I still haven't worked out whether the BBC taking two weeks to sack Jeremy Clarkson is because they had him out day one and spent the other 13 working out a 'go forward' plan or whether they're just a bumbling Government department that moves at a glacial pace and two weeks is a flash in time.

Either way, one of TV's biggest and most brilliant names has been shown the door, and in a sign of why this has been a truly global story and why Clarkson has got to where he has, is probably typified by the reaction at my house.

My wife is pleased. She doesn't like him. Never has.

I love him. Always have, always will.

That's Clarkson and his brilliance. the great ones always divide, the great ones are loved and they're hated.

On the surface, the BBC could do nothing else. They had him on a last warning, and once you've done that..the next indiscretion that involves violence after a tirade. Whether it's over food or not is something you can ignore or justify.

One man, no matter how talented, can not bring an organisation, far less an astute one into that level of disrepute.

The mistake actually might have been placing him on a last warning in the first place. In other words, the BBC  backed themselves into a corner.

Because let's be honest, the stuff he'd done up to that point was largely open to interpretation.

A lot of people are pre-programmed to be offended these days, so Clarkson and his routine were easy pickings for upset and vitriol.

If the BBC had had a better form of backbone they might have weathered the superficial a little more elegantly and this latest episode might not have been the final straw.

And as blunt or perhaps crass as it sounds, you need to treat the Clarksons of this world differently. Because with them comes not just the baggage, but the pay off.

And man, the payoff for the BBC is massive. It is their biggest show. It is seen by more people in more countries and makes more money than anything.

So in getting rid of him, you're not just making an HR decision, you're making a very large business one as well.

As we sit here this morning Clarkson goes, the show stays. But with what, Chris Evans?

For those who don't know, he's a British institution on radio, he's clever, he collects cars, it's a reasonable choice.

The other name that was floated was Stephen Fry. He would be potentially an inspired choice as well, but both are big risks.

What about the other two - if Hammond and May go, the show is dead.

If they stay, they're still in deep trouble. Because here's the simple truth, Clarkson was the magic. The other two complimented the magic, the other two rounded out the Clarkson act, but at no point were they or are they the reason to watch. In the circus they played their part but Clarkson has always been the ringmaster he was always the reason you bought the ticket.

As much as you can justify getting rid of a trouble maker, I wouldn't want to he the executive that was responsible for killing one of the world's biggest success stories.