The Eclipse Of Jeremy Clarkson

Staring hard at the TV screen this morning, I learned two things.

One is that as well as not looking at the sun directly during today's eclipse, it is also better for the health not to stare at the BBC News Channels.  Another was that as the screen was between my feet on such occasions the toenails are best covered from clear sight.

For those in foreign parts unused to state broadcasting systems or under the sway of Murdoch Media the story of the sacking of Jeremy Clarkson, who fronts the BBC motor mania programme "Top Gear" will be a strange story.

Even stranger is that near on a million people have mailed the BBC to plead his reinstatement, grown men weep in the streets and grown women will be telling each other it is just another bloody man thing.

He is alleged by himself to have biffed his boss on the bonk in a dispute about culinary matters.  Being alpha males of course, it had to be steak.  Red in tooth and claw and all that.

As someone averse to bossy loud presenters of any kind and who has done his own car thing in the past, "Top Gear" has been very low down on the watch list, low enough never to be watched.

But Jeremy Clarkson did appear in one BBC programme rather higher on the list, one of the "Who Do You Think You Are" family history series, confirming to all those with ancient prejudices their ideas on the nature of Yorkshiremen.

One key family in his personal history was the descent from the Kilner glass making family famed for its preserving jars which grace the kitchens of so many ladies who cook for real and natural.

There is only one conclusion to be drawn from all this.

The BBC bottled it.