol over. The iron bar was attached to the parasol and was catapulted then feet and onto my unsuspecting forehead. Even then I knew it’d be worth it, just for the story of it.