The production team of hit BBC TV show Top Gear have been heavily criticised by broadcasting regulator Ofcom for using an "offensive racist term" in one its episodes.
After building a bamboo bridge in the Top Gear Burma Special, Jeremy Clarkson used the word "slope" – a word play referring to both the camber of the bridge and to an Asian man walking across it at the time.
“That is a proud moment… but there’s a slope on it,” said Clarkson to co-host Richard Hammond who replied: “You are right… it is definitely higher on that side.”
In the next scene the voice of Clarkson is heard saying: “We decide to ignore the slope and move on to the opening ceremony.”
Ofcom rejected the BBC's argument that the production team were unaware that the term 'slope' was offensive – and that they believed it was "mere slang".
Ofcom said the use of the term had "the potential to be offensive to Asian people specifically, as well as to viewers more generally”.
The show has mocked a number of nationalities in its history, Ofcom said. In this instance the production team deliberately used an offensive term.
Ofcom believes the term was scripted and the scene set up.
Top Gear producer Andy Wilman apologised soon after the episode first aired in March: “When we used the word ‘slope’ in the recent Top Gear Burma special it was a light-hearted wordplay joke referencing both the build quality of the bridge and the local Asian man who was crossing it.
“We were not aware at the time, and it has subsequently been brought to our attention, that the word "slope" is considered by some to be offensive.”
As many of our annual breakdown cover customers will be aware, Top Gear is hugely popular around the world – aired in 170 countries with an estimated weekly viewership of 350 million.
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