Jeremy Clarkson has reflected on a deeply uneasy moment from his time on Top Gear, recalling how a behind-the-scenes situation during an overseas special left him acutely aware of just how close things were to spiralling out of control.
The 65-year-old broadcaster, who fronted the BBC motoring programme alongside James May and Richard Hammond for more than a decade, has since reinvented himself as a farmer on Clarkson’s Farm. However, memories from his Top Gear years continue to surface, particularly from the show’s ambitious international specials.
Writing in his Sunday Times column, Clarkson revisited the trio’s 2013 Burma special, during which they travelled through Shan State in south-east Asia. The region, he noted, is vast—roughly the size of Britain—and has long been affected by instability, having endured what he described as the longest-running civil war of modern times.
At the time, Clarkson admitted, the team underestimated the seriousness of the situation. Despite being warned that foreigners were not permitted to enter the area, the presenters pressed ahead, buoyed by the confidence and notoriety they carried during Top Gear’s peak years. To their surprise, the authorities granted permission.
What followed, Clarkson recalled, was a government-hosted welcome event that quickly became overwhelming. He likened the atmosphere to the final scenes of Apocalypse Now, only “a hundred times smokier and more bonkers.” As the evening wore on, he sensed rising tension among different factions present at the gathering.
In an effort to defuse the mood, Clarkson said the team began circulating from table to table, repeatedly raising toasts with whisky in the hope of keeping tempers in check. The strategy appeared to work—at least enough for the night to pass without serious incident. Clarkson dryly noted that he eventually fell asleep in the back of his lorry, aware that the situation remained volatile.
As the gathering broke up, there were signs of unrest, reinforcing his feeling that the environment was dangerously unpredictable. Driving away the following morning, Clarkson said he vividly remembers thinking that he had spent the night in what amounted to a tinderbox—one that, sooner or later, was bound to end badly.
The recollection serves as a reminder of how far the former Top Gear presenter and his co-stars pushed boundaries during the show’s most ambitious years, often venturing into locations far removed from the controlled environments of television studios and test tracks.
