Fans fear as Top Gear may be axed

Richard Hammond's crash



Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond was driving a jet-powered dragster while filming for Top Gear at Elvington airfield [in York] last September {06} when it went horribly wrong.

“Hamster” or Richard Hammond is being treated at Leeds General Infirmary he is in a critical condition in hospital after a crash at 288mph in a jet-powered car called the vampire while filming for the BBC. Richard Hammond aged 36, was taken by air ambulance form the former RAF base at York, to Leeds General Infirmary, which has a special neurological unit, this unit did most of the treatment.

richard Hammond was visited several times in hospital after the crash by james May and Jeremy Clarkson.

Xmas on TV this year was pretty dismal, one of the only things to make tv viable for me, was to watch some Top Gear Repeats, and I hate repeats, so shows how good Top Gear is. All in our family are fans, failure to keep TG alive and kicking, I'm sorry aint an option.

I try and watch Top Gear every week, hell I even watched the re-runs in BBC 2 and BBC 3. The programme allows the average person to dream about the cars out there, the ones that only the minority of the minority can afford. as to axing the programme, the Beeb would be STUPID, I don't feel the urge to race a plane or train to the other side of the world. Or drive at over 200 miles an hour. My car just wont go that fast. If people want to drive fast they will regardless of what is on the telly.

all you do gooders out there and you no who you are why dont you mind your own buisseness and let other people get on watch what they want to watch, get on with your own life and let other people worry about their own without you do gooders trying to ruin everything all the time

I think top gear is the best show on tv.I think the bbc would be the thickest channel in the world if they axed the show.I mean who would rather watch eastenders reruns than watch the stig (legend)flying around the track in the latest audi or merc.I'd like to wish Hammond all the best as well.If they show the crash it will be the most watched programme on the tele.

Accidents happen all the time but we go on im sure Richard would want the show to go on. Look at how long the show has been running and look at the safety sheet, what more can i say.

Once you accept that 'Baggy Jeans' Clarkson knows damn all about cars and what makes them tick then you can rate Top Gear as suitable alternative viewing to Coronation Street. It has little influence on the motoring habits of our nation and there is absolutely no reason to single it out from the rest of the rubbish that fills our tv screens. Keep it going in case the BBC finds something even more bland to fill the space !

They won't axe it because world wide its the most watched BBC tv program at the moment, and during the last season the most watched program on BBC2.

I think Top Gear is fantastic, i wouldn't change a thing about it.
I'm a female who is not particuarly intrested in cars but this programme has something for everyone.
I love the silly tasks they do and the caravan episode was my favourite. it's all set up and perfectly safe. Why can't people just enjoy the fantasy.
It has me in stiches every time!!!

Well I actually think Top Gear is a bit naff if you think of it as a car programme, but if you view it as a light entertainment show that happens to feature cars it's fine. Should it be cancelled on the basis of an accident during filming? Of course not; as others have said, if you don't like it don't watch.

It would be nice to see some kind of leadership from the programme though. How about a short weekly section on advanced driving skills or road safety? I'm sure they could make it fun, and they'd be preaching to a massive audience. On top of which, there's a real need for some mass driver education out there!

Of course Top Gear shouldn't be taken off air! Just because of one freak accident in 11 series of the show, everyone is acting like there is a near death experience every episode, if you feel the show is rubbish, dont watch it! Watch something pointless like CSI Miami and moan about something on that!!!!

Top Gear should not be axed as Richard Hammond had been told of all the things that could happen and they were all coverd by the BBC that is why this is the FIRST SCEARIACE ACCIDENT to ever happen on top gear

I never watch Top Gear because it seems to glorify very fast and erratic driving, setting a very bad example to young people who do not need to be encouraged to drive beyond their experience and ability.

Lol i love the way some people are using this as a way to air their veiws on our country. I dont think this is a place for self vindicated nerks trying to push their rhetoric. This is the place to say this:

Top gear is great to watch - keep it on as it was.

Mr. Hammond is a part of what makes it good - the presenters.

It would be great to see the show back on air and even better to see Mr. Hammond well again.

