Jeremy Clarkson plays an arsehole in the media (or is he really such an arsehole?) but I agree about his farming show. It's funny, instructive and touching at times. However, I also found him funny on Top Gear - maybe it's because I assume he was being ironic.

He got fired from Top Gear because he punched a waiter for bringing him a steak that wasn't hot enough.

The asshole thing is probably not just an act.

History suggests it’s never just an act.

Trust the history! It suggests. What more do you want?

Going to have to correct you. Life is a grand theater and everything is an act. History has never suggested otherwise.

You’re exaggerating a bit. He punched a producer for the show who was responsible for organising catering, it wasn’t a random waiter. A random waiter would be much worse. Who knows what relationship he had with that producer previous to the incident… He is (probably) an arsehole but let’s be accurate.

I appreciate this -- I come to HN for accuracy.

Not to defend his actions, but his mom died and he went through a divorce when this happened. Stress and a bit deep in the cup made him lose his composure.

Indeed. I don't think his actions were called for either, but I appreciated that he apologized profusely afterwards, and pointed said - repeatedly - that the producer hadn't done anything wrong and that his fans needed to leave the producer alone. I appreciated that he seriously tried to make amends and didn't try to shove blame on the other guy.

I thought he punched a junior member of staff? And called him an Irish something or other. That put me right off him. Something about that saying on judging people on how they treat people that they don't need to treat well. But yes I've heard good things about his farm show.

Oisin Tymon. Out of 58 producers who worked on the show he was the 3rd most prolific: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1628033/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_cl...

Definitely not a junior member of staff.

Where you're getting your "facts" from, Daily Vomit ?

He punched a producer calling him a "lazy, Irish c**".

Deeply offensive to any Irish person coming from that guy.

He often was. Like any challenge or segment with his tagline "I mean, really? How hard can it be?" where he'd leverage his critical person to point out "Yes, it's actually really hard."

He's definitely at least a bit of an arsehole looking at his co-worker interviews.

But the the big dumb ass getting himself into trouble is funny.

He has consistently been an arsehole for many years in public (a quick scan of his Wikipedia page provides high level details). Whether or not it's an act doesn't change what he's chosen to do to further his own career. The fact that he is now wealthy and established enough from doing so to make a TV series on his own terms about something that interests him as a more genuine version of himself shouldn't excuse this.

Check out Harry Metcalfe's Harry's Farm on Youtube for more insight into British farming. It's a serious version of Clarkson's Farm. It's eye opening how much bureaucracy comes from politicians towards farmers.

I actually really loved his show. It does a good job of showing how hard it is. He farms a bit conventionally, but he's also keen to try things that are regenerative – from his hedge rows and pollinator crops, to his second season quest to create a locavore restaurant that would support the farmers in his area. He's constantly playing up his persona of petrol-powered gear head to set up a joke at his expense that says, "actually, maybe this sustainable approach _isn't_ so bad." Say what you will about Clarkson the person, but the show seems to have done a lot of good in raising awareness around the issues that farmers are facing, particularly in a post-brexit UK.

I find it difficult to dislike Clarkson even when he's pushing things I believe to be utter bollocks.

Conservatives can enjoy Clarkson because he backs up their belief system and his humour is based around taking that belief system to humorous extremes. Lefties can enjoy Clarkson because he comes across like an exaggerated caricature of a conservative.

It's like an inverted version of American conservatives enjoying Stephen Colbert despite his character being a liberal caricature of a conservative. Clarkson's actual beliefs are ambiguous though. I'm not sure that there's any real ideology behind anything he says - he's a shrewd man and his persona has always been based around being outrageous.

It's worth remembering though that Jeremy Clarkson is exactly the kind of person who first makes up their mind about something, and then looks for ways to "prove" it. I'd very much assume the initial pitch for the show described the message they want to portray, and then they filmed the show to tell that story. Scripted television isn't reality.