Series 12 of ''
Top Gear
Top Gear may refer to:
* "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission
Television
* ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme
* ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
'', a British motoring magazine and
factual television
Factual television is a genre of non-fiction television programming that documents actual events and people. These types of programs are also described as observational documentary, fly on the wall, docudrama, and reality television. The genre ...
programme, was broadcast in the United Kingdom on
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
during 2008, consisting of seven episodes that were aired between 2 November and 14 December. This series' highlights included the presenters tackling the task of driving lorries, investigating car-tuning, an fuel-economy race, the first power test by
James May
James Daniel May (born 16 January 1963) is an English television presenter and journalist. He is best known as a co-presenter of the motoring programme '' Top Gear'' alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015. He also ...
, and a review of cars made during the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
era. After the series concluded, a feature-length special for Christmas, titled ''
Top Gear: Vietnam Special'', was aired on 28 December 2008, focusing on the presenters travelling across Vietnam with motorcycles.
A series of compilation episodes featuring the best moments of the eleventh and twelfth series, titled "Best of Top Gear", were aired during 2009, between 1 January and 1 February. The twelfth series faced two sets of criticism, one for an unacceptable joke referencing a major crime in 2006, and the other questioning the review of a car by
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' an ...
in regards to his comments on its quality.
Episodes
Best-of Episodes
Criticism and Controversy
HGV Challenge "Prostitutes" joke
During the first episode of the series, Jeremy Clarkson made a joke regarding lorry drivers killing
prostitute
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
s. Following the episode's broadcast, the joke drew criticism, with many believing that it alluded to the
Ipswich 2006 serial murders in which a forklift truck driver was arrested and charged with the murder of five women who had been working as prostitutes,
though some believe it was more likely that Clarkson was referring to the
Yorkshire Ripper
Peter William Sutcliffe (2 June 1946 – 13 November 2020) was an English serial killer who was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper (an allusion to Jack the Ripper) by the press. Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting t ...
.
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers acros ...
received over 500 complaints in regards to the joke, but revealed that the remark had not been in breach of the broadcasting code. Meanwhile, Labour MP
Chris Mole wrote a strongly worded letter to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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...
, in which Clarkson pointed out, upon rigorous testing, that the batteries on the Roadster drained quickly and that the car suffered mechanical problems. Tesla contested these findings following the episode, and provided data logs of the cars' performances during the show to ''Top Gear'' and the BBC, which led both to revealing in statements to the media, that the cars did not in fact break down and never went below 20 percent state of charge. Despite this, Clarkson wrote an article for ''
'', following dozens of blogs and newspapers challenging ''Top Gears portrayal of the Roadster's performance, in which he stood by the contents of the episode.