Clarkson's Top Gear Argentina gaffe could endanger BBC wildlife shows
An Argentinian ambassador has accused the BBC of covering up Jeremy Clarkson’s antics in the country during the shooting of a Top Gear Christmas special where the presenters had to flee for causing offence to locals.
Clarkson had to flee Argentina as a result of the "coincidence"
Tensions flared after Clarkson was found to be driving a car bearing the registration H982 FKL, a supposed reference to the Falklands war of 1982, branded a “coincidence” by Danny Cohen, the BBC’s director of television.
Ambassador Alicia Castro said she was unhappy with the BBC investigation in a letter to the Corporation’s Trust, hinting that it may not be so welcome in Argentina in future.
She said: "Mr Cohen merely reassures us that it was not deliberate. We are not prepared to accept this as a full and adequate response to this supposed ‘coincidence’.
“We believe that Mr Clarkson’s behaviour fell well below BBC’s editorial values an standards: his account of what happened when his team were in Argentina was biased and false - apparently in an attempt to cover-up the poor behaviour of the BBC team making the Top Gear programme.”
She said that Argentina cooperated with the BBC in the past on wildlife shows 'Earth’s Walking Giants' and 'Patagonia', hinting that future shows may not.
She concluded: “I am sure you cherish this relationship as much as we do, and we hope that it will continue to blossom in the future.”
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May had to flee the country under armed police escort as a result of the registration which the show’s executive producer, Andy Wilman, said: “This is most definitely not the sort of stunt we'd pull.”
After discovering how the registration had stirred up local tensions, a contrite Clarkson then replaced the offending plate with ‘BE11 END’.
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