Musings on Terry Pratchett and Jeremy Clarkson

I had an interesting pub discussion last night on the latest debacle surrounding Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson. It appears that the grumpy one couldn't get a steak, threw a punch at a BBC producer and has subsequently been suspended. Not exactly earth shattering events, yet it appears to have caused quite a rumpus and our pub discussion would I suspect be just one of thousands that would be taking place in scores of pubs and bars both here in the UK and no doubt in other parts of the world. It would seem that Clarkson and Top Gear have a phenomenal following. Why, I'm not entirely sure!

I have no particular aversion to Clarkson. If I see him on TV I don't grab the remote control to switch to another channel. However I do find his pompous, arrogant attitude rather wearing. My view is that he seems to find his talent and humour to be far greater than it actually is. However I see that over 400,000 people have now signed an online petition to have him reinstated, so clearly he has a massive following a fact that will no doubt fuel his already grossly inflated ego.

I was recently sent an article written on the subject of Clarkson by comedian Steve Coogan. In it he summed up Clarkson and his diminutive chum Richard Hammond as the school bully and the little chap who tags along with the bully to avoid being beaten up himself. I thought that that description summed up the relationship perfectly. Their brand of laddish pranks have all too often caused hurt, embarrassment and distress to far too many people. Quite frankly they are  sexist, racist and homophobic and there should be no place for such things in the world today. And certainly not on the BBC. The thing is, that if the BBC take the ultimate step and sack Clarkson, he will inevitably be snapped up by some other broadcaster who will be only too happy to pay obscene amounts of money to secure his so called talents. Haven't we seen it all before with the likes of Jonathan Ross, Russell Brand, Andy Gray and Richard Keys?

How tragic and ironic that on the evening of the above discussion, I also learned of the sad death of Sir Terry Pratchett.  Here we had a man of immense talent whose imagination and ability to make us laugh far exceeded anything that Clarkson and his cronies would ever be capable of. I liken Pratchett in that respect to the late, great Douglas Adams and like Adams, he will be sadly missed but they leave behind a remarkable body of work that will bring enjoyment to millions for many many years to come.

RIP Sir Terry.