Clarkson Jokes On Twitter After Suspension

Jeremy Clarkson has suggested the BBC should show the film Where Eagles Dare after this Sunday's episode of Top Gear was cancelled and the presenter suspended.

An investigation will take place after Clarkson was apparently involved in a "fracas" with a producer.

The corporation said no one else was suspended over the incident.

It is understood all three remaining episodes in the latest Top Gear series have been postponed.

The Sun newspaper, where Clarkson is a columnist, said he shrugged off his suspension and quoted the presenter as saying: "I'm having a nice cold pint and waiting for this to blow over."

The paper also quoted a source as insisting the star was innocent, adding: "He didn't punch anyone."

Several hours after the suspension was announced, Clarkson's co-presenter James May said on Twitter: "No Top Gear this weekend, apparently. How about [the film] 633 Squadron instead?"

Fellow host Richard Hammond replied: "No, surely, Last of the Summer Wine; no one will notice the difference. Job done."

Clarkson then posted: "No no no. Where Eagles Dare. Much better", before adding: "I did some pretty good war documentaries. They could screen one of those."

He later apologised on Twitter to Labour leader Ed Miliband for "knocking him down the news agenda".

An online petition to reinstate Clarkson has been backed by at least 100,000 people.

The star, who has been involved in a number of high-profile gaffes in recent years , was put on what the corporation called his final warning in 2014.

That followed claims he used the n-word while reciting the nursery rhyme Eeny, Meeny, Miny Moe during filming of the BBC2 programme.

Clarkson said he was "horrified" that it sounded as though he used racist language in the out-take, which was not broadcast.

In a video released online last May, he said he had made every effort to make sure he did not use the slur, but realised it might have sounded as though he had.

This Sunday's episode was due to feature Clarkson, Hammond and May getting to grips with classic cars such as a Fiat 124 Spider, an MGB GT and a Peugeot 304 Cabriolet.

They were set to take to the road and end up at a classic track day, while ex-England footballer Gary Lineker was the "star in a reasonably priced car".

Lineker tweeted: "I don't think I'm ever meant to appear on Top Gear!"

Executive producer Andy Wilman described 2014 as "an annus horribilis" for the show.

As well as the race row that resulted in Clarkson's final warning, Top Gear was also censured by Ofcom for breaching broadcasting rules after Clarkson used a "racial" term during the programme's Burma special, which had aired in March 2014.

In the episode where he and his co-presenters built a bridge over a Burmese river, Clarkson was found to have used the word "slope" to describe an Asian man.

In Argentina, the motoring show sparked a near-riot while filming.

The crew was forced to flee the country after trouble erupted when it emerged they were using a Porsche with the registration number H982 FKL, which some people suggested could refer to the Falklands conflict of 1982.

Clarkson previously faced a storm of protest from mental health charities after he branded people who throw themselves under trains as "selfish".

And he was forced to apologise for telling BBC1's The One Show that striking workers should be shot.

In 2009, he said "sorry" for calling the-then prime minister Gordon Brown a "one-eyed Scottish idiot" after criticism from politicians and disability groups.

And in 2012, Clarkson was found to have breached BBC guidelines by comparing a Japanese car to people with growths on their faces.

Earlier this year, the corporation's director-general Tony Hall defended Top Gear, which has been a major financial success for the BBC, as offering "a different voice" to viewers.

The commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, received a dividend of £4.5m in 2012 from Bedder 6, a company set up by Clarkson and Wilman, according to the annual report.

The BBC owns 50% with Clarkson reported to own around 30%, meaning his dividend would have been around £2.7m in that year on top of his BBC salary.

Speaking to Sky News, TV critic Kevin O'Sullivan said: "It looks as if this time he may have gone too far. If Top Gear loses Clarkson, it will plunge it into a world of trouble."

But media commentator Neil Midgley told Sky: "There are other potential homes for Mr Clarkson than on the BBC" and he claimed ITV were looking to develop a car-based panel show.

Mr Midgley believed that if Clarkson did leave Top Gear then there would be a bidding war between rival broadcasters.