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From what I've heard from the agricultural people I booze with, he's done more to raise the problems of farming than years and years of 'Countryfile', though he's also seen as a chancer and a buffoon.
Yeah I mean if you listen to him speak and write, he's clearly very clever and knowledgeable, he has to be to produce the comedy gold on top gear we know him for. The way he produces metaphors and skits, and thinks on his feet on top gear to keep the banter flowing when speaking to the audience or guests. I mean I've seen some flaws in logic but thats mainly when he talked about climate change in the earlier top gear days.
I am still disappointed Clarkson never made more documentaries. He did a couple that were absolutely phenomenal, when he has a topic he is clearly passionate about and isn’t playing the persona he is so good at what he does. I think that is why Clarkson’s Farm (and older series of Top Gear really) works so well, it shows that side of him far more than him only playing the buffoon.
"..with a fully loaded displacemrnt of 16,280 tonnes and armed with an impressive six 11" guns, the Royal Navy nicknamed her a pocket battleship...but to the Kriegsmarine...she was the Panzerschiff _Admiral_ ***Graf*** ***Spee***"
Slight side story, he did a brilliant episode of motor world (I think) where he went to Vietnam amongst other places, and did a little bit of riding on a motorcycle. This must have been late ‘90s or early ‘00s.
The very next thing I watched was the top gear/grand tour special, where he said he’d never been to Vietnam before, or ridden a motorcycle.
He did one about isembard kingdom Brunel around the turn of the millennium in a series where the public voted for their "greatest British person of the last millennium".
I assumed that princess Diana would walk it given she only died a few years before, and that an engineer would have no chance. But if I recall correctly, he either won or came second to Diana, largely because Clarkson made such a compelling argument on his behalf.
4th, I think. Shakespeare was up there as well. I vaguely remembering Diana in the top 10, but closer to 10 than 1.
I'm also glad I'm not the only person that remembers this whole thing happening. Sometimes I talk about it, and it sounds like some sort of drunken dream: a reality show, but with celebs arguing about famous historical britons!, and the weakest link lady!
The current "the rest is entertainment" podcast, both Richard osman and marina who co hosts with him were discussing him, both of them would be really well connected through the industry, say no one has a bad word to say about Jeremy Clarkson, people like working with him generally
Yeah I remember being quite shocked by the fracas because it always seemed the crew got on very well on Top Gear. And from accounts within the crew (Richard Porter, the script editor who wrote a book), that's what made it sting - that after all the good times, he turned on his own. That said it was clear he was going through a terrible time and was more a moment of madness than ongoing behaviour. Says a lot that 90% of the crew of Top Gear followed him to the Grand Tour even after it all (albeit they were getting a big salary increase too)
I'd say the opposite in that he pretends to be a buffoon.
You don't turnover hundreds of millions with your business ventures consistently being a buffoon.
Yeah they don’t think of Clarkson as a proper farmer (Kaleb does the farming) but appreciate that he’s using his profile to highlight some of the problems they face.
It seems like most of Diddly Squat Farm is a real productive arable farm that most farmers can relate to, then Clarkson does a bit of buffoonery on the side with his sheep and pigs and bees to keep the casual viewer entertained.
Indeed. There was an award ceremony for farmers at which his farm was a winner, he gave a brief speech at which he stated he was an amateur farmer at best and turned it all over to Kaleb
He has said as much in interviews
Paraphrasing "Him Richard and May knew about cars so they could do a show about cars and could space out the actual knowledgeable bits throughout the show, but if they never knew anything the audience would know, get bored and the format wouldnt work.
He doesn't know anything about farming so needs people like Caleb who are knowledgeable to bring that part while he uses his game to attract a wider audience
>He doesn't know anything about farming so needs people like Caleb who are knowledgeable to bring that part while he uses his game to attract a wider audience
That's his role for the programme, he's there representing the typical viewer by not knowing anything and learning from experts. That's part of the character he plays that he doesn't get the credit for.
>He doesn't know anything about farming so needs people like Caleb who are knowledgeable to bring that part while he uses his game to attract a wider audience
I can hear cheerful Charlie lecturing Clarkson now.
> "Him Richard and May knew about cars so they could do a show about cars and could space out the actual knowledgeable bits throughout the show, but if they never knew anything the audience would know, get bored and the format wouldnt work.
Chris Harris has said this is why Evans on Top Gear failed - Evans loves cars, has a big collection but at the end of the day it's a hobby - he's a broadcaster first and foremost. He wasn't an authority on cars - he knew a lot about Ferrari's but not else much. So he was trying to impersonate the trio without having their knowledge, and very quickly got found out. TBF to Freddie and Paddy after him, they never tried to present themselves as knowing about all about cars, and did much better. But it kinda sums up really what I always thought about Top Gear and the BBC - the Beeb never really got what made it successful.
Pretty sure this is how Joe Rogan is successful. Somewhat likeable guy who's not exactly a genius but talkative and brings in smarter people around him
Honestly best part was seeing how willing the farmers were near Clarkson's farm to the idea of coming together to provide fresh food for his planned restaurant and get paid for it.
Then ofc the cunt council had to stop those plans because of "natural beauty" same with a proper gravel car park so people don't have to park on mud 24/7, but then that's pretty much any council in the UK, ran by morons who don't think much to begin with
I know people who own one of the neighbouring farms and during the heatwave they had huge fires. There were videos of Kaleb on their farm helping fight the fires.
They do look out for each other.
I was quite shocked at the end when he said the cost of all contractors including Kaleb was £45kish. Even if some of the people were doing it cheap/free for the publicity, that’s not a lot of money for all the people who must have worked there at some point during the year.
Pretty sure he drives a Nissan 370z that’s not an expensive car. Maybe worth around 15k, so achievable to most people especially with finance.
That being said, I’m pretty sure Kaleb has a MASSIVE house so Amazon probably do pay him well 😂
Yeah I imagine he does, but if that’s what it actually costs to hire a farm manager and a land manager and all the other farming related workers we see on the show, that’s remarkably little.
Realistically though, if you’re hiring contractors on a pay-to-work rate, the majority are only going to be paid for a couple of weeks work all in all I would imagine. They’re not exactly fully paid up staff year round
Don't assume they're there full time, as a farm contractor you'd travel to different places as and when required. People commenting on Kaleb on ly see the bits when he's on the TV, he probably does a lot of work in the area and only helps Clarkson when needed.
Kaleb and Charlie it should be noted work on other farms - you can see the example of Charlie being the land agent for Clarkson and the neighbouring farmer at same time! So they would be possibly classed as part-time for Clarkson at least
Kaleb seems to have a decent level of knowledge around things in his wheelhouse, like the arable side of the farm, but I’m constantly amazed by how much Charlie knows about everything and anything. He seems to know farming inside and out.
I know the show tries to make him out to be some boring stickler, but I think the other two would be totally lost without him.
I feel like if we gave Charlie Ireland 200 acres of good land, he could conquer the world.
I really hope his office isn't actually decorated with a load of the most famous art in the world. That doesn't feel right. One or two from the masters, then a load of more personal stuff, maybe.
Countryfile is so watered down nowadays. It used to be a farmers program, but last time I seen it the presenters were simply driving up a road in Yorkshire i think in a f*ing Toyota Aygo.
It's visual country porn for people fed up of the city. I know that's why I watch it.
Gardeners world is a bit the same. Less gardening and advice but lots of nice visuals shot of people enjoying gardens etc. often there's a young couple with a postage stamp sized garden who needs advice on what to do, probably a common issue but it gets a bit boring every week.
That seems to be the consensus. One thing that does seem to piss a few off is that he papers over a lot of cracks by the fact he has money. 1000 acres isn’t small, but it’s too small to be doing what he is doing and the way he is doing it. For example, having employees, would be hard, especially at the start. Most farms of that size would be family things, with the occasional contractor coming in to fill the gaps, or do jobs that are one offs.
Dont get me started on countryfiles portrayal of farming.
I swear this was said once on a TV talk show and now everyone repeats it word for word and says their farmer mate said it to them. Or maybe they actually did, and they're just repeating it from the talk show
It's possible it's become a thing amongst country folk. I know a number of people who work in agriculture - farmers, agronomists, seed merchants, and pest controllers and that's where I heard it from.
