Country of origin United Kingdom Original network BBC Two | No. of episodes 7 | |
Starring Jeremy Clarkson
Richard Hammond
James May Original release 27 January (2013-01-27) – 10 March 2013 (2013-03-10) | ||
The nineteenth series of Top Gear was aired during 2013 on BBC Two and BBC HD, beginning on 27 January and concluding on 24 February. It was subsequently followed by a two part special entitled "Africa Special", the first part airing on 3 March 2013, and the second airing a week later on 10 March.
Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ Reviews film
During his reviews of the Toyota GT86 and the Subaru BRZ, Jeremy Clarkson attempted to see which one he would pick through the use of the eeny meeny miny moe rhyme. Following accusations of racism made against Clarkson for use of "Slope" comment in the Burma Special, British newspaper The Daily Mirror revealed video evidence that in his use of the rhyme with the GT86 and BRZ, he was noted as mumbling the word "nigger", which was historically a part of the rhyme's earlier versions; in the aired version of the review, the word "teacher" was used instead of the racial epithet of the unaired version that surfaced. While Clarkson denied the incident at first, he eventually issued an apology following the evidence's appearance. In his apology, he stated that he was "extremely keen" to avoid using the word, and that he had to do three takes with the film, adding that he was "mortified" that he appeared to actually mumble the word and that he did everything he could to avoid it being transmitted on the show. He further proved this was the case with a note he sent to the production office, which read:
"I didn't use the N-word here but I've just listened through my headphones and it sounds like I did. Is there another take that we could use?",
This incident was one of two reasons that led to the BBC ultimately giving Clarkson a "final warning" in regards to the corporation's views on racist remarks.