The fate of Top Gear, the BBC motoring show, depends on whether presenter Richard Hammond can recover from last week’s high-speed car crash, its executive producer said yesterday.

Andy Wilman, the man credited with turning Top Gear into BBC2’s most popular programme, said he could not imagine the series returning without Hammond. Wilman also threatened to quit if the corporation attempts to “tone down” the programme’s irreverent attitude and relish for speed. Presenter Jeremy Clarkson said he, too, would defy critics who “don’t like Top Gear and would love to see it off the screens”.

More at The Observer.