Jeremy Clarkson has been back to work for the BBC for the first time since he was axed from Top Gear to finish work on unseen footage from the last series of the BBC2 show.
The presenter, whose contract was not renewed after his assault on a member of the programme’s production team, returned to complete voiceover work on two films made before his departure.
The BBC said he was not paid for the work, carried out under the terms of his old contract, which ran out at the end of March.
His former colleagues, James May and Richard Hammond, also returned to the programme’s studios to record links for the 75-minute episode, which will air on BBC2 in the next few weeks.
It is the first time Clarkson has been back at the BBC since his departure, having pulled out of a booking to present BBC1 panel show Have I Got News for You.
A trailer for the one-off, destined to be BBC2’s most-watched show of the year given the popularity of the series and the controversy around the star, was released last week.
The corporation has always said Clarkson is not banned from the BBC, with BBC2 controller Kim Shillinglaw predicting in the wake of his axing that he would be back at the corporation. It now turns out, he already has.
A BBC spokeswoman confirmed: “He has done the voiceover for Top Gear. He came in to the BBC the week before last.
“He didn’t get paid to do it. Even though this happened after his contract was not renewed, it falls under his old contract.
“He is not banned from appearing on the BBC.”
Clarkson has been linked with a switch to either ITV or US on-demand service Netflix after his enforced departure from the BBC.
It remains to be seen who will present Top Gear when it is back on BBC2 next year. Both Hammond and May have indicated they would not return without Clarkson but that did not stop the BBC making a multimillion pound bid to lure them back.
BBC director general Tony Hall said at the time of Clarkson’s axing: “There cannot be one rule for one and one rule for another dictated by either rank, or public relations and commercial considerations.”
The 30-second trailer, in which the Top Gear trio become classic car and “lifestyle leisure” enthusiasts, features the three on familiar form churning up the countryside and appearing to destroy at least one caravan. Clarkson is later seen driving wearing goggles.