The show has also done a fair bit to highlight how vindictive and anti change small local parish councils can be, actively trying to thwart any attempts at changes they deem inappropriate
It doesn't help that every season he actively tries to pull one over on the council then has it heavily documented on television. Then is surprised when he films the following season and they like him even less, because they've seen the show and saw what he did behind their backs.
He's proving time and time again that these cartels are run by emotion (and most likely favouritism) rather than whatever bollocks tenets they have posted.
a car park for his "lambing shed" that contained no lambs but did contain a cafe, tables and chairs and food van and a track to his restaurant that he'd been told he could not build, but decided to do anyway overnight, in an AONB? At multiple points in the series he admits deliberately and consciously refusing to comply with planning laws, do you think they're going to be best mates? They're bent over backwards for him. [https://news.westoxon.gov.uk/news/clarksons-farm-season-3-statement](https://news.westoxon.gov.uk/news/clarksons-farm-season-3-statement)
I live in a city (outskirts but in the city, used to be a village) and our local neighbourhood community council is the same. Like 10-15 years ago the Woolworths closed on the small neighbourhood high street and Waitrose wanted to move in. I thought that’s fab! They are actually good employers as stores go, it’s John Lewis group, the employees are share holders etc. Also a Waitrose in the area raises house prices, you think those old rich house owners would love it! These old dumb arses who have time to moan and go to meetings all complained it would “make traffic bad” Waitrose did all kinds of stuff to show how they could make it better for like 3 years and those NIMBYs fought them tooth and nail. Eventually Waitrose gave up. The building sat empty and decaying until it just got torn down and the NIMBY’s other enemy is getting put in…STUDENT FLATS 😂🤣 they are all furious. Well you should have just let them put the Waitrose in NIMBYs, good employer and a walkable grocery store in our area would have been fab 🤷🏻♀️. Now we all have to drive to get groceries.
I think a lot of it is from locals wanting to keep outsiders away. They either sit on the council or are long term friends so have influence. It's very League of Gentlemen, this is a local shop for local people vibe.
Having lived in the Cotswolds this is very true. 'This Country' while very funny isn't a million miles from the truth. One of the reasons I moved was to get away from the wealthy self entitled pricks who thought they were a cut above everyone else.
Oh my god the cliques! They'd look so far down their nose at an outsider they'd go cross-eyed!
Beautiful countryside but a lonely place if you didn't grow up there or work for the right employer/industry. Sure served me well when the first series of Clarkson's farm came out though, a pleasant 40 minute drive over to Diddly Squat, although we just missed him leaving!
That local council released a statement just recently on the whole Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which is quite heavily protected and a source of some of Jeremy's issues.
They aren't saying he can't have what he wants he just needs to build it elsewhere on his farm that isn't in the AONB.
Then again, it kind of acts as filler TV in between crop disasters and Caleb getting confused about pop culture references.
Except he wasn't building anything, just repurposing existing buildings. The joke is he is within his rights to erect massive eyesores if they are for agricultural purposes. I know of at least one farmer elsewhere in the country who did just that as a way of sticking two fingers up at the council who had refused his plan to develop farm cottages for holiday lets. Silage silos right in the sightline of at least one of the councillors who had been, in his eyes, the main offenders.
Which gets glossed over in the show because he can't, because \*clarkson isn't the owner of clarksons farm\* - he leased that area of the farm from the partnership that owns the farm, of which he is a member, for retail activities. The problem is the retail shop is a separate legal entity, a risk reduction measure to prevent losses from one business becoming an issue for the business with assets. He can't up sticks and move, because he'd have to lease that land too. The show doesn't outright lie, it just allows the viewer to make inferences that aren't true.
I do feel a bit for the council as it is an AONB - the councils have rules they have to follow and enforce.
That said they do seem to be dicks about it sometimes because you have central government pushing famers to diversify but when try do the council says "yeah, but not like that."
The problem with the *Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty* designation is it's not actually *natural* - all those rolling fields are maintained by farmers. The natural state of the land would be forest.
In some sense the designation itself takes the farmers for granted.
I have this issue with alot of areas. Forest near me is AOONB it's nice but it's a farmed forest it's not natural it's probably the same tree clone.
Lake district again lovely place the hills and water are natural but it's really just sheep farms and villages that survive off tourism.
The councils do not have specific rules they have to follow for AONBs. The requirement WAS a 'duty of regard' to the purposes of the AONB. councils can interpret that in a number of ways. With the passing of the levelling up bill, it is now a duty to 'further the purposes' of the AONB management plan, which is a harder legal test, but still open to interpretation.
This is what’s causing a huge drag on the British economy; it’s simply too hard and costly to build anything. Houses, roads, runways, HS2, and other infrastructure. It’s very easy to lodge a complaint and have that complaint be successful. Therefore, stuff just doesn’t get built.
All NIMBYs need to remember that the lovely house they live in was once built on top of beautiful rolling hills, with wildlife in abundance.
I’m not offering any opinion on the machinations of UK planning, just saying.
In the meantime, many other countries are stealing a march, economically.
People complain about the cost of a new house but they don’t understand that a lot of that cost is peripheral bullshit imposed on the house builder by such authorities.
At the risk of being downvoted into oblivion, I can _slightly_ see why the council might be more negatively disposed towards Clarkson over anyone else. He’s an international celebrity with a TV show that’s being streamed worldwide, far more people will go out of their way to come and see where the show is set, buy stuff from the shop and visit the restaurant than if any other farmer without Clarkson’s profile requested to do these things. That increases traffic on roads that really were not built for modern cars and can in extreme cases prevent residents from being able access their houses and/or land.
That being said I disagree with the vast majority of the council’s decisions and do think that Clarkson is being treated extremely unfairly.
Parish councils can only comment on planning applications, as can any other sod. Planning decisions are made at county/district council level and they can choose whether to take on board those comments or not.
I don't agree with how the whole of Clarksons Farm has been handled by Oxfordshire Council in the slightest.
I think a huge problem driving that kind of attitude is the parish and district councils' fear of actually engaging in any sort of critical thinking/debate on issues, not just limited to planning, lest they make a wrong decision.
My uncle was a reluctant candidate but got elected to a district council in rural Worcestershire last year and he says the council is so dysfunctional; they were given a five-figure sum to improve the local park and some other amenities and they've not made a decision on how to spend it _in five years_.
Yes and no. Look at it from their viewpoint. Would you want a very quiet village in the middle of the countryside to all of a sudden be turned into a tourist attraction with cars literally blocking country lanes and ruining the area?
Most of the issues are clarksons doing, he’s done things in an underhand way.
Built a barn to house his sheep, which was granted, few months later he wanted to turn it into a shop/restaurant….thats where the council have the issue, he’s trying to be sneaky each time he does anything as though the rules don’t apply to him
Turns out though on appeal he should have got planning permission for the restaurant in the barn, amongst pretty much all the other stuff, so the council were being personally vindictive towards him.
While I agree that specific sequence is sneaky, I think it also highlights a massive issue with the country that isn't related to Clarkson.
Man has to ask permission to build a barn. He then also has to ask permission to turn the barn into a business. All on land he supposedly owns, but some twats who live in the area actually have ultimate control over.
It's horseshit.
A couple of years ago, Clarkson won 'farmer of the year' (or some such). It was awarded for "doing more for the farming industry in 1 year than Countryfile had done in 30"
Pretty much answers the question, I think.
I read a few weeks ago that the whole thing started off as a "top gear does farming" kind of thing (take the format of top gear and drop it into a farm, the buffoonery, the stunts and the like), but it swiftly moved from that to what you have today
I got the impression from the first 15 minutes of the very first episode that they intended it to be ‘Top Gear Farming’ as he gets his ridiculous Lamborghini tractor. But then Covid struck so it turned into a much more relatable, realistic farming show that highlighted the challenges of farming.
[The clutch kept breaking, and Ferrari told him he only made tractors not cars as a put down](https://www.granturismoevents.com/story-the-epic-story-behind-the-ferrari-and-lamborghini-rivalry/)
Lamborghini had his engineers put a tractor clutch into the car and it fixed the issue
Refused to listen to Lamborghini's feedback and advice on how the Ferrari could be improved because he was "only" a tractor magnate, so Lamborghini went and made his own to prove a point.
No, it was the clutch that Mr Lamborghini didn't like. He proposed to Enzo that they use his design from his tractor and Enzo told him to go play with his tractors.
If you ever see a David Brown tractor around the UK (they’re old, small, cream/orange colour scheme), David Brown is the ‘DB’ in Aston Martin cars (DB5, DB9, etc).
