Alicia Castro, Argentine ambassador to the United Kingdom, has asked the BBC for a formal apology because of an incident that happened during the channel’s popular, long running series Top Gear filming its Christmas special in the country. Apparently the locals were offended by the license plate on one of the cars used by the team – H982 FLK – that allegedly refers to the Falklands War, a ten week armed conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom over two British overseas territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
The Top Gear crew – including stars Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May – have traveled to Argentina last month to film the series’ Christmas special. Their goal was for the three to drive the Patagonian highway to the southernmost city of the world, Ushuaia. The show provoked anger among the local population, though, because of the ominous license plates on a Porsche used by the team. The raging crowd attacked the car with stones, so it had to be abandoned on a roadside, and the crew needed to be escorted to the airport.
The Argentina embassy has issued the following statement on the incident:
“Argentine ambassador to the UK, Alicia Castro, made a formal complaint to the BBC regarding Jeremy Clarkson’s provocative behaviour and offensive remarks towards the government and the Argentine people, following Top Gear’s recent filming in Argentina, calling for the BBC to make a public apology. […] Furthermore, the Argentine ambassador deeply regretted Jeremy Clarkson’s entirely false accusations of alleged resentment against British citizens in Argentina.”
Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman has denied that the number plate on the Porsche was a stunt – he said that it was not deliberately chosen by the team. The choice was most unfortunate, though – “just about all of the press” has accused the team of deliberately trying to hurt the Argentinian feelings. Read the complete statement about the issue on Wilman’s blog.