The Top Gear Story Read Free Page B

Pollock, who was very keen on motorsport. Being producer didn’t mean you stopped directing individual items but it did mean you were responsible for delivering the whole programme – still 30 minutes at that stage – and helping to manage any directors or other people who might be working on it.’
    However, for the purposes of this book, Bentley’s role as producer also came with one crucial new responsibility: he was able to introduce new presenters. Enter one Jeremy Clarkson …
    â€˜I used to go on car launches occasionally,’ recalls Bentley, ‘either to shoot an item or, when the series was less active, to drive the new car and meet different people. On the Citroen AX launch (which I always remember as being in the New Forest, but may actually have been in Berkshire – well, it was in a forest, anyway!), I sat down at dinner and next to me was Jeremy Clarkson. He was a writer on Performance Car at the time, but I think he was on the launch because he used to syndicate local newspaper motoring columns and was writing a test of the new Citroën. We had a long conversation and he seemed exactly the sort of person I wanted as a presenter on Top Gear – funny, opinionated, passionate about cars but not in the least bit serious or po-faced. Perfect. I don’t think I considered for a moment whether he [looked the part] or not.
    â€˜I’d become established as a producer [by then so] I felt in a strong position to back my hunch, arrange a screen test and convince my boss we should hire him. Of course these days if youfeel like screen testing someone, you can just point your phone at them and record a video. Back then, in 1988, it was almost before the days of even VHS camcorders and you’d need a bit of investment in a crew with a sound recordist to go out and shoot a screen test, so I had to convince the powers-that-be to invest in a screen test day.’
    A full day of screen testing was arranged at Shugborough in Staffordshire and Clarkson, along with an array of other potential presenters including several high-profile car magazine editors and writers, was invited along. ‘I tested Jeremy [on that day] along with a few other people I thought might have potential. I asked people to bring along a car of their choice and talk about it for two minutes then I would supply a surprise car for them to talk about unprepared. I chose the 2CV because I thought it was universally known and the sort of car everyone would have an opinion on.
    â€˜Jeremy brought along a Range Rover and was very funny, streets ahead of the others. I hadn’t read much of [his writing] but he just came over very well as a strong, lively personality. I kept that screen test tape for ages but one day when I went to look for it, I couldn’t find it. A pity! I wish I still had it.’
    Clarkson was one of the first new faces Bentley put forward and he was delighted when Jeremy was offered a job. The producer’s gut instinct was quickly validated: ‘We had a few meetings and I explained that the best way to write a TV script was to put the pictures on the left-hand side and the words on the right-hand side, make breaks for music or action, and think about how long each sequence should be. Jeremy just took to it immediately. I went out with him for the first couple of items but thereafter he became the sort of presenter who could almost be his own producer. You could put him with a director who was brilliant visually and very good at pace and music, and you knewyou’d end up with six or seven minutes of great, memorable stuff. Always excellent!’
    One of Clarkson’s very first features was a test of a new Mercedes S-Class in the south of France, around 1991. ‘I think the Merc S-Class was the first car test we did that had a bit of extra dramatic polish to it,’ recalls Bentley. ‘The director, Dennis Jarvis, cut a sequence of it driving round to Chris