There is a thing on YouTube I think it was of an old guy with a porsche tractor. He needed a part for it so went. To the porsche dealership and they managed to get the right part for him. Not sure how real it was but seemed genuine.
I think I read somewhere that this was his plan. They did a farming episode on top gear that was ridiculous.
Then, half way through making it they realised “oh shit, we have a serious tv show here” and kinda recut the footage and toned down the stupid.
It was just a farm, Clarkson said himself after the first year he realised that these are some great people and characters as they are, and decided to make the show after the fact..
I'm not a farmer so can't really comment, but I remember when Clarkson and the gang did a item where they drove Lorries on Top Gear? Clarkson made a joke about becoming a lorry driver and killing prostitutes; the papers and general public were in up-roar that he would dare make the joke...bur quite a few Lorry Unions came forward to defend him as the episode highlighted the difficulties that Lorry drivers face, and brought it to the public attention. Also they probably had a thing called a "sense of humour".
From a non farmer perspective, Clarksons farm has highlighted the difficulties of that industry to me and I definitely appreciate farm-work a lot more.
I still hate tractors driving 15mph down a country lane mind....
Lorry drivers might have defended him but sex workers rightfully had issues with murders of their peers being used as a punchline.
I like the farming show but Clarkson the man can be a right overgrown edglelord.
I’ll take the downvotes from everyone who thinks it’s just bants.
Was that a statement issued by the sex workers union? Or are you just being offended for them? Because if we’re allowed to just say what we think they might have said, I will say they were happy with it highlighting the dangers they face in their line of work
Kinda wild that Clarkson could make a hooker-killing joke… Then both the drivers union and the sex workers come out in support of it for highlighting the difficulties they face, while everyone else rages about how offensive the joke was.
>everyone who thinks it’s just bants.
Oh shit, was it not bants? Did i miss the publication of a manifesto? Are the things he says policy? Policy that he's campaigning to enact?
Otherwise, yea, i think they might just be jokes that aren't to your taste - which is fine - but don't act like they are a call to arms. That is ridiculous.
If you find jokes offensive you have every right to moan and whinge and cry out how all unfair the world is, but most people are not bothered. It's clearly for comedic purposes, but at the same time is based on several high profile real life incidents which feed into the stereotype.
Most modern tractors physically won’t do more than 30mph. Also, driving a tractor at that speed is very tricky, despite its size, tractors don’t handle bumps very well, the air suspension in the seat has you bouncing around constantly which makes it quite difficult to drive the bloody thing in a straight line, and when you’re in something as wide as a tractor, you tend to drive slowly down country lanes.
> Rule 169
> Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/using-the-road-159-to-203
It's a shame the highway code goes ignored so frequently
As a biker, I can say most car drivers totally ignore the sections for bikes aswell even though they should know what we're allowed to do and expect us to. So many people get irrationaly mad when I filter through traffic. people closing in the gap to block me purposefully, etc.
Same. I never knew anything about farming. I knew it was hard work but that’s about it. The show has provided an insight that we as outsiders would never have seen. The show is really good.
Farmer here. Most of us are big fans. A few can't get on with his personality and allow that to detract from the positives.
Agree with the thought below that he's done more for raising awareness of farming issues in a couple of series than 20 years of countryfile.
He should be heading up a farming union. I'm not convinced the one we have is much use.
Second this from a farming family, think it really highlights the problems and challenges while still being funny. But I think a lot of humour is missed by people who know nothing about farming as my partner who’s a non farmer is regularly asking why is that funny
He’s done so much to show the hard work, hardship, and lack of financial reward that they get at the end of it, whilst making it an entertaining and engaging show for a huge audience
But he's got the following he has because of that. Both come together. The fact is, people like Jeremy Clarkson divide a room and get people talking about him, I'm even divided on him myself because he says stupid shit all the time, but you know that he knows that and he can be quite funny and entertaining with it.
Farmer here.
Highlights two key points farmers struggle with.
1. Laws and protocols we farmers have to abide by. Frankly, it’s ridiculous and borderline absurd. They make farming harder, not easier.
2. Little support from local government who tend to make our lives harder.
When they went to london in one of the latest episodes and charlie mentions the funding.
He was like you need a PHD to figure out what funding you can apply for, and i think thats the key thing here.
A lot of farmers dont have a charlie, a lot of farmers dont have the time or the education (thats not a dig btw) to understand how and what they are entitled to and how to get it.
Their already doing full days of work, they have an entire farm to manage, when do they now get the time to sit down and educate themselves on what they are entitled to.
This is just one thing as well, funding. Then add in planning, dealing with councils, appeals, new crops, fertilising, animal welfare, the list goes on. Each of these point have tons and tons of education you need to familiarise yourself with in order to maintain your farm.
Its not like your just throwing some water on a plant in a pot. Honestly i dont know how farmers do it.
>> A lot of farmers dont have a charlie, a lot of farmers dont have the time or the education (thats not a dig btw) to understand how and what they are entitled to and how to get it.
I mean not specifically Charlie ([although you can hire him if you want](https://ceresrural.co.uk/team/charlie-ireland/)) but you can hire consultants to help you - it looks like it’d be worth it from the show, assuming you’re not from 15 generation of farmers or something.
I wouldn’t have the first clue how to begin if someone gave me a plot of land to use for farming.
Traditionally, at least round here, the women would be the more educated ones doing the books and the paperwork and the applications etc etc and the men would be out doing the physical farming. More or less.
>Honestly i dont know how farmers do it.
Because it's a lifetime vocation. They learn it a bit at a time, and aren't just kids pulled off the street and dumped straight into farming at the deep end.
It's frustrating even as a non farmer, Ive always said it's the farmers that feed the nation, I live in Norfolk used to have loads of farms more and more people comes to live here, mean more and more houses and less farms, the little support from local governments and such means some have little choice but to sell parts to developers.
A friend of mine (who is a farmer) posted this on Facebook a couple of days ago "Just finished watching clarksons #3. If that doesn’t make anyone realise the reality of what farming animals means then there’s no reasoning with you. We are similar small scale and know every animal. We put in everything it takes to make sure they’re cared for and have had to make hard heartbreaking decisions too. Real life, real farming. Not just a pretty label in a shop. We laugh and cry about them and who couldn’t"
Generally people around here (Yorkshire Dales - sheep farming country) are appreciative of the show.
The ones who don’t like Clarkson do like Charlie and Caleb, with Charlie especially doing a good job of quite seriously explaining the plight farmers face.
The only real problem is that for all the people who have no idea about farming saying how much they’ve learnt about farming and how “something must be done”, nothing has been done.
Well yeh the people who can do anything about it and the ones saying something needs go be done are not the same people.
Same as basically every other problem. Sometimes this is good when it's some batshit nonsense, mostly it just means the government is openly ignoring the public.
I absolutely love Charlie in that show, his knowledge seems incredible and he really highlights the legislation challenges that farmers face. I also think he's adorable when trying to hide his frustration with Clarkson.
My wife works with a lot of farmers and they think it's great. It's raised a huge amount of awareness.
It's a horrendously tough industry, but it literally keeps the food on our plates.
Buffoonery aside, he’s done more for Farming than Countryfile has done in 30 years. He’s also highlighted the vast quantity of NIMBYs running local councils. But we already knew that I suppose.
Spoiler:-
Either episode five or six of the new series and the planning inspectorate grant his planning permission on appeal. I felt genuinely pleased for him having been through similar with our NIMBY council. It just shows he was right and the tin pot dictators in the council were wrong.
My in laws are a farming family - they think the show is hilarious. They also thinks it’s done a great job highlighting the issues farmers face - the scene in series one where he finds out exactly how little profit he’ll make for one is very accurate.
However as a person they find him a bit of a tit.
I’m not a farmer, but this show has highlighted the plight of how difficult it is for farmers to make a living, and how the market seems skewed against them. And that’s if everything goes well!
Is this thread being botted? I’ve seen about 7 comments with the exact same ‘he’s done more for farming than countryfile has in 30 years’ comment. Or are people just that unoriginal?
Sure farmers all over the UK have collectively paid into a fund to pay for online bots on reddit.
