Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson is ‘one of world’s greatest-ever explorers’, historian claims

Jeremy Clarkson is one of the world’s greatest ever explorers whose Top Gear exploits in the Arctic are comparable to the heroic feats of Captain Scott and Ernest Shackleton, a leading historian claimed yesterday.

Dr Linda Parker, a respected academic and co-founder of British Modern Military History Society, said the TV presenter’s car journey to the magnetic North Pole was a “watershed moment” that has gone largely uncredited.

The hour-long Top Gear Polar Special, which aired in 2007, saw Clarkson and co-presenter James May sipping gin and tonics as they drove across frozen seas and ice boulder fields in a pickup truck.

At one point, May asked Clarkson to “slow down while I cut the lemon”.

Their actions were condemned by the BBC Trust’s editorial complaints unit for “glamorising the misuse of alcohol” after a viewer complained that inclusion of the footage was “grossly irresponsible”.

But Dr Parker, one of the world’s leading experts on Arctic exploration, said the pair’s 450-mile journey “pushed the boundaries of what’s possible”.

Clarkson’s “derring-do” was, she said, reminiscent of “bona fide” polar pioneers like Scott, Shackleton, and Sir Ranulph Fiennes, and deserved a place in the history books.

Writing in The European magazine, she said: “Like it or loathe it, the Top Gear expedition was a watershed moment in the development of Polar research and exploration.

“Light-hearted and comedic as it was, Clarkson and May’s attempt was in many ways in the same tradition of the early pioneers.

“Yes, they had support vehicles and camera crews in tow, and yes, they no doubt had some of the best technological innovations available to them.

“But was Clarkson’s mindset really so different to that of the early 20th-Century explorers?

“Their journeys, financial backers, and equipment were different, certainly, and the risk of physical injury and death substantially smaller, but their ‘derring do’ attitude is common to all who have set foot in a polar region.”

The Top Gear expedition saw Clarkson and May race against colleague Richard Hammond from Resolute, Canada, to the North Magnetic Pole.

They undertook the journey in a heavily modified Toyota Hilux – complete with folding toilet seat – while Hammond travelled by dog sled, the traditional means of Arctic transportation.

Clarkson and May, who won the race, became the first people to reach the magnetic Pole in a motor vehicle.

The drive took place entirely within Canadian territory and their final position was 800 miles south of the geographical North Pole.

At the time of filming, the actual magnetic Pole – which constantly wanders – was also a few hundred miles further north.

But Dr Parker said the duo’s accomplishment, whilst physically easier than other Polar feats, should not be overlooked.

“I’m frequently asked whether Captain Scott et al would have accepted navigational aids and motorised vehicles like those we use today had they been on offer,” she said.

“The answer, of course, is a resounding ‘yes’. Why would they not? Those early explorers, much like today, were media giants with publishing deals, paid speaking gigs, and back-to-back public appearances. Success meant everything.

“It pains me to say it, but in the long annals of history, the Top Gear presenters will go down as true explorers and pioneers.

But Dr Parker, the author of Ice, Steel and Fire: British Explorers in Peace and War 1921-45, added: “I for one hope a Toyota Hilux, or anything like it, never gets near the Pole again.”