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Argentina seeks apology over Top Gear incident

Argentina's ambassador to the UK makes a formal complaint to the BBC over that offensive number plate.

2014-10-23_1423The score of Evita may have had the song Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina, but the song Oh What a Circus! is probably a better fit for the rift that has emerged thanks to Top Gear‘s visit to Argentina last month.

It all centred around the registration plate ‘H982FKL’ -thought to refer to the Falklands War.

A statement from the Argentinian embassy has since said: “Argentine ambassador to the UK Alicia Castro made a formal complaint to the BBC regarding Jeremy Clarkson’s provocative behaviour and offensive remarks towards the government and the Argentine people, following Top Gear‘s recent filming in Argentina, calling for the BBC to make a public apology.

“Furthermore, the Argentine ambassador deeply regretted Jeremy Clarkson’s entirely false accusations of alleged resentment against British citizens in Argentina.”

The incident led to local protests, rocks being hurled and the team being ejected as a result.

Last week, producer Andy Wilman claimed the number plates were not selected deliberately and the incident was “definitely not the sort of stunt we’d pull”.

On their official website, the team also detail how the car and it’s offending number plate came about:

The truth is, however, this is most definitely not the sort of stunt we’d pull. For starters we would not base a joke around soldiers in conflict. Anybody who knows Top Gear knows how much work the presenters and the show does for Help For Heroes, and in our eyes soldiers are soldiers whatever the uniform.

Secondly, we set out on that trip to shoot a two-hour Christmas Special. It’s the most important film we make all year, and we would not plan such a crucial undertaking based on a number plate joke. Because, if you think about it for a moment, that’s precisely what we would have had to do.

We would have had to gather the whole team and say: “Sod what the cars are for this trip, just find one that’s registered with a number plate containing 982 and FKL.” The plate was a genuine plate, remember, not one we made up.

You can read more here.

Jeremy Clarkson has also written in The Times that the team had to hide under a bed in a crew member’s room:

“When we arrived in Tierra del Fuego the car had no plate at all on the front and a meaningless jumble of letters and numbers on the back. And no, it wasn’t W3WON. Which it would have been if I’d been trying to ruffle feathers.

“Some protesters had arrived and were keen to let everyone know they were unhappy with our visit,” Clarkson wrote of the initial problems. “They were angry. They said that they were not violent but that a group of men from the local truckers’ trade union were on their way. And that when they arrived things would definitely turn nasty. Our local fixers advised that we stop filming immediately, leave the cars on the gradients and go to a nearby hotel.”

Source: Digital Spy,

3 Responses

  1. @JM I believe it’s a British plate, not Argentinian so they didn’t issue it.

    But it does seem like such a beat up of what was just an unfortunate numberplate. It’s not like they chose a little hatchback just to get the plate, it was a Porsche, precisely the sort of car Top Gear would choose.

  2. Seriously….. aren’t there bigger issues in the world? Get over it Argentina!

    If you were so offended by the Number Plate why was it issued by the Motor Registry (or equivalent) in the first place

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