Jeremy Clarkson has launched a blistering attack on the BBC, taking aim at the broadcaster for ‘hitting a new low’ with its ‘worst ever ratings over Christmas‘.

The former Top Gear host, who was let go from the BBC in 2015, insisted he wasn’t holding a grudge against the television company as he named and shamed stars involved in scandals on their channels over the years.

Jeremy, 65, took to his column in The Times to once again address his exit from the corporation, following an altercation with a producer on the set of Top Gear.

The TV presenter, who went on to star in Prime Video’s The Grand Tour alongside former co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May, said that while his fans likely expect him to ‘launch into a tirade of abuse’ against the BBC over his ‘rather public’ removal, he instead wanted to focus on being treated like a ‘naughty scallywag’.

Admitting his life has ‘improved immeasurably’ since leaving the BBC, Clarkson said he felt ‘a tiny bit smug’ about the scandals that unfolded both before and after his exit.

‘When I was there, I was seen as the ultimate bad boy,’ Clarkson wrote, adding while reflecting on ‘forever’ appearing in the papers for various transgressions that he was treated like ‘nothing more than a naughty scallywag’.

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Jeremy Clarkson launched a blistering attack on the BBC, taking aim at the broadcaster for ‘hitting a new low’ with its ‘worst ever ratings over Christmas’

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The former Top Gear host, who was let go from the BBC in 2015, said he felt ‘a tiny bit smug’ about the scandals that unfolded both before and after his exit

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He hit out that even before leaving the broadcaster, there were problems within the Broadcasting House, where the BBC has been based for over 90 years.

Clarkson continued that the controversies he faced were minor in comparison with what he felt are far more serious scandals to rock the broadcaster both at the time of his exit and after.

He wrote about the misconduct and crimes of other BBC figures, including Rolf Harris, who was found guilty on 12 counts of indecent assault in 2014.

Clarkson also noted the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal that unfolded in 2012, and more recently, Huw Edwards, who was sentenced for possessing indecent images of children in 2024.

He noted that despite these scandals, he was reprimanded for what he felt were comparatively trivial matters, like the name of his dog, Didier Dogba – which saw him accused of racism.

Clarkson also noted editorial failures within the broadcaster, including the recent editing of a speech by Donald Trump in a Panorama documentary and the use of a reporter in Gaza with alleged links to terrorism.

He also hit out at a ‘woeful’ Panorama episode that explored racism in policing.

Taking aim at Doctor Who writer Russell T Davies, Clarkson went on to suggest Davies had ‘ruined’ one of the BBC’s top performing shows with ‘ham-fisted climate change dialogue’ in its new spin off, The War Between The Land And The Sea.

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The former BBC presenter went on to star in Prime Video’s The Grand Tour alongside former co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May after his exit from the broadcaster in 2015

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Clarkson made reference to former BBC presenter Huw Edwards, who was sentenced for possessing indecent images of children in 2024

The TV star also criticised the broadcasting of Glastonbury performer Bob Vylan, who was seen inciting chants of ‘death to the IDF’ during coverage of the festival.

Clarkson said that he felt these failures had to have consequences, suggesting the BBC get rid of its licence fee for viewers.

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He claimed: ‘As a result of all these mistakes and the right-on nature of the content, the BBC had its worst-ever ratings on Christmas Day and last year lost more than £1 billion in revenue as households said they no longer wished to watch it.’

He argued that the hours of low-cost daytime programming that the broadcaster churns out on a daily basis was draining the resources that could be used to fund high-quality drama series that could compete with streaming giants.

Praising BBC iPlayer as ‘one of the best bits of tech in the business’, Clarkson suggested that the Beeb should make the move to merge with other broadcaster to compete with streaming giants like Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video.

The decision would follow in the footsteps of reports that ITV are in talks to merge with Sky in a £1.6million deal – with Sky eyeing up buying ITV’s Media & Entertainment.

‘Imagine an Adolescence every week,’ Clarkson continued, backing up his idea behind a model that prioritised producing high-impact British dramas.

Clarkson suggested calling the new British streaming giant ‘Britflix’.