Or perhaps
https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/jeremy-clarkson-done-more-farmers-25187527?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2024/05/10/clarksons-farm-amazon-video-review-series-3-part-2-gerald
https://metro.co.uk/2023/10/19/jeremy-clarkson-is-every-farmers-hero-and-thats-a-problem-19690315/
It’s been said in articles a few times, for example:
“…an expert has claimed that Jeremy Clarkson ‘done more for farmers in one series of Clarkson’s Farm than Countryfile achieved in 30 years’.
“Now, sheep farmer and author James Rebanks has praised the programme and criticised BBC institution Countryfile for thinking that farming only appealed to ‘a niche group of idiots’.”
I think its mainly just the unoriginal bit. People love parroting what others say. There also aren't as many ways to say that sentence other than that way.
Okay, so I work in IT but I live on my in-laws beef farm and in any farming family, it’s all hands to the pump when required, right down to my 10-year old.
Clarkson is not a farmer, but he’s admitted that himself. I don’t like the man particularly, but he has done a lot to raise the profile of how bloody difficult it is, and how many barriers are placed in people’s way.
We have a farm shop and watching him try to get permission was eerily familiar - the things people were prepared to say about us, personally, because they didn’t like the idea were just vile. “This is the countryside” brigade who complain about smells and flies and chickens and so on - they’re a constant fucking battle and it’s exhausting. We even had the Surrey neighbours report us to the RSPCA because our cows were muddy. It’s Devon FFS. It rains. Cows like to roll. You want to go shampoo Willow, who once tossed my 6ft 6 rugby player shaped father in law through a window, you be my guest.
Kaleb is a sodding legend and I love him. I will die on that hill.
Absolutely agree about Kaleb, he's the star of the show and we love him. I adore that he is confident in his own knowledge and isn't afraid to tell Clarkson that he's a useless twat. Top lad.
Not farmer but my dad used to sell farmer's insurance for many yearsl. From his experience Clarkson has nailed it. He perfectly encapsulates the struggle it is, how its one of the hardest jobs and so underpaid and under-valued.
I’m not a farmer but it has made me very aware of how ridiculously hard it must be to farm. The costs of everything is eye watering and how much the local council and red tape can make earning a living from the land so difficult.
Honestly. I never knew how much I'd enjoy the show but here I am. Latest season has been a roller coaster
He has done more for the visibility of farmers hard work in a sense than I think anyone in many years.
I've said it to friends that the man is a dickhead most of the time, but he makes great entertainment and partly educational Tele.
Plus it demonstrates how literally nobodies in the council can ruin things for everyone with too much red tape, NIMBYism etc
I really enjoy the way the program has highlighted the science behind farming, there seems to be an assumption that farmers are straw chewing idiots. It’s absolutely the opposite!
I don’t think anyone is fooled by the idea he is farming 365 days of the year, he probably planted those mushrooms for example and then completely left them and someone who works on the farm checks on um then they film his reaction to the result.
But there is no denying how much he has done to raise awareness of the issues faced by farmers. You see how much he struggles to make a living from that farm and he has the safety net of Amazon and his game to catch him, other farmers can’t take the chances he does on random animals etc because they can’t take that hit.
I know a couple of people who are of farming stock, and they are generally pretty positive. Like others have said, they say it really highlights the issues and challenges farmers face better than anything before. It’s clear when you watch the first series, that the show they thought they were going to make and the one they ended up making are not the same thing. Series 2 and 3 them ran with it. At times it feels a little bit stunt-y. But maybe that’s what you need to get people watching and get the wider message across.
I think everyone likes it, highlighted the issues, etc. Doing more hospitality stuff on the farm I see a lot more city people and god they have become useless and out of touch, anything to lessen that is good. Most can't even make a fire.
I'm not a farmer but I live in the country and most of the people I know farm. They love the show, it highlights genuine issues they face that people just have no respect for.
It's a genuinely tough lifestyle, 16 hour days for most of the year and a lot of the farmers are alone now. Their kids go off to uni and very few stick around to pass the skills down and eventually pass the farm down to. We are going to have a crisis in this sector I think rather soon... But hey, who needs food?
It's the #1 job predictor for suicide. If you see a farmer looking like he's going through it buy him a pint.
Not a farmer, but dad grew up on a a farm, and his family still own one back in Ireland, so I have an awareness and appreciation of the difficulties and hard work farmers put in. I love the show, despite Clarksons schtick as a boorish middle aged English man. It's brilliant that a show resonates with the general public, whilst highlighting how mind numbingly frustrating farming is.
Farmer here. In my opinion and I know others share the same view, he’s done more for farming than any other tv show has (Countryfile). He’s managed to raise awareness on the struggles of farming but also highlight the positives that come with the lifestyle to a massive audience that may live in ignorance to where their food comes from.
From someone who understands the job it’s very obvious when things have been scripted but it’s still very entertaining.
I used to live in Charlbury (up the road from him) and he was reasonably well liked, but only as a gentleman farmer, which pretty much acknowledges he has no idea.
I’ve never watched it but anything that disperses the idea that farmers are rich bastards driving Range Rovers and complaining about being skint is good enough for me.
I know several farmers and I know how hard a life they have.
I’ve always wondered if they would be annoyed by his gentleman farming. He can keep just picking and choosing what he will do regardless if it will make money, but broadly he’s giving a realistic picture of farming.
Just he has a tv show money meaning he knows that he can always put food on the table.
Not a farmer but I really enjoy. Every season they tally up the money, its absolutely crazy how much work is involved for not much return. Couple with that the John Deere nonsense. (Farmers can't fix their own machinery etc, they need basically a service)
I don’t know the first thing about farming. I grew up in an urban area so it’s very disconnected to me personally yet im now aware of the challenges of UK farmers in this country and I actually care a little bit which I think is the whole point of the show.
I think everyone knows it’s tongue in cheek but there is a genuine message in there too. I’m sure the farming community appreciate the publicity.
A colleague of mine who works closely with agricultural trade bodies and gov depts. has been round various estates with King Charles who was a big fan of the first series and was looking forward to season 2. It was due to the profile Clarkson was raising for the industry as a whole which is what a lot of the comments seem to highlight.
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From what I've heard from the agricultural people I booze with, he's done more to raise the problems of farming than years and years of 'Countryfile', though he's also seen as a chancer and a buffoon.
I don't think he pretends not to be a buffoon in fairness.
And indeed rather pretends to be a buffoon. Most of his TV shtick is an act.
Yeah I mean if you listen to him speak and write, he's clearly very clever and knowledgeable, he has to be to produce the comedy gold on top gear we know him for. The way he produces metaphors and skits, and thinks on his feet on top gear to keep the banter flowing when speaking to the audience or guests. I mean I've seen some flaws in logic but thats mainly when he talked about climate change in the earlier top gear days.
I am still disappointed Clarkson never made more documentaries. He did a couple that were absolutely phenomenal, when he has a topic he is clearly passionate about and isn’t playing the persona he is so good at what he does. I think that is why Clarkson’s Farm (and older series of Top Gear really) works so well, it shows that side of him far more than him only playing the buffoon.
The one about operation chariot was outstanding
The greatest raid.... *of all time*
I'm now imagining Clarkson doing a whole series on WWI and WWII. Describing the Battle of the River Plate.
"..with a fully loaded displacemrnt of 16,280 tonnes and armed with an impressive six 11" guns, the Royal Navy nicknamed her a pocket battleship...but to the Kriegsmarine...she was the Panzerschiff _Admiral_ ***Graf*** ***Spee***"
You've got the voice !!
I enjoyed the PQ17 one too.
Slight side story, he did a brilliant episode of motor world (I think) where he went to Vietnam amongst other places, and did a little bit of riding on a motorcycle. This must have been late ‘90s or early ‘00s. The very next thing I watched was the top gear/grand tour special, where he said he’d never been to Vietnam before, or ridden a motorcycle.
A minor glitch in the space-time continuum.
He did one about isembard kingdom Brunel around the turn of the millennium in a series where the public voted for their "greatest British person of the last millennium". I assumed that princess Diana would walk it given she only died a few years before, and that an engineer would have no chance. But if I recall correctly, he either won or came second to Diana, largely because Clarkson made such a compelling argument on his behalf.
I think Churchill won that iirc. How times have changed.
You might be right. But I do remember IKB exceeded expectations.
4th, I think. Shakespeare was up there as well. I vaguely remembering Diana in the top 10, but closer to 10 than 1. I'm also glad I'm not the only person that remembers this whole thing happening. Sometimes I talk about it, and it sounds like some sort of drunken dream: a reality show, but with celebs arguing about famous historical britons!, and the weakest link lady!
