British army commits equipment worth millions ... to 'Top Gear'
Jeremy Clarkson left, James May, centre, and Richard Hammond enjoy a ride on some heavy military equipment on Top Gear. Photo: Getty Images
Thursday November 19 2009
Whether it is trying to blast a Lotus sports car off the road with an Apache helicopter, or using an RAF Typhoon to race the world's fastest road car, no series of Top Gear would be complete without some sort of high-octane cameo from the British armed forces.
With a regular UK audience of more than 5 million viewers, and a further 350 million worldwide, British defence chiefs are more than aware of the BBC show's potential as a recruiting sergeant at a time when new servicemen are much in demand.
Which might explain why the UK's Ministry of Defence is so keen to help out on the show. The sheer scale of the MoD's co-operation with Top Gear was revealed last night in response to a Freedom of Information request from the Press Association which showed that military personnel have been involved in filming the equivalent of 141 man days, while civilian officials spent 48 days working on items for the programme.
Defence officials did not say how much money the stunts with Top Gear had cost the British taxpayer and have insisted that they took place within set training days at no extra expense. Over the past five years equipment worth billions of pounds has been used in a series of major set pieces which have usually revolved around soldiers firing at or racing against fast cars driven by the show's main presenter Jeremy Clarkson.
Ministry of Defence officials quickly defended their involvement in the show, which they said was a valuable way of raising the public's awareness of what the armed forces do. But the revelations come at a time when British service personnel are becoming increasingly critical at what they believe is a lack of vital equipment on the front line in Afghanistan.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of Britain's TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Given how overstretched the Army's resources are, you have to wonder if this is the best use of time, troops and equipment. These filming sessions may only cost the same as any other training exercise but filming Top Gear is hardly the same standard of training as the troops normally have to pursue. Chasing Jeremy Clarkson round in a tank may be fun but it's hardly the top priority at the minute."
An MoD spokesman insisted that "in no circumstances" were resources diverted from operations for the events. "The filming utilised scheduled training hours and resources which would have been consumed irrespective of the filming or not, and were therefore used at no additional cost to MoD," he said.
"Having these events appear on one of the most popular television programmes in the UK was an excellent opportunity to raise public awareness of the armed forces and enable greater support for sailors, soldiers and aircrew."
Officials insist involving the Army in such a prime-time show is an efficient way of advertising the armed forces compared to a television commercial, which costs up to £50,000 (€56,000) per 30 seconds.
- Jerome Taylor
