Top Gear has been slammed by its broadcaster, the BBC, for glamorising drinking while driving. The corporation’s governing body, the BBC Trust, reprimanded Top Gear after a viewer complained that the “blatant use of alcohol while driving” by Jeremy Clarkson and James May was “grossly irresponsible.”
The incident happened during a a special edition of Top Gear last July, in which Clarkson and James May attempted to drive a pickup truck to the magnetic north pole.In the programme, Clarkson and May were shown drinking gin and tonics as they raced Richard Hammond, who was using a sled pulled by a team of dogs, to reach the pole. Now the show is being criticised for sending out the wrong messages
Top Gear’s executive producer reportedly told the BBC Trust Clarkson and May were neither drunk nor out of control at any point during the making of the programme. However, the BBC Trust ruled that the scenes in question “could be seen to glamorise the misuse of alcohol” given that some younger viewers “might regard the presenters as role models”.