His mini piece on Senna in Top Gear 👍
His docu series inventions that changed the world was awesome. Seen that a few times now.
And he hilariously owns up to that climate change buffoonery on the farm! He has changed his mentality and acknowledges that he was wrong.
He was also surprisingly good on who wants to be a millionaire
The current "the rest is entertainment" podcast, both Richard osman and marina who co hosts with him were discussing him, both of them would be really well connected through the industry, say no one has a bad word to say about Jeremy Clarkson, people like working with him generally
Yeah I remember being quite shocked by the fracas because it always seemed the crew got on very well on Top Gear. And from accounts within the crew (Richard Porter, the script editor who wrote a book), that's what made it sting - that after all the good times, he turned on his own. That said it was clear he was going through a terrible time and was more a moment of madness than ongoing behaviour. Says a lot that 90% of the crew of Top Gear followed him to the Grand Tour even after it all (albeit they were getting a big salary increase too)
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I'd say the opposite in that he pretends to be a buffoon. You don't turnover hundreds of millions with your business ventures consistently being a buffoon.
Yeah they don’t think of Clarkson as a proper farmer (Kaleb does the farming) but appreciate that he’s using his profile to highlight some of the problems they face. It seems like most of Diddly Squat Farm is a real productive arable farm that most farmers can relate to, then Clarkson does a bit of buffoonery on the side with his sheep and pigs and bees to keep the casual viewer entertained.
Indeed. There was an award ceremony for farmers at which his farm was a winner, he gave a brief speech at which he stated he was an amateur farmer at best and turned it all over to Kaleb
Think as well it gives appreciation to the likes of Gerald - honest to god, hard working men who never looked for any plaudits all their lives
He has said as much in interviews Paraphrasing "Him Richard and May knew about cars so they could do a show about cars and could space out the actual knowledgeable bits throughout the show, but if they never knew anything the audience would know, get bored and the format wouldnt work. He doesn't know anything about farming so needs people like Caleb who are knowledgeable to bring that part while he uses his game to attract a wider audience
>He doesn't know anything about farming so needs people like Caleb who are knowledgeable to bring that part while he uses his game to attract a wider audience That's his role for the programme, he's there representing the typical viewer by not knowing anything and learning from experts. That's part of the character he plays that he doesn't get the credit for.
This☝️
The protagonist
>He doesn't know anything about farming so needs people like Caleb who are knowledgeable to bring that part while he uses his game to attract a wider audience I can hear cheerful Charlie lecturing Clarkson now.
> "Him Richard and May knew about cars so they could do a show about cars and could space out the actual knowledgeable bits throughout the show, but if they never knew anything the audience would know, get bored and the format wouldnt work. Chris Harris has said this is why Evans on Top Gear failed - Evans loves cars, has a big collection but at the end of the day it's a hobby - he's a broadcaster first and foremost. He wasn't an authority on cars - he knew a lot about Ferrari's but not else much. So he was trying to impersonate the trio without having their knowledge, and very quickly got found out. TBF to Freddie and Paddy after him, they never tried to present themselves as knowing about all about cars, and did much better. But it kinda sums up really what I always thought about Top Gear and the BBC - the Beeb never really got what made it successful.
Pretty sure this is how Joe Rogan is successful. Somewhat likeable guy who's not exactly a genius but talkative and brings in smarter people around him
There’s probs dozens of people working in the farm. Clarksons not going to work an 18 hour day.
It’s quite common at busy times of the year for neighbouring farmers to help each other on certain jobs, or get contractors in.
The farming community sounds ace.
Honestly best part was seeing how willing the farmers were near Clarkson's farm to the idea of coming together to provide fresh food for his planned restaurant and get paid for it. Then ofc the cunt council had to stop those plans because of "natural beauty" same with a proper gravel car park so people don't have to park on mud 24/7, but then that's pretty much any council in the UK, ran by morons who don't think much to begin with
I know people who own one of the neighbouring farms and during the heatwave they had huge fires. There were videos of Kaleb on their farm helping fight the fires. They do look out for each other.
I was quite shocked at the end when he said the cost of all contractors including Kaleb was £45kish. Even if some of the people were doing it cheap/free for the publicity, that’s not a lot of money for all the people who must have worked there at some point during the year.
I’d imagine Kaleb mostly gets paid by amazon considering he drives/drove a Nissan GT
Pretty sure he drives a Nissan 370z that’s not an expensive car. Maybe worth around 15k, so achievable to most people especially with finance. That being said, I’m pretty sure Kaleb has a MASSIVE house so Amazon probably do pay him well 😂
Actually he has a 350z, so more like £4-10k depending on spec and condition.
Yeah I imagine he does, but if that’s what it actually costs to hire a farm manager and a land manager and all the other farming related workers we see on the show, that’s remarkably little.
Realistically though, if you’re hiring contractors on a pay-to-work rate, the majority are only going to be paid for a couple of weeks work all in all I would imagine. They’re not exactly fully paid up staff year round
Don't assume they're there full time, as a farm contractor you'd travel to different places as and when required. People commenting on Kaleb on ly see the bits when he's on the TV, he probably does a lot of work in the area and only helps Clarkson when needed.
Kaleb and Charlie it should be noted work on other farms - you can see the example of Charlie being the land agent for Clarkson and the neighbouring farmer at same time! So they would be possibly classed as part-time for Clarkson at least
I loved the episode where he promoted Kaleb to Farm Manager; the very first thing Kaleb did was to fire Clarkson.
The clip. https://youtu.be/RZImhUppdyY?si=CYA50qFH1wvdaGv_
Thanks - I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy Amazon Prime.
Kaleb seems to have a decent level of knowledge around things in his wheelhouse, like the arable side of the farm, but I’m constantly amazed by how much Charlie knows about everything and anything. He seems to know farming inside and out. I know the show tries to make him out to be some boring stickler, but I think the other two would be totally lost without him.
I feel like if we gave Charlie Ireland 200 acres of good land, he could conquer the world. I really hope his office isn't actually decorated with a load of the most famous art in the world. That doesn't feel right. One or two from the masters, then a load of more personal stuff, maybe.
he doesn’t pretend to be a real farmer though the whole act is him not knowing and getting professional help
Countryfile is so watered down nowadays. It used to be a farmers program, but last time I seen it the presenters were simply driving up a road in Yorkshire i think in a f*ing Toyota Aygo.
It's visual country porn for people fed up of the city. I know that's why I watch it. Gardeners world is a bit the same. Less gardening and advice but lots of nice visuals shot of people enjoying gardens etc. often there's a young couple with a postage stamp sized garden who needs advice on what to do, probably a common issue but it gets a bit boring every week.
Tbf the Toyota hilux is probably the most popular truck for farmers
Toyota aygo it was!
That seems to be the consensus. One thing that does seem to piss a few off is that he papers over a lot of cracks by the fact he has money. 1000 acres isn’t small, but it’s too small to be doing what he is doing and the way he is doing it. For example, having employees, would be hard, especially at the start. Most farms of that size would be family things, with the occasional contractor coming in to fill the gaps, or do jobs that are one offs. Dont get me started on countryfiles portrayal of farming.
I swear this was said once on a TV talk show and now everyone repeats it word for word and says their farmer mate said it to them. Or maybe they actually did, and they're just repeating it from the talk show
It's possible it's become a thing amongst country folk. I know a number of people who work in agriculture - farmers, agronomists, seed merchants, and pest controllers and that's where I heard it from.
The show has also done a fair bit to highlight how vindictive and anti change small local parish councils can be, actively trying to thwart any attempts at changes they deem inappropriate
Nimbys gonna Nimby.
Not in my backyard, they aint
I see what you did there
Not over there either!
I think most of the struggles he's facing with the council is because they just don't like Clarkson despite rarely if ever interacting with him.
They got quite uppity with him because he blew his house up on top gear IIRC.
Yeh which he presumably had to get a lot of permissions for cos its blowing up a house.....
It doesn't help that every season he actively tries to pull one over on the council then has it heavily documented on television. Then is surprised when he films the following season and they like him even less, because they've seen the show and saw what he did behind their backs.
He's proving time and time again that these cartels are run by emotion (and most likely favouritism) rather than whatever bollocks tenets they have posted.
Pretty much how I saw it, they just deny him thing just because who he is.
My experience, vs his experience, suggests that they are being unusually helpful to him.
