Top Gear Filming near Cenotaph?

[HoneyDragon]

Any one else a bit ?

Disrespecting the Cenotaph bad obviously but I can't see how they were?

They were granted the filming and road closures, they must have had to explain what they were intending to do for it to be filmed.

Also (and I'm not not sure if it is true as I'm not from the capital) I was informed once by a chap that it's a popular area for filming as its recognisable, and users of the route are used to closures?

Is it just the papers looking for fodder/ a Top Gear publicity stunt or do I need a slap on the wrist too?

Publicity. If it had been Clarkson et al, it would have been more 'on those naughy boys!'

Again, obviously they were collecting landmarks and aiming to film somewhere that would look familiar to viewers. But I still can't see what's so terrible about filming in a road that's open to drivers all day every day and where there's no exclusion zone. There are war memorials all over the country. Are we going to have this outrage every time a dog pees on one or someone poses in front of one for their holiday snaps? It is classic tabloid anti-BBC manufactured outrage, and the fact that the owners of most of the tabloids involved have commercial broadcasting interests is not at all coincidental.

I am more outraged that some twat of a tv presenter can ask for roads to be closed and be granted that in one of the most traffic congested cities in the world

I loved hearing his panicked grovelly tones yesterday as he was apologising on the radio.....the fear was obviously very real that they had gone too far and it was all going off with a bang!

As far as disrespectful goes, others have already said.. it's a main thoroughfare so the "driving though a cemetery" argument really is just flannel
PLUS pretty sure through all the smoke there were at least a dozen or more emergency vehicles parked right in front of the Cenotaph anyways...presumably for safety rubbernecking purposes.

I am more outraged that some twat of a tv presenter can ask for roads to be closed and be granted that in one of the most traffic congested cities in the world wonders how the film and television industry would survive if everyone, everywhere thought that

I will admit to loathing CE, but plenty of films don't get permission handed out willy nilly, and it can be a source of revenue for certain areas

I believe 28days Later did a lot of their filming in the early hours to get deserted London, and employed young lovelies to leaflet and entertain any members of the great British Public until they had their shot in the bag.

And really it's a scale of things...a big budget film vs a tuppence ha'penny programme, that's fast becoming the tv equivalent of vanity publishing... it just doesn't balance up.

The only good thing really is that it all vexed George Osbourne.

If that is classed as offensive, what do people make of "London has Fallen" treason?

ridiculous political correctness

As I understand it, they filmed early in the morning at the weekend. No council agrees meekly to roads being closed just because a film company (not a TV presenter!) asks for it - they have to pay for it, and if they can't reach agreement about a filming time and other arrangements that are acceptable to the relevant authorities then they can't film.

People in London get quite used to the sight of filming; I remember being in Trafalgar Square when a whole section had been closed to film what I subsequently recognised as one of the final scenes in Enigma. As that entailed covering all the modern traffic signals etc and having squads of old vehicles standing by, it was a pretty big enterprise. And, shock horror, they were using a church for the scene in question.

I don't think the fuss is down to political correctness, especially given that it's largely orchestrated by papers like the Mail and the Sun who love to sneer at PC at every opportunity. Essentially all they're doing is their usual trick of looking for any excuse to bash the BBC.

It's got us all talking. PR = optimum effect. Job done