The whole of my family have watched the programme for a long time now, this is the first accident of this kind. We would hate to see it go as the other programmes of this kind come nowhere close to being as enjoyable as this one. We think that Ritchie Hammond will decide for himself if he wants to continue being part of the show and wether or not he will do any stunts of this kind again.

David (comment 1) I'll start with you.

Obviously you are rather short sighted and live under the misguided self-righteous opinion that everyone else on the road is an idiot, bad driver and a hooligan, just there to 'terrorize' you and that the road should be open, empty and free for you too pootle along at 28mph no better than a horse and cart! If anything, driving too slowly is dangerous as it DOES make people impatient and forces people to take unneccesary risks.
You might respond to that with a rather lame 'well i'm careful' comment but you would do well to refresh yourself with the driving standards guidelines which state that you must make good progress. i.e. drive too slowly and you fail your test! drive at 30mph on a 60 limit, holding traffic up behind you is BAD DRIVING. You are supposed to drive within the speed limit, at a speed appropriate for the road conditions and you and your car's ability. I'm no way suggesting that you drive at 60mph everywhere, just drive PROPERLY!

So, returning to the point in hand, that you believe Top Gear encourages bad driving and encourages irresponsible behaviour is just ridiculous. OK, granted they sometimes do things that you might not consider 'safe' but they do it under CONTROLLED conditions and more importantly, so YOU DON'T HAVE TO!
Like some of the other comments here, it's a form of entertainment, not meant to be replicated at home. I doubt Clarkson, May or The Hamster would endorse anyone copying them, especially when it's something dangerous.

in effect, it's NO DIFFERENT to the Planet Earth programme i watched last night, two guys in a Polar-Bear's 'back yard' hiding in a small shed (like bait?), knowing it is hungry. Is that dangerous? of course it is!, should people go out and copy it? no i don't think so. But if one of the guys was attacked by the hungry bear, they wouldn't stop making NATURE programmes would they? I enjoyed watching it because it was interesting and I appreciate MY position with regard to the danger. I'm not about to go out and annoy a dangerous animal under the influence of TV.

TOP GEAR is probably the best show on TV these days and it is a breath of fresh air that has kept FRESH for SO MANY YEARS! what with all the A-W-F-U-L reality programmes such as Big brother, X-Factor, S.C.Dancing. etc. it's nice to see something entertaining and fast-paced. LONG LIVE TOP GEAR!

I just wish that the boring, grey lefties that complain and pick fault about EVERYTHING would just change the channel, leave things alone and live and let live. You don't have to watch it, change the channel and watch songs of praise or something "safe"!

Oh, and June (comment 16) and all the other women out there with their self-important 'boys and their pathetic toys' attitude, go suck an egg, the MAJORITY of you don't even know what a mirror is REALLY for (did you know you had 3?), let alone how to drive properly. So stop picking on Men and their cars, it's getting tiresome. (and don't even get me started on my 4X4!!!!) (wait for the P.C. backlash of "women are better drivers. . . . .") well women may be STATISTICALLY better drivers but that's ONLY because there's FEWER of them and they do LESS miles.

Benjamin Disreli said something relevant about that . . . . . . . . . . .

However, To COMPLAIN that you can't get Jeremy Clarkson. off your TV is just PATHETIC! unless of course you can't figure out how to use the channel changer on your remote! otherwise you're just plain SAD. (is he on every channel?)
If you don't like it, CHANGE THE DAMN STATION!
I don't like 'reality shows' so guess what, I DON'T WATCH THEM
(and i don't complain about them to "pressure groups" that have nothing better to do with their time!)

Moral of my story, TOP GEAR IS GREAT, RESPECT TO THE HAMSTER, GET WELL SOON & GET YOUR ARSE BACK ON THE AIR AND BACK IN A CAR!

Oh and Ian Thomas, (Comment 50) RIGHT ON! (perhaps a slightly more mature way of saying what i wanted to say!)

Ahhh. That's better.

