The twelfth series of Top Gear aired during 2008 and consisted of 7 episodes, beginning on 2 November and concluding on 14 December. It was subsequently followed by the "" two weeks later, on 28 December as part of the BBC's 2008 Christmas line-up, and was later followed in 2009 with four "Best Of Top Gear" specials throughout January and the beginning of February.
''News'' Segment
Like the previous series, the News segment of Series 12 featured two running jokes. The first was a return of the previous running joke regarding the Dacia Sandero, with Clarkson making the announcements about it with feigned enthusiasm, much to utter indifference from May. The second was that one of hosts would often turn up on the segment wearing something unusual, with one of the other hosts asking if they were doing it for a bet.
During the first episode of the series, Jeremy Clarkson made a joke regarding lorry drivers killing prostitutes. Following the episode's broadcast, the joke drew criticism, with many believing that it alluded to the Ipswich 2006 serial murders in which a forklift truck driver was arrested and charged with the murder of five women who had been working as prostitutes, though some believe it was more likely that Clarkson was referring to the Yorkshire Ripper. Ofcom received over 500 complaints in regards to the joke, but revealed that the remark had not been in breach of the broadcasting code. Meanwhile, Labour MP Chris Mole wrote a strongly worded letter to the BBC, stating that Clarkson should be sacked regarding the remarks he made.
During the seventh episode, Top Gear reviewed and tested the battery powered Tesla Roadster, in which Clarkson pointed out, upon rigorous testing, that the batteries on the Roadster drained quickly and that the car suffered mechanical problems. Tesla contested these findings following the episode, and provided data logs of the cars' performances during the show to Top Gear and the BBC, which led both to revealing in statements to the media, that the cars did not in fact break down and never went below 20 percent state of charge. Despite this, Clarkson wrote an article for The Sunday Times, following dozens of blogs and newspapers challenging Top Gear's portrayal of the Roadster's performance, in which he stood by the contents of the episode.
