Nazi salutes, comedy asylum seekers and a Toyota Hilux (whatever that is) being driven into a tree. It can only be one thing - Top Gear. And today the BBC was forced to defend Clarkson and co.
The 20th most complained about show on TV, according to Ofcom, few programmes divide viewers like the Sunday night motoring show hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and, er, the other one.
So much so that the BBC has been forced to issue a response to complaints about the show on the BBC Complaints website. Not about any particular aspect of it. Oh no. But about the "general approach taken by the programme". In other words, the whole thing.
"We acknowledge some viewers do not appreciate the Top Gear team's sense of humour but their provocative comments are an integral part of the programme and are not intended to be taken seriously," says the Beeb.
"In addition to making fun of each other, Jeremy Clarkson and his co-presenters frequently make jibes at members of the audience and at individuals and organisations featured in the programme. This is part of the appeal of the show and no-one is immune from the team's acerbic comments and observations. We trust most viewers are familiar enough with the style and tone of the show not to take offence."
Obviously not, or they wouldn't have complained. Perhaps the BBC had in mind last December's show in which Clarkson made a Nazi salute and joked that BMW's new Mini had a "satellite navigation system that would only take you to Poland".
Or maybe it was the show this month in which the team took part in the "white van challenge", part of which was concealing a producer in the back pretending to be an asylum seeker. Or was it the time Clarkson drove that Toyota into a tree, or churned up a Scottish mountainside in a 4x4? No wonder he got a custard pie in the face.
Occasionally offensive and entirely environmentally unfriendly, who watches this stuff? Okay I admit it: me. I love Top Gear. And I've only driven 30 miles in my life - Rochester to Maidstone and back, 1996, in my slippers (improved pedal control, I always found). But as one pundit wrote recently, it's not a show about cars, it's a show about blokes talking about cars
Top Gear is pure escapism, perfect Sunday night entertainment (improved only by the prospect of Midsomer Murders or Waking the Dead following it at 9pm). For those of us with a short attention span, it's even divided up into bite size chunks with regular items like the "star driving a reasonably priced car". So similar is each show that you're often halfway in before you realise you're watching a repeat.
That's not to say that Clarkson isn't an arse. I'd rather read a 1968 Ford Cortina manual than a collection of his Sunday Times columns, but he does make great TV. Or perhaps I should get out more. In a Toyota Prius, obviously.
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