Third Gear Not Top Gear (say Transport 2000)

mike65

Get this -

Tell the BBC to take Top Gear off the box and replace it with `Third Gear`

Here is a chance to make a concerted effort to send the BBC`s Top Gear programme, that mouthpiece for car fanatics presented by chief petrolhead Jeremy Clarkson, to the scrapheap.

The BBC is inviting viewers to have their say on the future of the BBC. Although the consultation is ostensibly about commenting on the Green Paper and future options for the role and governance of the BBC, it provides an opportunity to comment on programme content, for example:

... To call for more balanced reporting on transport, ie putting the environmental/social angle, and for the BBC to play a higher profile role in educating the public about sustainability issues, for example the contribution of transport to climate change.

... To call for `motormania` programmes such as Top Gear to be scrapped on the grounds that they glamorise speed and the use of vehicles with high fuel consumption.

Campaigners argue that Top Gear has a number of key faults:

•It glamorises speed and fails to make the connection with danger on the roads.

•It encourages an obsession with unnecessarily powerful and therefore heavily polluting cars.

•Through use of Jeremy Clarkson as presenter, with his distinctive image, it is in danger of encouraging a ‘yobbish’ attitude on the road.

•It does not focus enough, if at all, on responsible driving, ‘greener’ cars, road safety or the need to cut car journeys and use alternatives where possible.

•Through its recurring ‘macho’ themes of speed and power, it fails to include the interests of most women in its programmes.

Transport 2000’s suggestion is for a new programme, perhaps called Third Gear, devoted to encouraging responsible motoring based on less environmentally damaging cars, considerate and safety-conscious driving, and exploration of alternatives to the car.

Transport 2000 says: “Everyone is talking about how to reduce car use, cut climate change emissions and make the roads safer but, to quote in perhaps its own language, Top Gear effectively sticks up its fingers to this.

“There is a strong danger that it encourages irresponsible motorist behaviour and it therefore has no place in public service broadcasting. We want to see Top Gear taken off the screens. It is irresponsible television designed to give comfort to boy racers, ‘petrolheads’ and those from the ‘get out of my way’ school of driving. We would like to see it replaced with a new programme – perhaps called Third Gear – that promotes sensible driving in sensible vehicles.

“This is not about censorship or having a poor sense of humour, it’s about what is in the public interest. You can provide entertainment without it being mindless and irresponsible. If we must have Jeremy Clarkson on the television, let’s give him something useful to do, such as trying out public transport or road-testing new bicycles. Perhaps he would like to drive a bus; he’d find it just as much fun as a Ferrari.”

I suggest they suck on my exhaust!

Mike.

Banjo013

Better take "Desparate Housewives" off the air too so, cause it encourages housewives to be desparate.

And better take "Sex and the City" off as well, because it encourages people in the city to have sex.

While we're at it, lets take "Bear in the Big Blue House" off the air and be done with it ..... because it encouraged children to live in huge mansions, and it teaches them that they should be talking to the moon.

For the love and honour of almighty God - would the nut cases who come up with this stuff ever go away and get a life for themselves ... or a hobby, or anything that keeps them from f***ing it all up for everyone else !

leeroybrown

Typical rubbish...

I've been watching Top Gear for years and really like the most recent format. It's combination of motoring and humour is excellent and gives it mass appeal. Even my sister watches it every week when it's on and she's far from being a into cars.

Stephen

What a bunch of tards. Its a show for car enthusiasts, not Victor

FuzzyWuzzyWazza

I'm not quiet sure they understand that it is a show for 'petrol head' by 'petrol heads' and why don't they just bugger off and watch some gardening or DIY.

sceptre

Clarkson is a yob? Next thing he'll be writing for the Sun, er, I mean, working for channel 4.

Fabritzo

Third Gear :rolleyes:. It sounds like a belated April fool's. Top Gear is due back on the 22nd of May according to the topgear site.

Blitzkrieger

This is not about censorship or having a poor sense of humour, it’s about what is in the public interest.

What have we learned today boys and girls? Censorship is ok if it's in the public interest. "The public interest" means : "anything I don't like".

If we must have Jeremy Clarkson on the television, let’s give him something useful to do, such as trying out public transport or road-testing new bicycles.

rofl

Perhaps he would like to drive a bus; he’d find it just as much fun as a Ferrari.”.

This has to be a piss take. If it's not that guy is severly retarded.

Alfasudcrazy

Top gear in its latest format is the best motoring programme ever on TV. The fact that it is one hour long makes for more intesesting less rushed features and as others said the three presenters blend very well to make a very entertaining programme.

peasant

•Through its recurring ‘macho’ themes of speed and power, it fails to include the interests of most women in its programmes.

YES, YES, YES !!! The one programme on the telly all week that I can watch in peace because herself demonstratively leaves the room

One hour of sanity: opinionated, politically incorrect, OTT and funny !! A save haven from all the soaps, tearjerkers, celebrities, jungles, big and small brothers, pop-euro-make believe stars.

