Though Jeremy Clarkson is supposedly welcome to work for the BBC again, it will not be on Top Gear as the sacred global brand picks up Chris Evans for an extra million a year, and drops Clarkson’s mates. A fanfare of supportive corporation hype ensues. This is a new start for the bashed old banger. It is also a far riskier bet than you normally find around Broadcasting House. If Top Gear Mark II doesn’t win critical favour and syndication riches around the globe, who’ll carry the can? It could be Mark Linsey, controller of entertainment commissioning, who played contact man approaching Evans. It could be Tim Davie, boss of BBC Worldwide, who wants his £50m in global revenues protected. It could be Kim Shillinglaw, the relatively new controller of BBC2. One of them will look vulnerable if Evans – an inspired ad-libber best caught live – can’t fit the Clarkson mantle.
But who might have handled Jeremy more deftly and emolliently in the first place? Whose tetchiness poured burning oil on troubled waters? Danny Cohen, head of TV, has long been a coming man, a talent to follow to the top. But somehow those glowing opinions seem a little dimmer these days.