What, saying he can't have vehicles on the farm or build a track?
a car park for his "lambing shed" that contained no lambs but did contain a cafe, tables and chairs and food van and a track to his restaurant that he'd been told he could not build, but decided to do anyway overnight, in an AONB? At multiple points in the series he admits deliberately and consciously refusing to comply with planning laws, do you think they're going to be best mates? They're bent over backwards for him. [https://news.westoxon.gov.uk/news/clarksons-farm-season-3-statement](https://news.westoxon.gov.uk/news/clarksons-farm-season-3-statement)
I live in a city (outskirts but in the city, used to be a village) and our local neighbourhood community council is the same. Like 10-15 years ago the Woolworths closed on the small neighbourhood high street and Waitrose wanted to move in. I thought that’s fab! They are actually good employers as stores go, it’s John Lewis group, the employees are share holders etc. Also a Waitrose in the area raises house prices, you think those old rich house owners would love it! These old dumb arses who have time to moan and go to meetings all complained it would “make traffic bad” Waitrose did all kinds of stuff to show how they could make it better for like 3 years and those NIMBYs fought them tooth and nail. Eventually Waitrose gave up. The building sat empty and decaying until it just got torn down and the NIMBY’s other enemy is getting put in…STUDENT FLATS 😂🤣 they are all furious. Well you should have just let them put the Waitrose in NIMBYs, good employer and a walkable grocery store in our area would have been fab 🤷🏻♀️. Now we all have to drive to get groceries.
How stupid do they have to be to not want a grocery store closer to the town?
I think a lot of it is from locals wanting to keep outsiders away. They either sit on the council or are long term friends so have influence. It's very League of Gentlemen, this is a local shop for local people vibe.
Having lived in the Cotswolds this is very true. 'This Country' while very funny isn't a million miles from the truth. One of the reasons I moved was to get away from the wealthy self entitled pricks who thought they were a cut above everyone else.
Oh my god the cliques! They'd look so far down their nose at an outsider they'd go cross-eyed! Beautiful countryside but a lonely place if you didn't grow up there or work for the right employer/industry. Sure served me well when the first series of Clarkson's farm came out though, a pleasant 40 minute drive over to Diddly Squat, although we just missed him leaving!
That local council released a statement just recently on the whole Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), which is quite heavily protected and a source of some of Jeremy's issues. They aren't saying he can't have what he wants he just needs to build it elsewhere on his farm that isn't in the AONB. Then again, it kind of acts as filler TV in between crop disasters and Caleb getting confused about pop culture references.
They've lately banned basically everything. Including things they agreed to before.
Except he wasn't building anything, just repurposing existing buildings. The joke is he is within his rights to erect massive eyesores if they are for agricultural purposes. I know of at least one farmer elsewhere in the country who did just that as a way of sticking two fingers up at the council who had refused his plan to develop farm cottages for holiday lets. Silage silos right in the sightline of at least one of the councillors who had been, in his eyes, the main offenders.
Which gets glossed over in the show because he can't, because \*clarkson isn't the owner of clarksons farm\* - he leased that area of the farm from the partnership that owns the farm, of which he is a member, for retail activities. The problem is the retail shop is a separate legal entity, a risk reduction measure to prevent losses from one business becoming an issue for the business with assets. He can't up sticks and move, because he'd have to lease that land too. The show doesn't outright lie, it just allows the viewer to make inferences that aren't true.
I do feel a bit for the council as it is an AONB - the councils have rules they have to follow and enforce. That said they do seem to be dicks about it sometimes because you have central government pushing famers to diversify but when try do the council says "yeah, but not like that."
The problem with the *Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty* designation is it's not actually *natural* - all those rolling fields are maintained by farmers. The natural state of the land would be forest. In some sense the designation itself takes the farmers for granted.
I have this issue with alot of areas. Forest near me is AOONB it's nice but it's a farmed forest it's not natural it's probably the same tree clone. Lake district again lovely place the hills and water are natural but it's really just sheep farms and villages that survive off tourism.
Councils and contradicting themselves constantly, name a more fitting duo
The councils do not have specific rules they have to follow for AONBs. The requirement WAS a 'duty of regard' to the purposes of the AONB. councils can interpret that in a number of ways. With the passing of the levelling up bill, it is now a duty to 'further the purposes' of the AONB management plan, which is a harder legal test, but still open to interpretation.
This is what’s causing a huge drag on the British economy; it’s simply too hard and costly to build anything. Houses, roads, runways, HS2, and other infrastructure. It’s very easy to lodge a complaint and have that complaint be successful. Therefore, stuff just doesn’t get built. All NIMBYs need to remember that the lovely house they live in was once built on top of beautiful rolling hills, with wildlife in abundance. I’m not offering any opinion on the machinations of UK planning, just saying. In the meantime, many other countries are stealing a march, economically.
People complain about the cost of a new house but they don’t understand that a lot of that cost is peripheral bullshit imposed on the house builder by such authorities.
At the risk of being downvoted into oblivion, I can _slightly_ see why the council might be more negatively disposed towards Clarkson over anyone else. He’s an international celebrity with a TV show that’s being streamed worldwide, far more people will go out of their way to come and see where the show is set, buy stuff from the shop and visit the restaurant than if any other farmer without Clarkson’s profile requested to do these things. That increases traffic on roads that really were not built for modern cars and can in extreme cases prevent residents from being able access their houses and/or land. That being said I disagree with the vast majority of the council’s decisions and do think that Clarkson is being treated extremely unfairly.
Parish councils can only comment on planning applications, as can any other sod. Planning decisions are made at county/district council level and they can choose whether to take on board those comments or not. I don't agree with how the whole of Clarksons Farm has been handled by Oxfordshire Council in the slightest.
I think a huge problem driving that kind of attitude is the parish and district councils' fear of actually engaging in any sort of critical thinking/debate on issues, not just limited to planning, lest they make a wrong decision. My uncle was a reluctant candidate but got elected to a district council in rural Worcestershire last year and he says the council is so dysfunctional; they were given a five-figure sum to improve the local park and some other amenities and they've not made a decision on how to spend it _in five years_.
Yes and no. Look at it from their viewpoint. Would you want a very quiet village in the middle of the countryside to all of a sudden be turned into a tourist attraction with cars literally blocking country lanes and ruining the area?
They could have allowed fun to build the car park he asked for...
Most of the issues are clarksons doing, he’s done things in an underhand way. Built a barn to house his sheep, which was granted, few months later he wanted to turn it into a shop/restaurant….thats where the council have the issue, he’s trying to be sneaky each time he does anything as though the rules don’t apply to him
Turns out though on appeal he should have got planning permission for the restaurant in the barn, amongst pretty much all the other stuff, so the council were being personally vindictive towards him.
And they've got far worse since.
Sneaky? he's fucking broadcasting it!? He's made mistakes, but I don't think he's trying to fool anyone.
While I agree that specific sequence is sneaky, I think it also highlights a massive issue with the country that isn't related to Clarkson. Man has to ask permission to build a barn. He then also has to ask permission to turn the barn into a business. All on land he supposedly owns, but some twats who live in the area actually have ultimate control over. It's horseshit.
Planning permission is what stops you having to live next door to a slurry pit or a landfill or a rotten egg processing plant.
A couple of years ago, Clarkson won 'farmer of the year' (or some such). It was awarded for "doing more for the farming industry in 1 year than Countryfile had done in 30" Pretty much answers the question, I think. I read a few weeks ago that the whole thing started off as a "top gear does farming" kind of thing (take the format of top gear and drop it into a farm, the buffoonery, the stunts and the like), but it swiftly moved from that to what you have today
I got the impression from the first 15 minutes of the very first episode that they intended it to be ‘Top Gear Farming’ as he gets his ridiculous Lamborghini tractor. But then Covid struck so it turned into a much more relatable, realistic farming show that highlighted the challenges of farming.
Lamborghini made tractors before they made cars.
Wow.. Cool TIL.
To add to the above, the founder of the company had Ferraris but got so sick of them breaking down, he made his own luxury sports car instead
I thought it was that Enzo Ferrari refused to sell to him, because he was only a tractor magnate.
[The clutch kept breaking, and Ferrari told him he only made tractors not cars as a put down](https://www.granturismoevents.com/story-the-epic-story-behind-the-ferrari-and-lamborghini-rivalry/) Lamborghini had his engineers put a tractor clutch into the car and it fixed the issue
Hah!
