My last blog post looked at the UK media’s reaction to the Top Gear Christmas Special 2011 in the aftermath of the show. Despite it being nearly a month since the show was on TV, it appears it’s still managing to hit the headlines. Since my last post, the Indian High Commission lodged a complaint with the BBC that they had been duped in to allowing the show to be filmed in India.
Up until then, the BBC had remained very quiet on the subject but it appears this was one step too far, leading them to release a statement last week in defence of the crew’s antics.
In it, they said the programme showed India for what it is and that all it did was poke fun at the presenters....NOT at Indians: 'Our film showed the charm, the beauty, the wealth, the poverty and the idiosyncrasies of India, but there's a vast difference between showing a country, warts and all, and insulting it....It's simply not the case that we displayed a hostile or superior attitude to our hosts.' As a long time resident of this beautiful country, with many friends here, I couldn’t agree more.
However, this is something which seems to have been lost on the viewing public. The crew themselves even acknowledged this at the end of the show, saying the cars were better ambassadors than they were. Yet again, it seems people need reminding that the show wasn’t trying to be something it wasn’t. Regardless of this, it was also announced last week that Top Gear was the most watched show on BBC iPlayer not only over Christmas, but the whole of December; with viewing figures pushing 5 million, it’s still an immensely popular show and it seems a shame that the enjoyment of these people is tainted by a few hundred complaints which have been picked up and whipped in to a media storm. Us Brits have always been quick to complain......!
From my perspective, it’s a shame that such a positive (if not stressful!) experience has been misconstrued in this way. It was such a fun show to film and, at the end of the day, the shoot was received extremely well by the Indian locals. The reaction the show has received is a real shame as it feels some people are being very quick to judge what was an unforgettable time for me and my company. There was no hostility or bad feeling so why has this now overshadowed the programme? Even local Indian newspapers, such as The Herald, printed stories about the BBC press statement – would they have done that if they were really offended by the show?
So, for just one moment, let’s forget all the negativity and celebrate what is still a British institution. Visit our Facebook page to see some behind the scenes photos from filming and follow us on Twitter for more news and views.
Up until then, the BBC had remained very quiet on the subject but it appears this was one step too far, leading them to release a statement last week in defence of the crew’s antics.
In it, they said the programme showed India for what it is and that all it did was poke fun at the presenters....NOT at Indians: 'Our film showed the charm, the beauty, the wealth, the poverty and the idiosyncrasies of India, but there's a vast difference between showing a country, warts and all, and insulting it....It's simply not the case that we displayed a hostile or superior attitude to our hosts.' As a long time resident of this beautiful country, with many friends here, I couldn’t agree more.
However, this is something which seems to have been lost on the viewing public. The crew themselves even acknowledged this at the end of the show, saying the cars were better ambassadors than they were. Yet again, it seems people need reminding that the show wasn’t trying to be something it wasn’t. Regardless of this, it was also announced last week that Top Gear was the most watched show on BBC iPlayer not only over Christmas, but the whole of December; with viewing figures pushing 5 million, it’s still an immensely popular show and it seems a shame that the enjoyment of these people is tainted by a few hundred complaints which have been picked up and whipped in to a media storm. Us Brits have always been quick to complain......!
From my perspective, it’s a shame that such a positive (if not stressful!) experience has been misconstrued in this way. It was such a fun show to film and, at the end of the day, the shoot was received extremely well by the Indian locals. The reaction the show has received is a real shame as it feels some people are being very quick to judge what was an unforgettable time for me and my company. There was no hostility or bad feeling so why has this now overshadowed the programme? Even local Indian newspapers, such as The Herald, printed stories about the BBC press statement – would they have done that if they were really offended by the show?
So, for just one moment, let’s forget all the negativity and celebrate what is still a British institution. Visit our Facebook page to see some behind the scenes photos from filming and follow us on Twitter for more news and views.
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