Axe Top Gear for this unfortunate event - are they serious?? Critics of the programme may not have noticed that when Top Gear performance tests a road legal car it is always obviously and very consciously done on a track. Now, you notice the alternative on Channel 5 where you see that today, even now and after Richards crash, they continue with a very Boy Racey image, openly taking very high performance cars through their paces on a public road - these are the tabloids of the TV world that appeal to very youngs drivers who are likely to follow by example and which should be sent to the TV scrapyard. Top Gear should be commended not only on its entertainment factor but also on the lead they take in purposefully avoiding the suggestion that the road is a Place to Race

BBC Can't cancel the show, Top Gear is so great!
And they reckon it was caused by a popped tyre, and I mean that can happen so anyone can't it? If they cancel top gear they show also cancel every other show on the BBC that promotes danger, which would be pretty much everything, i mean cooking shows, you can loose fingers thumbs, get burns, many things by cooking, so by promoting cooking, more people decide "hey I know I'll go cook a meal today, maybe try that recipe on the cooking show!" and they have more chance of injuring themselve through cooking than they do driving a car don't they? so that promotes possible danger, um lets see what else, how about "reality shows" many things happen in these, I mean pretty much every day you get hurt in reality don't you?
If anything Top Gear encourages people to drive safer, especially after this, I mean not many people apart from the complete morrons, are going to think, "hey I know I'll attempt to break the land speed record in my $700,000 jet car, even though I have no training and only a few mates watching on the side lines, oh and how about for good measure I'll do it on the motorway!"
Top gear also doesn't promote dangerous driving on the roads, they always do it on a special track, so if anything it promotes people to get racing on the tracks, not the road!

I may be wrong, but I'm hazarding an educated guess that those who wish to perpetuate the rubbish that Top Gear - one of the few entertaining programmes currently on our screens - glorifies speed etc, also choose to sit in the middle or right-hand lanes of motorways when the leftmost lane(s) are empty.
Which, unless I am very much mistaken, is illegal. Unless of course not looking in one's mirrors (and therefore not being aware of other road users) is not Driving Without Due Care and Attention.
Which reminds me, I am male, only recently over 25, and the only motor accident I have ever had was the fault of a middle-aged idiot turning right (i.e. carrying on round) the left-hand, turn-left only, lane of a three-lane roundabout.
And another thing, how do all these busybodies know what Top Gear even consists of, unless they choose not to change channels, let alone turn off the TV...?

"Here here Paddy ralph . None of us are zombies and freedom of expression and motoring are something we should treasure.

Everyone has a choice in how they drive and with the amount of traffic on our roads its nice to see some cars able to travel that fast.

Hope you are recovering well Richard miss you on the telly

From fan suffering from top gear depravation.

Seems these Do gooders are taking over the country, they seem to be putting there point in where its not needed.

Whats next scrap all forms of motor racing because its a moving vehical, seems that alot of these do gooders are still living in the early years of motoring, Wake Up, we have moved on from the guy walking infront with a red flag.

We should be allowed to decide what programs we watch on our TV's, we pay for the tv, we pay for the licence, and we pay for sky/cable, so when these do gooders pay these costs for me, i will listen to what they would like me to watch, untill then its my choice what programs I want to watch.

When will this country stop becomming a nanny state, what happend to the freedom of choice, we dont want no old age person telling us that Top Gear is a bad program (just because we dont drive in the middle lane of the M1 at 40mph, as they do)..

Like others have said here if you dont like it, PRESS the OFF button

Long live Top Gear,


all these do gooders want shipping to a remote isleand when its full, sink it, we dont need the do gooders telling us whats right or wrong,

WE WANT THE CHOICE TO FIND OUT FOR OURSELVES..

For God's sake! What is it with all you "do gooders" & ridiculous pc types? If you all had your way, the mass population would never leave their house in case they slip on a leaf, trip over their shoelaces etc.

It's because of people like you that we are now faced with signs everywhere we look pointing out the blatently obvious & that we are slowly but surely having our right to our own freedom & decision making processes taken away from us. Our environment is becoming so sterile because we're afraid of the odd germ on our worktops or a bit of mould on our food, it's a wonder we're still able to live our normal daily lives. How do you people think cavemen coped without you?

Of course Top gear should not be banned. Just because a few people don't like or approve of something, doesn't mean that those who do enjoy it should be prevented from doing/watching it. I am a sentient human adult who has the mental capacity to decide what actions I am going to take, what experiences I am going to expose myself to & whether or nor I am prepared to accept the consequences for those decisions. I am fed up of people trying to tell me what I can & can't do because they believe they know better than the rest of us.

