Russian army TV offers Clarkson job

Russia's Zvezda television, a channel run by the defence ministry, unexpectedly revealed yesterday that it has offered a job to disgraced British "Top Gear" host Jeremy Clarkson after he was dropped by the BBC for assaulting his producer.

The state-owned channel, which promotes the armed forces but also airs general entertainment shows, published a letter to Clarkson on its website asking him to host a new motoring show and inviting him to visit Moscow to discuss the offer.

"He will reply. I cannot reply on his behalf," a spokesman for Clarkson named by the channel as Daniel Rix told the channel by telephone.

Zvezda also published on its website an excerpt from an e-mail written by Rix late Wednesday.

It said: "I can only imagine what an episode of Russian vyshaya peredacha (a literal translation of Top Gear into Russian) would look like. It could feature a Tzar in a reasonably priced car!" Rix added jokingly, referring to a celebrity feature on the show called "a star in a reasonably priced car."