The problem for the Beeb is that he was given a final warning for mumbling something unspeakably racist on screen a little while back. On the one hand, management has to stick to HRE policies and procedures so that all staff are treated the same, particularly as an assault on a colleague is a pretty serious offence. On the other, the Beeb now owns all rights to the show since buying Clarkson's share of Top Gear (for £8.4m) a couple of years back. If it all goes belly up then they lose an enormous amount of revenue.

Saturday's show was not filmed, so no doubt some lash-up is being frantically rushed into production right now, and sleb lists scanned for a possible replacement. Finding a mouthy petrol head shouldn't be an insurmountable problem, and no doubt JC will be forgotten history in a matter of weeks. Whether or not he will be given another chance later is anyone's guess as he has annoyed Auntie quite a lot in the past, most notably in the Argentina debacle. Incidentally, I don't think he was fired and then re-hired in the past - I think it was a suspension.

Perhaps it's time for a wholesale replacement of presenters and a break from the tiresome know-it-alls who prattle on about brake horse power and compression ratios. Dara O'Briain and the Mock the Week line-up would be a refreshing change. Or Jo Brand. Or Wallace and Grommit.