'Top Gear' to face budget cuts

Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman has admitted that the BBC Two motoring show will be hit by severe budget cuts next year, reports The Guardian.

Wilman, who is also Jeremy Clarkson's business partner, wrote on Top Gear fansite Transmission that "nobody's got a pot to p*** in anymore".

Wilman's posting, which was later altered, initially read: "No point in moaning about that - all shows are suffering and nobody's got a pot to p*** in anymore anyway, so no reason why we shouldn't suffer as well.

"Our problem though is that there is no fat to trim off the show, in that we waste almost nothing behind the scenes and the old cliché of every penny goes on screen is actually true."

Discussing ways in which the programme will change next series, he continued: "In 2009, the budget cut has to affect what you watch, and Clarkson has had a brainwave in making this as painless as possible.

"Basically instead of trimming back a little bit on every show - losing a helicopter here or a truck crash there - we'll endeavour to make 13 of our 14 shows as per the usual Jerry Bruckheimer standard, and then the last one, when we only have a tenner left, will be utter, utter s**te."

Top Gear is BBC Two's best-rated show, regularly attracting close to 8 million viewers.