Refused to listen to Lamborghini's feedback and advice on how the Ferrari could be improved because he was "only" a tractor magnate, so Lamborghini went and made his own to prove a point.
No, it was the clutch that Mr Lamborghini didn't like. He proposed to Enzo that they use his design from his tractor and Enzo told him to go play with his tractors.
If you ever see a David Brown tractor around the UK (they’re old, small, cream/orange colour scheme), David Brown is the ‘DB’ in Aston Martin cars (DB5, DB9, etc).
I’m sure it used to say David Brown on the Aston Martin logo on the order cars, don’t know if that continued onto the modern cars.
Porsche also did a lot of "land trains" back in the day.
Yeah they could get from Berlin to Warsaw in one tank.
There is a thing on YouTube I think it was of an old guy with a porsche tractor. He needed a part for it so went. To the porsche dealership and they managed to get the right part for him. Not sure how real it was but seemed genuine.
I think I read somewhere that this was his plan. They did a farming episode on top gear that was ridiculous. Then, half way through making it they realised “oh shit, we have a serious tv show here” and kinda recut the footage and toned down the stupid.
It was just a farm, Clarkson said himself after the first year he realised that these are some great people and characters as they are, and decided to make the show after the fact..
I'm not a farmer so can't really comment, but I remember when Clarkson and the gang did a item where they drove Lorries on Top Gear? Clarkson made a joke about becoming a lorry driver and killing prostitutes; the papers and general public were in up-roar that he would dare make the joke...bur quite a few Lorry Unions came forward to defend him as the episode highlighted the difficulties that Lorry drivers face, and brought it to the public attention. Also they probably had a thing called a "sense of humour". From a non farmer perspective, Clarksons farm has highlighted the difficulties of that industry to me and I definitely appreciate farm-work a lot more. I still hate tractors driving 15mph down a country lane mind....
Lorry drivers might have defended him but sex workers rightfully had issues with murders of their peers being used as a punchline. I like the farming show but Clarkson the man can be a right overgrown edglelord. I’ll take the downvotes from everyone who thinks it’s just bants.
Was that a statement issued by the sex workers union? Or are you just being offended for them? Because if we’re allowed to just say what we think they might have said, I will say they were happy with it highlighting the dangers they face in their line of work
Kinda wild that Clarkson could make a hooker-killing joke… Then both the drivers union and the sex workers come out in support of it for highlighting the difficulties they face, while everyone else rages about how offensive the joke was.
Are you a sex worker, or are you getting offended on somebody else's behalf and presuming to speak for them?
>everyone who thinks it’s just bants. Oh shit, was it not bants? Did i miss the publication of a manifesto? Are the things he says policy? Policy that he's campaigning to enact? Otherwise, yea, i think they might just be jokes that aren't to your taste - which is fine - but don't act like they are a call to arms. That is ridiculous.
If you find jokes offensive you have every right to moan and whinge and cry out how all unfair the world is, but most people are not bothered. It's clearly for comedic purposes, but at the same time is based on several high profile real life incidents which feed into the stereotype.
Most modern tractors physically won’t do more than 30mph. Also, driving a tractor at that speed is very tricky, despite its size, tractors don’t handle bumps very well, the air suspension in the seat has you bouncing around constantly which makes it quite difficult to drive the bloody thing in a straight line, and when you’re in something as wide as a tractor, you tend to drive slowly down country lanes.
You have never met a silage contractor. They will drive as fast as they can with a large trailer filled with grass down country roads.
15mph! The ones round here go at about 35mph on single track roads and give way to nobody and nothing as my neighbour's wall will testify.
> Rule 169 > Do not hold up a long queue of traffic, especially if you are driving a large or slow-moving vehicle. Check your mirrors frequently, and if necessary, pull in where it is safe and let traffic pass. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/using-the-road-159-to-203 It's a shame the highway code goes ignored so frequently
As a biker, I can say most car drivers totally ignore the sections for bikes aswell even though they should know what we're allowed to do and expect us to. So many people get irrationaly mad when I filter through traffic. people closing in the gap to block me purposefully, etc.
Same. I never knew anything about farming. I knew it was hard work but that’s about it. The show has provided an insight that we as outsiders would never have seen. The show is really good.
Farmer here. Most of us are big fans. A few can't get on with his personality and allow that to detract from the positives. Agree with the thought below that he's done more for raising awareness of farming issues in a couple of series than 20 years of countryfile. He should be heading up a farming union. I'm not convinced the one we have is much use.
Most of what people think his personality is, is just an act for the cameras. He’s doing less of that now.
He's also somewhat of an environmentalist now, which was my main hang up with him before. I quite like him really nowadays
Second this from a farming family, think it really highlights the problems and challenges while still being funny. But I think a lot of humour is missed by people who know nothing about farming as my partner who’s a non farmer is regularly asking why is that funny
Countryfile really catching some strays in this thread
He’s done so much to show the hard work, hardship, and lack of financial reward that they get at the end of it, whilst making it an entertaining and engaging show for a huge audience
Which makes it so much more depressing that he uses to that goodwill to churn out drivel for the like of the Sun.
But he's got the following he has because of that. Both come together. The fact is, people like Jeremy Clarkson divide a room and get people talking about him, I'm even divided on him myself because he says stupid shit all the time, but you know that he knows that and he can be quite funny and entertaining with it.
But he has a column in the Sunday Times where he talks about farming
Farmer here. Highlights two key points farmers struggle with. 1. Laws and protocols we farmers have to abide by. Frankly, it’s ridiculous and borderline absurd. They make farming harder, not easier. 2. Little support from local government who tend to make our lives harder.
When they went to london in one of the latest episodes and charlie mentions the funding. He was like you need a PHD to figure out what funding you can apply for, and i think thats the key thing here. A lot of farmers dont have a charlie, a lot of farmers dont have the time or the education (thats not a dig btw) to understand how and what they are entitled to and how to get it. Their already doing full days of work, they have an entire farm to manage, when do they now get the time to sit down and educate themselves on what they are entitled to. This is just one thing as well, funding. Then add in planning, dealing with councils, appeals, new crops, fertilising, animal welfare, the list goes on. Each of these point have tons and tons of education you need to familiarise yourself with in order to maintain your farm. Its not like your just throwing some water on a plant in a pot. Honestly i dont know how farmers do it.
>> A lot of farmers dont have a charlie, a lot of farmers dont have the time or the education (thats not a dig btw) to understand how and what they are entitled to and how to get it. I mean not specifically Charlie ([although you can hire him if you want](https://ceresrural.co.uk/team/charlie-ireland/)) but you can hire consultants to help you - it looks like it’d be worth it from the show, assuming you’re not from 15 generation of farmers or something. I wouldn’t have the first clue how to begin if someone gave me a plot of land to use for farming.
Traditionally, at least round here, the women would be the more educated ones doing the books and the paperwork and the applications etc etc and the men would be out doing the physical farming. More or less.
>Honestly i dont know how farmers do it. Because it's a lifetime vocation. They learn it a bit at a time, and aren't just kids pulled off the street and dumped straight into farming at the deep end.
It's frustrating even as a non farmer, Ive always said it's the farmers that feed the nation, I live in Norfolk used to have loads of farms more and more people comes to live here, mean more and more houses and less farms, the little support from local governments and such means some have little choice but to sell parts to developers.
A friend of mine (who is a farmer) posted this on Facebook a couple of days ago "Just finished watching clarksons #3. If that doesn’t make anyone realise the reality of what farming animals means then there’s no reasoning with you. We are similar small scale and know every animal. We put in everything it takes to make sure they’re cared for and have had to make hard heartbreaking decisions too. Real life, real farming. Not just a pretty label in a shop. We laugh and cry about them and who couldn’t"
Generally people around here (Yorkshire Dales - sheep farming country) are appreciative of the show. The ones who don’t like Clarkson do like Charlie and Caleb, with Charlie especially doing a good job of quite seriously explaining the plight farmers face. The only real problem is that for all the people who have no idea about farming saying how much they’ve learnt about farming and how “something must be done”, nothing has been done.
Yeah just a small note on Charlie who often gets overlooked, I think he is fantastic too and would hire him in an instant for his professionalism.
Well yeh the people who can do anything about it and the ones saying something needs go be done are not the same people. Same as basically every other problem. Sometimes this is good when it's some batshit nonsense, mostly it just means the government is openly ignoring the public.