Real TV in the age of "reality TV"

Thank you BBC !!!

ando

well I love the new style Tog Gear. This report's gota be a late april fools, no man can be that odd surely

BrianD3

I don't think it's an April fool. There are plenty of daft eejits out there who would come up with something like this. If you want evidence of this, check out the anti-car hysteria that regularly crops up in the boards.ie Commuting/Transport forum.

BrianD3

Enygma

Some things Top Gear is famous for:

•Following complaints made to the BBC, the programme team was sent back to Oxford twice to refilm a piece about the closure of the High Street to through traffic because it failed to present a balanced view of the scheme.

•To test the claims made for a 4x4, the programme really did try to take the vehicle to the top of a mountain in Scotland, through a sensitive peat bog causing substantial ecological damage.

•In an infamous episode, Jeremy Clarkson tore up on camera information from Transport 2000’s website presenting the dangers of speed.

•In a race against colleagues using public transport and plane, Clarkson drove a Ferrari more or less non-stop from London to Switzerland and was stopped by police for speeding on the way.

•Jeremy Clarkson deliberately drove a car into a tree in a car park in Somerset to test the strength of the Toyota car in a crash. The programme ended up apologising and paying compensation to the local parish council for the damage caused.

hehe, legends!

Dades

peasant wrote:

One hour of sanity: opinionated, politically incorrect, OTT and funny !! A save haven from all the soaps, tearjerkers, celebrities, jungles, big and small brothers, pop-euro-make believe stars.

Real TV in the age of "reality TV"

Thank you BBC !!!

LOL

I hear you, brother! I share your pain!!

Eoin

If we must have Jeremy Clarkson on the television, let’s give him something useful to do, such as trying out public transport or road-testing new bicycles

I actually would like to see that, I can just imagine a blur of knees and elbows on a BMX

magpie

Its a show for car enthusiasts, not Victor

weemcd

I believe topgear is a fantastic motoring show as it really is breaking down barriers. It is no longer odd for women to watch the show, as it really is genuinely entertaining and has something for everything.

They also have a phenomenal budget and the effort and style put in to making the show is far above any other motoring show atm. They remain technical without being over the top, and entertaining without being too Hollywood and I believe the show's current balance is absolutely perfect.


i hope this pc right wing **** does not get his way

mike65

weemcd wrote:

i hope this pc right wing **** does not get his way

I think Transport 2000 are Commies!

Top Gear is the numero uno of motoring progs (after Wheeler Dealers of course!) and I suspect its the shows gloss and slick presentation that really annoys the anti-car brigade as has been observed even girlies watch these days some are even petrol-heads and that means T2000 can't even appeal to the fairer sex to damp down menfolks high octane interests...

Mike.

ButcherOfNog

Banjo013 wrote:

While we're at it, lets take "Bear in the Big Blue House" off the air and be done with it ..... because it encouraged children to live in huge mansions, and it teaches them that they should be talking to the moon.

rofl, my 2yr old would be well upset if they did

Capt'n Midnight

I preferred the old format.

What's the story with the rest of the crew (Vicki ,Tiff) ending up on channel five in Fifth Gear ?

PlayaFlow

its was an allright show for entertainment. But its overall connection to cars was ridiculous. They never gave specs of cars , prices and compared them , if u were in the market for a car ,u would have gained ZERO usefull information from that show. Instead they used to show semi-famous people drive a crap car around a track and other some un-professional and useless gimmicks. it shouldnt even have been called top gear in the beggining because the magazine itself was very proifessional , serious and informative in comparison to the show. And also what irritated me was the constant bashing of Turbo-diesels, its all fine for clarkson who rolls in a SL500 AMG V8 , but for normal people a bit more info on the cars and how they fit in to real life would have been better rather than around an airfield.

Ivan E

You have a point but that would have been a completely different type of program. Part of its appeal is that it can be that wild with regards to what they do. There are other programs out there that take the ordinary car and compare it with its rivals. They are informative and do go through prices, fuel consumption as well as other relevant things. There is BBC program, can't think of the name and they compare what you can get new to what you can get second hand.

There is a Northen Irish BBC program and also a few RTE ones such as Drive and The Car Files or something like that.

So there are well accounted. But those programs won't line up the super cars. Or do mad games like darts with cars.

That's what makes Top Gear so different and unique. And that's why we like it so much.

prospect

Its Like This....

Why replace Top Gear with a more sensible motoring program. What happened to freedom of choice? Maybe they should have another program which deals solely with enviornmentally (spelt rong i'm shure) friendly transprot etc. etc.
But who are you to decide that i cant watch high performance cars rip around a private track!
Also, the people who sit down to watch car shows are not the people who want to see a ford focus put put around town!! it would be a failure of a show....