Long live Top Gear & all those films these people try to ban!

p.s. a quick message to Sue Morgan (Comment 27): If you want "that pompous Clarkson out of [your] living room", TURN OFF YOUR TV!!!

Comment 5876
Dear Stephen Payne,
I was just reading back through various comments and noticed yours. If you want to be safe start driving properly and avoid winding other people up. The driving you describe is dangerous NOT SAFE. As all advanced drivers should - drive to the conditions and Make Proper Progress, keep 2 seconds between you and the car in front (more in wet weather etc.) and observe carefully.
Chris Brunton: Advanced Car and Minibus driver - Minibus Driving Assessor

I love watching high speed car shows. I love driving cars at high speed... OFF THE ROAD!!! Top Gear is a great programme but I've always had severe reservations about the scenes of car testing on winding country roads (must be fabulous to drive!) but it sends us all the wrong message. Keep the illegal speeds to race tracks etc. where they become legal again. I promise you I need no encouragement to go faster than the law allows - I love it! But we all need to speed in the right places.
Drive safely AND legally please.

Should Top Gear be axed because a presenter had an accident? No.
Should Top Gear be axed? Yes. Comment 5905 about sums the programme up. its "lads mag" TV, I've actually seen Jeremy Clarkson "moan" in ecstasy at the sound of an engine!!!!!!

TOP GEAR IS THE ONLY PROGRAMME WHEN ON THAT I ACTUALLY SET THE REMINDER FOR ON MY TV, ITS THE ONLY PROGRAMME THAT ACTUALLY WARRANTS PAYING THE TV LICENSE, EVERYTHING ELSE ON THE BBC AND ITV FOR THAT MATTER IS RUBBISH,
TOP GEAR IF ANY THING SHOULD BE ON LONGER, MORE EPISODES, THAT ME DONE,

Over-reaction to a very unfortunate accident. The risks were known before-hand. BBC had to be seen to be PC. I doubt that the show will be axed unless BBC looking for excuse.
Glad for everyone that event was not screened live.

Top gear is a top programme which makes me laugh whilst learning about cars I wouldn't naturally come into contact with. It is a typical Geezer programme, where blokes can have talk about cars to their hearts content. Jeremy Clarkson is a hard talking bloke who clearly doesn't beat about the bush.

Anybody who has an opinion these days whether it's towards people or manufactured items they are knocked down in flames for having just that, an opinion.

Long live Top Gear and the fella's that present it. Thank god Richard Hammond is ok, but he knew the risk that he took. From what I understand he is a trained stunt driver.....so there you have it. He's lucky to have made it this far ....... isn't he?

*** AXE TOP GEAR AT YOUR PERIL ***

Don't leave the british public (mostly men too) without this programme. You let the decent people in this society begin to think about other issues that are becoming huge talking points, and this country will change before you. We all know what I am talking about!!!!!

TG is not a motoring programme. It is merely a means of exercising the juvenile schoolboy humour of JC and friends. It is neither informative nor relevant to the average motorist in terms of cars. That's OK, but don't pretend it's a motoring programme. If it was, it wouldn't completely replace an objective look at real-world cars with, as in one example, Richard H driving around with a bag on his head because he didn't like the colour! They said nothing else about the car. It also glorifies speed and mocks people who take road safety seriously. It is a travesty that the BBC gives these jokers air time instead of relegating them to an obscure cable channel ... or at least giving them a comedy show that does not encourage lives to be risked.

Now he is better, isn't it time he was forgotten or just sacked? The man is just a very minor tv presenter - why should he make the news??? What a waste of airspace.

Good luck to him - but he knew the risks.

In the same way as I have no sympathy for motor cyclists who are killed or injured. The way they ride their bikes, they are taking risks all the time.

If you know the risks in life and still take them, be prepared for the results of those actions.....

I am so glad to hear that Richard is making a good recovery and I know that many would join me in prasing the emergency and hospital services involved with this recovery, not to mention his loving wife and family. I join with so many who look forward to seeing Richard back on TV soon and wish him a speedy recovery.