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Taking aim at TV writer Russell T Davies, Clarkson went on to suggest Davies had ‘ruined’ one of the BBC’s top performing shows, Doctor Who

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Clarkson hit out that the popular series had been ruined by the ‘climate change’ narrative of new spin-off The War Between The Land And The Sea

It comes after Top Gear producer Andy Wilman launched an attack on the BBC for ‘misunderstanding’ host Jeremy Clarkson, and trying to ‘f*** over’ the TV star and his co-hosts.

Wilman, who is the former executive producer of the long-running car series, accused the broadcaster’s bosses of ‘tarring them with the same brush as comic Bernard Manning’.

Bernard, who died aged 76 in 2007, was banned from performing at venues around the country for controversial jokes that saw him accused of sexism and racism.

Andy, 63, hit out that a small group of people at the BBC compared the hosts to the seventies comedian over some ‘politically incorrect comments’ on Top Gear.

And while the producer feels remorseful for the remarks that offended viewers, Andy, who is releasing a memoir, Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure, admitted he still held some anger towards the broadcaster after the show was brought to an end.

Especially for what he suggests was the broadcaster attempting to secretly split up the trio of hosts behind-the-scenes after offensive remarks.

He told The Sun: ‘We’d said sorry, but you got that sense that they were going, “That’s not enough”… I thought it was a Bernard Manning brush going on.’

Trouble began brewing for the show’s stars after a joke aired while the hosting trio filmed on a bridge they built in Thailand in 2014 – using the derogatory term ‘slope’ to describe people of East or South East Asian descent.

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Clarkson said that he felt the failures from the BBC had to have consequences, suggesting the broadcaster get rid of its licence fee for viewers

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Producer Andy Wilman, who turned Top Gear into a global success, has launched an attack on the BBC for ‘misunderstanding’ host Jeremy Clarkson

It followed on from a formal apology made by Jeremy, 65, and his co-stars just years earlier after the group characterised Mexican people as lazy.

While Andy explained they did receive ‘support’ within the BBC and that the show’s compliance department had been on his side, a probe into the show was still launched.

The nail in the coffin for Jeremy came in 2015 when a complaint was reported to BBC management that he had been involved in a physical and verbal incident with producer Oisin Tymon.

Andy added of the attitude towards former host Jeremy, who had his contract with the BBC terminated in 2015 following the incident, continued: ‘I think people totally misunderstand Jeremy… He’s never an angry person.’

He further hit out at the BBC’s attitude towards Jeremy’s co-hosts, Richard Hammond and James May, after they got rid of Jeremy, trying to ‘split’ the trio up after Jeremy’s departure.

Andy said: ‘They thought they could just blithely go, “Right, let’s put a wedge between them, and then we’ll have two of them and we’ll f*** them over.”‘

After Jeremy’s departure, co-stars James, 62, and Richard, 55, stuck alongside him in signing a deal for The Grand Tour with Amazon’s Prime Video – which Andy was a producer on.

During its time on air, Top Gear gained a Guinness World Record for the most-watched factual programme in the world in 2013 thanks to its 350 million views across 212 countries.

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Trouble began brewing for the show’s stars after a joke aired while the hosting trio filmed on a bridge they built in Thailand in 2014

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After Jeremy’s departure, co-stars James, 62, and Richard, 55, stuck alongside him in signing a deal for The Grand Tour with Amazon’s Prime Video – which Andy was a producer on

And it welcomed guests including Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Rowan Atkinson, Ryan Reynolds and Dame Helen Mirren.

While reboot The Grand Tour was popular among viewers, it did not share the same level of success as the BBC’s Top Gear.

Top Gear was then brought back to screens with a new panel of hosts including Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc, before the BBC unveiled a new presenting lineup with former cricketer Freddie Flintoff, presenter Paddy McGuinness and journalist Chris Harris.

The show came to an end when Freddie, 47, narrowly escaped death and was left with severe facial injuries in a car crash while filming for the show.

Despite the horror crash, Andy insisted that he felt the show ‘could return’ with work to make the ‘dangers levels acceptable’, and if there ‘was a will’ from the BBC to bring it back.

In 2024, the BBC said that it would not return ‘for the foreseeable future’.

Elsewhere, Andy claimed there was a time when bosses at the BBC wanted one of the trio gone because they were three middle-aged white men.

He claimed he was then asked by an executive: ‘So, how about replacing one of your line-up with a young . . . black or Asian presenter,’ in extracts from his book obtained by The Sun.

