BBC News has a new article on Hammond:

A spokesman said if Mr Hammond continued to do well he would eventually be transferred to a hospital closer to his home outside Cheltenham.

All the money raised so far has “brought forward” plans to buy a new, second helicopter, Yorkshire Air Ambulance charity chief executive Martin Eede said.

The Times Online has an article from last Sunday (I apparently missed it) by Jeremy Clarkson and how blame is going around and that people are saying someone’s “head has to roll”. A very interesting read and here’s a few samples of the article if you don’t want to read the whole thing:

It therefore seems likely that soon, in a matter of weeks maybe, the Hamster will be back on his feet and ready to start work. The question is: will he have a show to go back to?

As I write, swarms of bureaucratic bluebottles are nibbling away at the crash site on a York airfield, desperately trying to find some reason why Top Gear should be banished from the screens.

Well, contrary to reports that he was put there by ratings-hungry producers, it was his idea. He wanted to know what it would be like to go really fast. And I know exactly why.

If he’d been interested in flowers and vegetables since a young age, he might very well now be standing in a pair of wellingtons on Gardeners’ World, talking about compost. But he isn’t interested in compost — he’s interested in speed.

Some people are born with a physical need to take risks. Steve Irwin was one. Christopher Columbus was another. And Ellen MacArthur is a classic case in point too. Telling her to stop sailing round the world is as daft as telling a black person to be white, or a blind person to look where they’re going.

But of course, we have a whole industry nowadays designed to do just that. To ensure that nobody ever falls over, that nobody ever hurts themselves, that nobody ever dies. And that if someone does, then the system must have failed and a head must roll…

How can this be a problem for anyone other than Mrs Hammond and their children? Because he crashed and tied up the emergency services? Oh come on. Are we to tell DIY enthusiasts who fall off a stepladder that no ambulance will be forthcoming because they should have called in a professional plumber? Perhaps you might argue that Hammond is setting a bad example and that kids might try to copy him. What? In their jet cars? On their airfields?

In the last series, while attempting to build an entire car from scratch in one day, the nearly completed project fell from its stands onto the floor.

“Who’s fault was that?” I barked.

“Oh for God’s sake, how’s that going to help?” said Hammond.

He’s right. How can blaming someone help? We just need to make sure the little guy keeps getting better and that when he does, he can get back in a car, get back into Top Gear, and go 316mph.

Get well soon, Hammond. We all miss you greatly.

Top Gear star Richard Hammond has begged to appear on telly live from his hospital bed in a bid to save the show.

The 36-year-old presenter even wants film of his 300mph smash shown.

He fears the BBC could decide to axe the programme while he is still recovering from his injuries.

More at the Daily Star.

We just haven’t heard from Vuk yet, that’s all. ;) I talked to him less than 24 hours ago and he had remembered that Fifth Gear started tonight, but my guess is that he was too tired after a long day of work to encode it and upload. Hopefully we’ll see a copy of it tomorrow.

Although from what I hear, you aren’t missing out on much. I’m told the episode was pretty bad. :(

A report that aired on Sunday on Richard Hammond and Top Gear:

Thanks HardwareBoB for ripping this for me off the BBC News website. :D

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.

The road safety minister has defended the high-octane stunts performed on the BBC’s Top Gear programme and described the presenter Richard Hammond as an “adventurer” after he was seriously injured in a 300mph crash.

This should definitely go a long way against the idiots that are trying to get Top Gear canceled.

The full article is at The Times Online.

Kinda figured this was coming, but it’s been officially confirmed:

The BBC is to indefinitely postpone the new series of Top Gear until presenter Richard Hammond has recovered from the brain injuries he suffered in a high-speed crash.

“We would not think of finalising plans for the next series without discussing it with everyone involved,” the BBC said in a statement. “When it is suitable, the team will do this and we will announce a new transmission date.”

More at Reuters.co.uk.

Incase you hadn’t heard, PistonHeads.com has started a fund that has raised over £140,000 at the time of this post for the free helicopter service that took Richard Hammond to the hospital after his accident.

Now of course the donations have come in from all around the world and from many non-PistonHeads users (we will infact be donating a large chunk of the fund we started for him to that excellend PH fund), but it is still a very interesting interview and Manek Dubash has some great points. :)

BBC News reports:

Top Gear host Richard Hammond is making “excellent progress” after his crash in a jet-powered car and is now on a general hospital ward, his family say.

The 36-year-old, who suffered a brain injury during filming for the BBC show, has been joking with his wife about the amount of flowers he has been sent.