But for the BBC to consider axing Top Gear is ludicrous. Let's face it the quality of BBC broadcasts can no longer be said to be the "vanguard" of broadcasting in the UK. Once upon a time -maybe, but not any more. It even managed to lose the rights to broadcast the F1 Championship some time ago -how banal is that?

Top Gear provides an immense source of knowledge and pleasure to those interested in motor cars. It is informative and is an incredibly good "watch". Lots of humour, satire and even the odd moment of high speed! The Holy Trinity of Clarkson, Hammond and May do a great deal to keep the aging "BBC" alive at the moment having one of the highest ratings. (Of course, we still have to pay a licence fee for the priviledge).

Whilst it has It has a certain degree of "lunacy" to it, the programme itself does not seduce drivers to drive eratically or indeed fast. It tests cars that most of us will never be able to own. Come on BBC: grow up and start to listen to the millions who actually pay you your salaries.

Nobody would have wished for a motor accident of this magnitude to have occurred. But it did. Richard knew what he was doing before he ever set foot into that vehicle. But no doubt we now live in a society so hell bent on lawsuits that "health and safety" has overtaken everythig else. The technical team of Top Gear will have performed every single possible risk assessment prior to the incident. Yet accidents still do happen.

Good luck Richard and look forward to seeing you back on Top Gear very soon.

Glad to hear that Richard will be home soon, he has made a fantastic recovery. I am sure down to the love and support of his wife, family, friends and the superb care he has recieved from ALL the people involved in his rescue medical attention in hospital.
As a female race fan including go-karting, bangers, touring cars, motorbikes, and F1. I would be VERY dissapointed if the beeb ever axed TOP GEAR. Its brilliant, funny, witty and usually has a bit of good advice slotted in. A bit of light entertainment for every one to watch.
Lets hope the doo gooders don't win and we lose this programme. Maybe when they all get their TV licence's the BBC could remind them that each TV has a switch with which to turn theirs OFF and let those who enjoy watching carry on enjoying.
At the end of the day Richard knew what risks he was taking. he is well paid and has probably recieved better care than most of the people injured in accidents caused by nutcase's on the road every day.
Im sure there are a lot of people out there who want to see the footage and his recovery.
Keep getting better Richard and roll on the next series. I cant wait for it to start.

The show is fantastic and should never be banned.

Keep the good shows coming please.

i used to hate top gear as a kid and found clarkson quite irritating, but i am now a fan of top gear and watch it quite regularly due to the new format - the show can be hilarious and also informative. the presenters get on very well and this also helps with the shows popularity. Fifth gear on channel 5 is also a good show but does not even compare. Long live top gear on the beeb!

Leave TOP GEAR alone you beaurocratic Left wing PC Nazzis

I have a passion for cars and not speed. Topgear test cars in order to save us testing it ourselves. I don't see any point axing Topgear and yet allow us to watch extreme sports and watch someone smoke cigarette on TV, when in our right mind we know they not good for us to follow. If they axe Topgear, then they should get rid of this things on TV as well. Topgear should stay.

I have a passion for cars and not speed. Topgear test cars in order to save us testing it ourselves. I don't see any point axing Topgear and yet allow us to watch extreme sports and watch someone smoke cigarette on TV, when in our right mind we know they not good for us to follow. If they axe Topgear, then they should get rid of this things on TV as well. Topgear should stay.

I have a passion for cars and not speed. Topgear test cars in order to save us testing it ourselves. I don't see any point axing Topgear and yet allow us to watch extreme sports and watch someone smoke cigarette on TV, when in our right mind we know they not good for us to follow. If they axe Topgear, then they should get rid of this things on TV as well. Topgear should stay.

Topgear should not be axe. Topgear does all the things to test cars to save us the risk of testing it ourselves. I don't see any point watching extreme sports were people are exposing themselves to danger, watching someone smoke cigarette on TV, etc. when we know in our right mind they are not safe to follow. If they axe Topgear, then they should axe the others as well. I watched Topgear because of the passion for cars and not speed.

WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS.
IF THE PROGRAMME GETS HIGH RATINGS, IT'LL BE RETAINED!!!

