I like Clarkson and the way he broadcasts, I like the way he sticks his finger up at the PC brigade but you simply cannot punch people at work in an environment like the BBC. I was in the Army for years and I saw this kind of behaviour quite a lot but since leaving the Army in '97 I've only ever seen one person resort to punching a colleague and he was sacked. I just don’t think that the BBC had any choice because if they had overlooked the incident for JC then that would have set a dangerous precedent for other, less valuable, members of staff.
Not many jump ship from the BBC and prosper in another environment. Clarkson might prove us wrong but I somehow I doubt it.
I'll see your Ant and Dec and raise you Adrian Chiles, Susannah Reid, Jonathan Ross, Christine Bleakley and, for those of a certain age, Morecombe and Wise.