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The BBC then unveiled a new presenting lineup with former cricketer Freddie Flintoff, presenter Paddy McGuinness and journalist Chris Harris

Andy replied: ‘So hang on, you’ve got young black and Asian viewers who have chosen, seemingly quite happily, to watch three white, middle-class, middle-aged men doing what they do, and in response to that, we should now break that team up — the one they enjoy watching — and give them something they’re most likely not asking for?

‘Isn’t that sort of patronising to . . . young black and Asian viewers?’

It follows the BBC suffering some of its worst Christmas Day TV ratings in modern times in December, as viewers turn their backs on its traditional festive offerings.

Viewing figures were almost two thirds lower at their peak on December 25, with almost 4.6 million people tuning in to watch King Charles III’s annual Christmas message.

This marked a near eight million fewer viewers than those who huddled round the television set for the corporation’s long-awaited Gavin and Stacey special in 2024.

While 12.5 million watched the Christmas reunion, ten million also sat down for the corporation’s showing of Wallace & Gromit on the same day, and both exceeded 20 million when views on catch-up were added.

But while the BBC still dominated the most-watched list this year, its ratings were down across the board in a worrying sign for bosses following another year of scandals.

Familiar favourites such as Eastenders and Call The Midwife saw their viewers drop compared with 2024, suggesting a steady decline in the number of Brits switching on the box this Christmas.

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The Christmas special of Strictly Come Dancing marked the final time Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly hosted the show, and pulled in 4.2 million viewers on Christmas Day

None of the top ten shows came close to last year’s successes, with second-placed The Scarecrow’s Wedding getting 4.3 million views and Strictly Come Dancing at third with 4.2 million.

Call the Midwife came in at fourth with 3.4 million watches, while first-time entry Amandaland beat out the residents of Albert Square for seventh place with three million.

The corporation did still occupy nine of the top ten spots for the most-watched festive television shows, with even its weather forecast trumping ITV‘s best-viewed programme, The 1% Club.

But its results are being described as the BBC’s worst ever festive performance, previously attributed to its 2006 outing, which saw its viewer share drop to just 30 per cent.

However in a world before streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon diverted many viewers to alternatives platforms, even on that Christmas Day its best-watched programme, the Christmas episode of The Vicar Of Dibley, pulled in 11.4 million.

This year’s maximum of 4.5 million is a far cry from the heyday of 1986, when around 30 million people tuned in to watch the corporation’s festive edition of Eastenders.

Critics argue that this year’s low figures are not only the continuation of a long-running trend, but also particularly brutal given the sensational line-up last year thanks to Gavin and Stacey.

Even the prospect of Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly’s last ever Strictly appearance was seemingly not enough to entice viewers back to mainstream TV.

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First-time entry to the Christmas Day schedule Amandaland pulled in three million viewers – in 2024

It marks a bitter blow to the BBC which is still reeling from a series of scandals in recent months and the filing of a massive lawsuit by US President Donald Trump.

This year’s offerings were themselves controversial after the corporation chose not to pull the Boxing Day special of comedy panel show Would I Lie To You following allegations of inappropriate behaviour against one of its panellists emerging.

Comedian and author David Walliams was this month dropped by his publishers HarperCollins over claims he sexually harassed junior employees. Walliams denies any wrongdoing.

The former Britain’s Got Talent host was already in hot water after it emerged earlier this year that while recording the festive episode, he made two Nazi salutes and a lewd sexual gesture.

Host Rob Bryant reportedly had to intervene in the recording to remind Walliams that the show is family-friendly and is broadcast pre-watershed.

The BBC has confirmed it has no future plans to work with the author, but still aired the episode as planned.

Elsewhere, the BBC is under fresh scrutiny over its relationship with Russell Brand, who was recently charged with more allegations of rape and sexual assault against women. He has pleaded not guilty to the previous charges against him.

And just days before Christmas Trump filed a $10billion lawsuit against the corporation over the editing of a speech he made on the day of the Capital riots in an episode of Panorama.

Kate Phillips, the BBC’s chief content officer, said: ‘We’re proud of the fact that people come together on the BBC at Christmas.

‘Having nine out of the top ten shows on Christmas Day is a timely reminder that shared moments really do still matter even in a world of so much choice.’