Axing TG wont stop young muppets putting industrial sized bean tins as exhausts on Saxos, nor will it lower the number of people killed in car accidents, all it will do is aggrevate an astoundingly large number of upstanding citizens and lose the BBC one of it's high viewing shows. Top Gear is a program that may be a little ecentric, and may be dangerous for the presenters, but that's part of it's charm! The fact most cars shown will never be driven by the audience is almost the point, where else would we find out exactly how a Bugatti Veyron drives? And whether it's quicker to get to Oslo in a Maclaren SLR or on a boat ... no other show on TV offers this sort of organised lunacy and, as such, axing it because of an entirly unpredictable accident is a travesty! To even consider it is political correctness run amuck, it's been said previously, but they've never axed F1 or rallying when someone's died!

to all the guys at top gear, keep up the good work. me and the kids love watchin your show. because of your show, my oldest son now wants a porche an he is only 4!!! if everything that could cause harm or death was banned we would all be living in padded rooms.

Please don't get rid of Top Gear. I am a fan of Richard Hammond. I love watching Top Gear. Top Gear is the best.

Top Gear rocks. Dont axe it!

I think it was just a freak accident which I am sorry Richard got hurt and glad he has made a speedy recovery. I think BBC would do him an injustice if they took it off this is what my family call real entertainment.
Caroline from Folkestone

Whilst I can't stand top gear, Jeremy Clarkson in particular, natch, it is the choice of the individual presenter to take on such a dangerous task and I'm sure Richard Hammond did it for the joy/rush of it which anyone who is a fast car driver can understand. Glad he's having a good recovery. It's ridiculous to suspend the programme; cynically {but true} if the worst had happened , they'd be having a tribute special!

Sunday night telly, three blokes having a laugh, ususally at the expense of one of them. It's the new Last of the Summer Wine. If we had to put up with that tosh for 30 years, I'm sure we can keep the only motoring show that isn't annoying or trying too hard. Hands off our gear!

I drive for a living and I see some terrible drivers on the road and these whiz kids with there souped up ford fiestas or those peogeotswith big exhaust don't do things for me. but to blame a Program and the presenters is a load of bull. i am glad that Richard Hammond is well on the mend but it just showed what can happen to a profeshional driver just shows how freek accidents can mame or kill people who are not as experiance as richard. So why do away with a good program.

Richards crash was pure bad luck. He knew the risks and took them with vigour. His wishes for the show to go on should be honoured. If a decision to stop Top Gear was because of him then he should be able to reverse that decision . He is of sound body (what little there is of it) and mind (possibly), his wishes should be considered. The plucky little hamster has had a remarkble recovery. Best of luck to the little fellow with bleached teeth. Lets get the Top Gear team on our screens. I need my fix.

I see a few recurring comments here. Apart from the 'keep the show' comments which I heartily agree with, there are several who seem not to like the show. For those people I would encourage you to read the instruction booklet that came with your TV. In there somewhere you will be able to find instructions on how to push the 'off' button. Watching it is not compuslory on pain of repatriation, it is voluntary. To those who say 'I can't wait to see the back of this program' I say 'that is easily solved, turn the mains switch off and you will have your wish granted'. It is for this reason that I hardly watch any TV at all, I like TG but I couldn't tell you when it is on: I live my life assuming there isn't anything on worth watching. TV is for when you are too ill in bed to turn the wretched thing off.
Secondly I feel very strongly about the fact that drivers only take a test once. As a CORGI gas man I have to re-take my gas exams every five years. These exams last 3 days during which of course I get no pay, and I have to pay several hundred pounds to take the exams. The pass mark is 100%. 99% is a fail and I am not allowed to service a gas appliance. Gas appliances kill about 3 people a year I believe. There are apparently 3500 deaths from 'accidents' on our roads every year. How often do you have to show that you can drive properly? Once. The pass mark is not 100%. I heard a Health and Safety personage rattling on about how unsafe ladders are. 7 people died last year falling off ladders. Have I heard anyone bothered about the 3500 people killed every year on British roads? No. What do you think would happen if 10 fully laden Jumbo Jets crashed in England every year? Nothing?