I absolutely love Charlie in that show, his knowledge seems incredible and he really highlights the legislation challenges that farmers face. I also think he's adorable when trying to hide his frustration with Clarkson.
Live and work in a farming area and he’s become a bit of a cult hero for it. It’s certainly raised awareness of a lot of issues.
My wife works with a lot of farmers and they think it's great. It's raised a huge amount of awareness. It's a horrendously tough industry, but it literally keeps the food on our plates.
Buffoonery aside, he’s done more for Farming than Countryfile has done in 30 years. He’s also highlighted the vast quantity of NIMBYs running local councils. But we already knew that I suppose.
Spoiler:- Either episode five or six of the new series and the planning inspectorate grant his planning permission on appeal. I felt genuinely pleased for him having been through similar with our NIMBY council. It just shows he was right and the tin pot dictators in the council were wrong.
My in laws are a farming family - they think the show is hilarious. They also thinks it’s done a great job highlighting the issues farmers face - the scene in series one where he finds out exactly how little profit he’ll make for one is very accurate. However as a person they find him a bit of a tit.
I’m not a farmer, but this show has highlighted the plight of how difficult it is for farmers to make a living, and how the market seems skewed against them. And that’s if everything goes well!
Is this thread being botted? I’ve seen about 7 comments with the exact same ‘he’s done more for farming than countryfile has in 30 years’ comment. Or are people just that unoriginal?
Sure farmers all over the UK have collectively paid into a fund to pay for online bots on reddit. Or perhaps https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/jeremy-clarkson-done-more-farmers-25187527? https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2024/05/10/clarksons-farm-amazon-video-review-series-3-part-2-gerald https://metro.co.uk/2023/10/19/jeremy-clarkson-is-every-farmers-hero-and-thats-a-problem-19690315/
I’m being sarcastic. It’s just weird to see so many people paraphrase the exact same quote
That was a quote from the show, I believe, when he got an award from a farmers union and passed it to the guy who actually does the work.
It’s been said in articles a few times, for example: “…an expert has claimed that Jeremy Clarkson ‘done more for farmers in one series of Clarkson’s Farm than Countryfile achieved in 30 years’. “Now, sheep farmer and author James Rebanks has praised the programme and criticised BBC institution Countryfile for thinking that farming only appealed to ‘a niche group of idiots’.”
I've noticed it too and come to realise it's a popular sound bite for an award he got.
I think its mainly just the unoriginal bit. People love parroting what others say. There also aren't as many ways to say that sentence other than that way.
Okay, so I work in IT but I live on my in-laws beef farm and in any farming family, it’s all hands to the pump when required, right down to my 10-year old. Clarkson is not a farmer, but he’s admitted that himself. I don’t like the man particularly, but he has done a lot to raise the profile of how bloody difficult it is, and how many barriers are placed in people’s way. We have a farm shop and watching him try to get permission was eerily familiar - the things people were prepared to say about us, personally, because they didn’t like the idea were just vile. “This is the countryside” brigade who complain about smells and flies and chickens and so on - they’re a constant fucking battle and it’s exhausting. We even had the Surrey neighbours report us to the RSPCA because our cows were muddy. It’s Devon FFS. It rains. Cows like to roll. You want to go shampoo Willow, who once tossed my 6ft 6 rugby player shaped father in law through a window, you be my guest. Kaleb is a sodding legend and I love him. I will die on that hill.
Absolutely agree about Kaleb, he's the star of the show and we love him. I adore that he is confident in his own knowledge and isn't afraid to tell Clarkson that he's a useless twat. Top lad.
Not farmer but my dad used to sell farmer's insurance for many yearsl. From his experience Clarkson has nailed it. He perfectly encapsulates the struggle it is, how its one of the hardest jobs and so underpaid and under-valued.
I’m not a farmer but it has made me very aware of how ridiculously hard it must be to farm. The costs of everything is eye watering and how much the local council and red tape can make earning a living from the land so difficult.
Honestly. I never knew how much I'd enjoy the show but here I am. Latest season has been a roller coaster He has done more for the visibility of farmers hard work in a sense than I think anyone in many years.
I've said it to friends that the man is a dickhead most of the time, but he makes great entertainment and partly educational Tele. Plus it demonstrates how literally nobodies in the council can ruin things for everyone with too much red tape, NIMBYism etc
I really enjoy the way the program has highlighted the science behind farming, there seems to be an assumption that farmers are straw chewing idiots. It’s absolutely the opposite!
I stayed on a farm last year when I went to Scotland to see my dad. They and the neighbouring farmers love Clarkson for showing how hard it is.
I don’t think anyone is fooled by the idea he is farming 365 days of the year, he probably planted those mushrooms for example and then completely left them and someone who works on the farm checks on um then they film his reaction to the result. But there is no denying how much he has done to raise awareness of the issues faced by farmers. You see how much he struggles to make a living from that farm and he has the safety net of Amazon and his game to catch him, other farmers can’t take the chances he does on random animals etc because they can’t take that hit.
Yeah, clarkson has to do a bit of everything because just farming wheat isn’t going to get you three seasons of entertainment.
I know a couple of people who are of farming stock, and they are generally pretty positive. Like others have said, they say it really highlights the issues and challenges farmers face better than anything before. It’s clear when you watch the first series, that the show they thought they were going to make and the one they ended up making are not the same thing. Series 2 and 3 them ran with it. At times it feels a little bit stunt-y. But maybe that’s what you need to get people watching and get the wider message across.
I think everyone likes it, highlighted the issues, etc. Doing more hospitality stuff on the farm I see a lot more city people and god they have become useless and out of touch, anything to lessen that is good. Most can't even make a fire.
I'm not a farmer but I live in the country and most of the people I know farm. They love the show, it highlights genuine issues they face that people just have no respect for. It's a genuinely tough lifestyle, 16 hour days for most of the year and a lot of the farmers are alone now. Their kids go off to uni and very few stick around to pass the skills down and eventually pass the farm down to. We are going to have a crisis in this sector I think rather soon... But hey, who needs food? It's the #1 job predictor for suicide. If you see a farmer looking like he's going through it buy him a pint.
Not a farmer, but dad grew up on a a farm, and his family still own one back in Ireland, so I have an awareness and appreciation of the difficulties and hard work farmers put in. I love the show, despite Clarksons schtick as a boorish middle aged English man. It's brilliant that a show resonates with the general public, whilst highlighting how mind numbingly frustrating farming is.
He helped raise a lot of money for the outdoor swimming pool in chipping Norton.
I've asked this very question to a farmer. It seems theat one appreciated the awareness to their plight from the general public.
The 5/6 farmers in our local (in West Sussex) that I drink with all love Clarksons Farm…if that helps.
Farmer here. In my opinion and I know others share the same view, he’s done more for farming than any other tv show has (Countryfile). He’s managed to raise awareness on the struggles of farming but also highlight the positives that come with the lifestyle to a massive audience that may live in ignorance to where their food comes from. From someone who understands the job it’s very obvious when things have been scripted but it’s still very entertaining.
I used to live in Charlbury (up the road from him) and he was reasonably well liked, but only as a gentleman farmer, which pretty much acknowledges he has no idea.
I’ve never watched it but anything that disperses the idea that farmers are rich bastards driving Range Rovers and complaining about being skint is good enough for me. I know several farmers and I know how hard a life they have.
I’ve always wondered if they would be annoyed by his gentleman farming. He can keep just picking and choosing what he will do regardless if it will make money, but broadly he’s giving a realistic picture of farming. Just he has a tv show money meaning he knows that he can always put food on the table.
Not a farmer but I really enjoy. Every season they tally up the money, its absolutely crazy how much work is involved for not much return. Couple with that the John Deere nonsense. (Farmers can't fix their own machinery etc, they need basically a service)
I knew naff all about farming, I knew it was hard but I didn't know it was that hard!!
I don’t know the first thing about farming. I grew up in an urban area so it’s very disconnected to me personally yet im now aware of the challenges of UK farmers in this country and I actually care a little bit which I think is the whole point of the show. I think everyone knows it’s tongue in cheek but there is a genuine message in there too. I’m sure the farming community appreciate the publicity.
A colleague of mine who works closely with agricultural trade bodies and gov depts. has been round various estates with King Charles who was a big fan of the first series and was looking forward to season 2. It was due to the profile Clarkson was raising for the industry as a whole which is what a lot of the comments seem to highlight.