Later tonight TV will see the return of Top Gear after Richard Hammond's accident. The Top Gear Magazine has had a few articles in it this month with"Exclusive Details", the Radio Times this week has the Top Gear presenters on the cover and the headline I've stolen - "Car Crash TV", and tonight they will show us exclusive footage of the crash. And exclusive is very apt since the BBC seem to be protecting the copyright of this stuff very fiercely.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm glad they'e back, I'm glad they're making an effort to show us how well Hammond is doing and that it was a freak accident etc. etc. But even for a production not known for subtlety and good taste this whole affair is making me feel uneasy. Yes, hearing Hammond talk about it is interesting; it's news-worthy in itself (well, the first couple of times anyway), but the whole coverage seems a bit over the top. Given the show's controversial history it maybe seems like a time they should be more sombre to calm their critics. Instead I'm left feeling like we're dragging up things which could be left alone.

And that's the crux of the matter. Hammond's accident was in September. Obviously there were investigations so maybe they footage couldn't be shown then, but the story was news four months ago, not now. I'm sure some would claim that it was respectful not to show the footage while his health was so critical but to be fair I've seen the scenes of the dead or dying on the news for most of my life. If the footage had been shown at the time it would've made fascinating news, but now I'm left with a slightly uncomfortable feeling of publicity ruling.