Tonight I was watching Top Gear as I have done since I was a kid. It occurred to me that a program about fast cars is presented by old middle class men. I can’t lie, Jeremy Clarkson et al. are very entertaining to watch. Jeremy Clarkson is highly opinionated (a lot of which I disagree with) but it makes Top Gear the great show it is. However, these guys are all well over 40, surely they should introduce some youth?
Now I’m not saying that you should replace Clarkson, Hammond and May with three new, young faces, (we don’t want it to become Blue Peter) but maybe just one? It would diversify the panel of presenters and maybe throw in a fresh viewpoint.
But why won’t the BBC do this? Like all other big businesses nowadays: they don’t want to take the risk. The current Top Gear lineup has proven to work, and it is probably one of the BBC’s most popular programs. They have used the same format year in year out, and the BBC seem to be worried that any risk would jeopardise it’s popularity. Therefore, they don’t want to bring in a new voice – they’re afraid that they’ll lose money.
It’s the same with Doctor Who. They announced the new Doctor today – Peter Capaldi – instead of taking the risk with a woman. Another one of the BBC’s safe choices.
I think this is why young people like me have so many problems getting jobs nowadays; if we don’t have specific work experience, no big boss wants to take the chance. Companies want to be 100% sure they won’t have any problems with their new employee, so they choose ones who are proven to work. This is such a shame when I know there is a wealth of highly talented young people, some who write blogs like me, who no-one will take a chance with.
The worry is, that with all these safe choices, how can we ever go forward, individually and as a nation?
