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btm
20th August 2010, 09:41 AM
http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/television/bbc-and-top-gears-mystery-man-the-stig-in-legal-row-over-his-identity/story-e6frfmyi-1225907604455

BBC and Top Gear's mystery man The Stig in legal row over his identity


HIS face obscured by a blacked-out visor on his helmet, The Stig has become famous as much for his anonymity as his driving skills.


Now the Top Gear star is locked in a bizarre legal dispute with the BBC over an attempt to write his autobiography - a move which threatens to finally lift the lid on his identity.

The broadcaster says he would be breaching a confidentiality agreement and tarnishing the mystery of the show, one of its most popular.

Quite who would want to read a book about a faceless man about whom so little is known is unclear.

Only a handful of BBC executives and the program's presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May know who The Stig is.

The corporation is desperate to stop him revealing his identity and has called in lawyers, who have warned him publication would breach his "contractual" and "confidentiality" obligations to the program.

But he is continuing to fight them in what is a described as an "incredibly tense" situation.

It is understood that publishers representing the racing driver have hit back with their own legal letters, raising the prospect of an embarrassing court battle.

Insiders fear the BBC will end up axing the driver over the dispute, which has said to have deeply upset the show's star Clarkson.

Others have suggested The Stig may quit over the stand-off.
Sources said that for many years the driver had been forced to watch as Top Gear's other stars made a fortune from book deals.

But apart from his pay for appearing on the series, estimated to be between $10,000 and $20,000 a show, he has been unable to fully exploit his fame.

The BBC's commercial arm is behind products such as Stig shower gel and a Stig soap-on-a-rope, but The Stig does not make any money from them.

A BBC insider said: "This is absolutely about confidentiality. These are such unusual circumstances because he is anonymous."

The Stig has been a key part of the show's success since it was revamped from a dry motoring magazine format to a more humorous show eight years ago.

The Stig keeps his helmet and suit on for the entire time the show is recording.

He arrives on set early with only a handful of production staff so he will not be recognised.

Among The Stig's features on the program is Power Laps, which sees him test out performance road cars.

metry
20th August 2010, 10:18 AM
ive always wondered who he was. i hope he doesnt leave the show

Ice
20th August 2010, 10:25 AM
ive always wondered who he was. i hope he doesnt leave the show

they will just get someone else and make them anonymous.....it adds to the excitement. gets people wondering who he is.... and £10000 - £20000 an episode is pretty darn good.

gmonkey
20th August 2010, 11:19 AM
They will do what they did with black stig..


Why doesn't the stig push to get helmets banned in public like the burqa :p hehe

hazrd
20th August 2010, 12:10 PM
They will do what they did with black stig..


??

not the one from the botswana special? i thought that was the same stig... just professionally spray tanned?

sooty
20th August 2010, 12:21 PM
??

not the one from the botswana special? i thought that was the same stig... just professionally spray tanned?
Nah black stig was a bloke called perry mccarthy, he revealed his identity so the people at top gear sent him off the edge of an aircraft carrier and replaced him :lol:

btm
20th August 2010, 01:04 PM
Nah black stig was a bloke called perry mccarthy, he revealed his identity so the people at top gear sent him off the edge of an aircraft carrier and replaced him :lol:

in an echo/yaris :D

gmonkey
20th August 2010, 01:20 PM
Was in a NOS powered jaguar :p the advert for the yaris is what ur thinking of :p

btm
20th August 2010, 01:40 PM
Was in a NOS powered jaguar :p the advert for the yaris is what ur thinking of :p
ah yes, my bad

poita
20th August 2010, 01:44 PM
there has been about 5-6 stigs.

they changed em on a regular basis in the start

gmonkey
20th August 2010, 03:26 PM
Last year one of the stigs revealed who he was at a pub blurting it out while he was drunk.. BBC just denied it and shrugged it off. Was a BTCC driver pretty sure

btm
23rd August 2010, 09:14 AM
the stig is.... Formula Three driver Ben Collins

do we believe it?

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/television/top-gears-the-stigs-identity-finally-revealed-as-formula-three-driver-ben-collins-report/story-e6frfmyi-1225908440291

sooty
23rd August 2010, 09:16 AM
That rumour has been around for ages! Literally maybe 2 or 3 years. Don't know whether it's true or not though. Ben collins has gone on record in the past as saying it's not him.

btm
2nd September 2010, 09:09 AM
CONFIRMED

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/stig-unmasked-after-bbc-loses-ruling-20100902-14nwk.html?autostart=1

hazrd
2nd September 2010, 09:19 AM
Interesting read

Wonder what his future holds. Even if BBC give him the ass, he would still make a buttload from that autobiography

gmonkey
2nd September 2010, 09:25 AM
Lol thing is I wouldn't care to read his autobiography I mean his oppinions on the stars in reasonably priced cars would be a good read but most of those people I just don't care about/know. His reviews on the cars.. I know he's a racecar driver but I think I woulda heard about the car already from clarkson cause guessing clarkson gets info off him.


S15 guessing another dead stig..

btm
2nd September 2010, 09:28 AM
wonder how they'll kill white stig...

gmonkey
2nd September 2010, 10:06 AM
He doesn't drown.. He doesn't burn.. He doesn't explode.. He doesn't eat.. He doesn't drink.. He believes the credit crunch is a breakfast cereal.. Only way to kill him would be send him into space or car crusher I'm thinking.. Bet they do the NOS thing again but cause they cracked a joke when they did Renault family carrier vs evo10 saying why don't we NOS it, no cause last time it killed the stig..

It'll be a "oh no it's not gone well again has it" situation

poita
2nd September 2010, 05:33 PM
it wasnt that big of a secret, its been getting around for ages.

just getting confirmation of it now

gmonkey
2nd September 2010, 05:50 PM
pretty well tempted to make up a shirt that says

"I was the Stig, then they tried to kill me"

btm
8th September 2010, 11:51 AM
confirmed: white stig goooone

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/clarkson-hurt-by-stigs-actions-20100908-1506y.html

hazrd
8th September 2010, 02:45 PM
Poll: Would you buy the Stig's book?

Yes, I'm keen to find out more about the man behind the mask.
20%

No, he's a traitor and a sell-out.
80%

Total votes: 11976


lol

Ice
8th September 2010, 06:07 PM
lol

haha and im one of those 80%

poita
8th September 2010, 09:45 PM
yep i voted that way too

btm
9th September 2010, 07:18 AM
+2 :)

Ooie
18th September 2010, 01:52 PM
I've known it to be Ben Collins for a long time now. It is pretty common knowledge on many UK and Euro forums.

On another note, I am actually keen to read the book.

Vectracious
12th October 2010, 01:39 PM
Bought the book on the weekend as an impulse and read it the last 2 days.

Don't bother - wait til it goes in the specials bins..... :(

lee
13th October 2010, 10:49 PM
confirmed: white stig goooone

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/clarkson-hurt-by-stigs-actions-20100908-1506y.html

Season 16 will be interesting...