Ben Collins interview
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Blythy
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GerFix
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^ If all that he says is true .. Andy Wilman could loose his job. I'm sure the BBC, like all public funded organisations, has strict rules about bullying and harassment in the workplace. Breaching those rules is usually met with dismissal. Managers, in particular, need to be wary of how they conduct themselves. Acts of exclusion, belittling of contribution and coercion all fall under the umbrella of most organisations bullying and harassment policies .. and if this article is to be believed, Wilman has been involved in all of these activities with regard to Collins.
Spectre
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Concur - if true, this does make a lot of things start to make sense. This also sounds an awful lot like traditional bad British middle management that I've had the misfortune of dealing with (American middle management isn't any better, just has different issues), so it seems reasonable. Same kind of idiocy crippled Jaguar for far too long.
Personally, I am beginning to think that Wilman should be sacked under the three-strikes rule: Strike one was Top Gear Dog. Strike two was Top Gear Stuntman. Strike three was the truly terrible godawfulness of Season 14 and most of Season 13, where it looked like Wilman was apparently trying to fluff his visual resume for potential transfer to Hollywood what with the pointless 'sexing up,' the 'Michael Bay-ish' explosions and the psychotic promotion of visual special effects over content. (I've worked behind-the-scenes in Hollywood. Wasn't ever going to happen, Andy.)
Edit: And before we get the incessant Brit whinging about 'but you don't pay for it, you have no right to comment' - the hell I don't. I buy eps from iTunes as soon as they appear. In that respect, I pay more for Top Gear than most Brits do per episode.
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Spectre
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I mean S14, which even Wilman basically admitted was poor.
GerFix
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^ I'd rather have gonorrhoea than syphilis .. doesn't mean either are desirable to have.
Blythy
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that is quite interesting. might mean a bit of tension between clarkson and the sun
Blythy
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How wilman is mentioned in that article:
-Said another driver would drive as the stig if collins could not find a sponsor (which is tbh, fair enough)
-Said he was the same as the daleks and the top gear dog (you need to read the actual blog where this is mentioned to see that this is taken way out of context [i.e. wilman is saying that the stig character is BBC property])
-He and BBC worldwide didn't want the biography to happen
where's the bullying in that?
GerFix
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He was told he was expendable. This is a threat. (coercion)
Another driver would drive as The Stig at Le Mans. Exclusion (especially considering his long association with the show and the character)
Same as a Darlek or the Blue Peter dog. Belittling contribution. (it is how it is perceived, not how it is intended)
Another driver used for Top Gear live (without consultation). Exclusion (given that this was a surprise to him)
That story is a consistent tale of an employee/regular contractor suffering increasing job insecurity at the hands of his supervisor (Wilman), ultimately resulting in resignation. It smells very much like bullying to me, particularly in the context of a publicly funded organisation.
jedd_kenobi
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that is quite interesting. might mean a bit of tension between clarkson and the sun
The Sun loses all of its credibility once you get past the red top on the front page.
controlspecimen
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I have to say I'm surprised that the show took his secrecy so seriously. I thought it was all a big joke and a fair number of people knew his identity all along. What does it matter who the driver is? The Stig is a character, not a person. But these paragraphs jumped out at me:
But now I see why Collins wanted to leave. The press attention trying to 'out' him must have started to get really annoying, especially since he wasn't paid very much.
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EvoEvo
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Yes you have a point... however, if the BBC Gods decided Top Gear had run it's course and that was it (and there was no money in it any more, LOL) I don't think even the mighty Clarkson could stop them.
We should feel peeved at the guy too. We all thought we knew who played the part of The Stig, and maybe the guessing was part of the fun, but for that guy to come out and tell us - HWIWNN has damaged The Stig. He's betrayed us - the Top Gear fans and the Stig fans - as much as he's betrayed the Top Gear team. It's not the same as reading a novel or watching a movie after someone has told you how it ends, but it's not much different.
I don't blame him for wanting to do better, but he's trying to do better at the expense of the The Stig, and us, the fans of The Stig. He had other opportunities to do better - Formula 3, commentating on NASCAR, stunts in films, etc. Instead, he's making money by betraying fans of The Stig.
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Hmm.... hmmm..... I'll get back to you. I'm a long time fan of the show and I don't feel the least bit betrayed. I always knew there was a talented driver under that suit, but it never mattered who it may be. The Stig is The Stig. Just like Darth Vader is Darth Vader. I don't care who was really under the suit, it makes no difference, and it doesn't negatively effect the show/movie at all.
If this Ben Collins thing really ruins the show for you, it's because you're choosing to let it ruin the show for you.
More like someone telling you how it ends AFTER you watched it. Ben Collins will most likely never reappear on TopGear again. All his stuff was in the past and you've already seen it. There are no spoilers to give. You might as well claim that knowing who the original black Stig is ruined TopGear for you for the past 9 years. It's asinine.
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You're right, and he won't ruin the show for me or for anyone else. We know there's no Santa Claus, and we know there's no Stig. HWIWNN hasn't ruined anyone's day, but he'll have a tiny negative effect for millions of people. Is a bad effect for millions of people okay if it's a small effect and if it makes money for him?
Maybe it's karma for Clarkson, who makes his money with entertaining but disparaging and dismissive criticism of cars that some poor designers have put their heart and soul into.
Looking on the bright side, I'm sure Clarkson and Wilman can make something good out the situation for S16
TC
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Knowing his identity has a negative effect for millions of people? You see, it's these sorts of irrational reactions that leave me baffled. Yet I keep hearing from people who say Ben Collins should have resigned, then published his book. But the end result is exactly the same. His book hasn't been published/released yet and it sounds like he no longer works for the BBC. The result is the same.
And yet I hear about all this "betrayal". Was he expected to keep the secret forever? Or just wait until Jezza and Wilman were finished milking the TopGear franchise for every penny? The only other possibility is exactly what we're seeing now, Ben Collins leaving TopGear and publishing his autobiography. It would be nice if people would at least try to be rational about all this. We all love the show and want the "magic" to continue, but at the end of the day, it's just a silly tv show that's only famous for cocking about and ruining things.