Jeremy Clarkson rips into ‘idiotic’ Countryfile as he blasts BBC for showcasing ‘silly folks hugging bushes’ and lecturing viewers about local weather change

Jeremy Clarkson has branded the BBC‘s Countryfile ‘idiotic’ and blasted the broadcaster for showcasing ‘stupid people hugging trees’. 

On Sunday, the popular documentary series, which showcases British wildlife and the problems faced by those living in the countryside, returned for a new episode.

During the episode, Vick Hope and Charlotte Smith explored how the sugar beet, a type of root vegetable, became a staple in British diets for decades. 

Former radio presenter Vick, 36, headed to Norfolk to watch how farmers have been battling severe weather conditions to get their crops out the ground.

Meanwhile, Charlotte headed to one of the country’s biggest processing plants to see how the naturally sweet crops are transformed into sugar. 

Elsewhere, Tom Heap investigated the ingredients in sewage sludge being used as fertiliser after the government announced plans to reform British farming. 

It prompted Jeremy, 65, to take to X, formerly Twitter, to heap praise on the farming-focus of the episode, hitting out at former instalments as ‘stupid’. 

He wrote to his fans: ‘Has anyone else noticed how much better Country File has got in recent years? Tonight’s show is proper.

‘No stupid people hugging trees and humming. Just proper farming stuff.’

Dozens of fans responded to Jeremy in the comments section of his post, prompting Jeremy to heap even further praise on the story of the sugar beet. 

The former Top Gear star continued: ‘I thought the sugar beet story was great. All that to sweeten our coffee. Incredible.’

He later added to another fan, who admitted they too had enjoyed turning in to the episode: ‘It’s like they’ve got rid of the idiots.’

However, it wasn’t all good for Jeremy who, after the conclusion of the episode, appeared to change his tune – hitting out against closing lines about climate change.

Presenter Charlotte told viewers: ‘A hundred years after British sugar production began, the beet still rolls in, faster and more mechanised than ever.

‘But by its own admission, British sugar still has a lot of work to do to lower its environmental impact.’

She explained how England had been left rain-sodden due to recent weather patterns, including some of the driest areas of the country. 

Charlotte spoke to a head of a factory as they discussed their environmental concerns, and questioned whether the making of British sugar was ‘sustainable’. 

Jeremy returned to X to hit back at the episode’s conclusion: ‘No wait. They’ve brought climate change into it. As you were.’

Some of his following were in agreement, with one replying to the thread: ‘Even the best shows can’t escape the climate conversation.’

‘What did you expect?’ a second chimed in, as a third penned: ‘Some poor beet farmer trying to sell a homemade sugar recipe before Climate Change got involved.’

Someone else echoed: ‘Of course they did. At this point, it feels like climate change gets inserted into every discussion, no matter what the original topic was.’

Others hit back, with one adding: ‘Jeremy, Climate Change is literally the reason our summers and winters are becoming increasingly unpredictable, making it so much harder for farmers like yourself. You should be shouting from the rooftops about it…’

Another added: ‘Climate change won’t take a back seat when you want it to, Jeremy. Or do you think it’s made up?’

It comes after Springwatch star Chris Packham has opened up on how he REALLY feels about former Top Gear host turned farmer Jeremy, calling out his ‘changing views’. 

The TV presenter, who is most frequently seen on screen beside Michaela Strachan and Iolo Williams on the popular BBC programme, including its winter spin-off Winterwatch, admitted that despite their differences, he harbours no hate for Jeremy.

Chris, 64, and Jeremy, 65, have often found themselves on opposite sides of the debate about the British countryside – from conservation to farming. 

But, Chris has now admitted that the public perception of the relationship between the pair could not be more different to the reality.

Rather than ‘hating Jeremy’, the Winterwatch star said the duo had actually ‘worked together’ and found the Clarkson’s Farm star ‘hospitable’ and ‘like himself’.

He told the Telegraph: ‘Everybody expects me to hate Jeremy. But we worked together and he was extraordinarily hospitable. And he’s like myself.

‘He sometimes sees the need to antagonise a situation to promote a conversation. In recent times, we’ve see him swinging more in my direction.’

Since Jeremy took over his farm, Diddly Squat, in 2019 – the TV presenter has become increasingly outspoken about issues that affect farmers across the UK. 

He opened up on how bovine TB affected his own farm, as well as the importance of buying local produce and supportive British farming, and the issues caused by extreme weather patterns. 

Chris, who has presented Springwatch since its launch in 2009, has often used his platform to speak about the importance of protecting the environment. 

The presenter hit out that he felt the BBC, who broadcasts Springwatch and its spin-off series, have not been ‘as forthright’ as he hoped them to be in supporting the environment. 

He continued to the Telegraph: ‘It’s a dereliction of duty not to be informing people of the gravity of the situation…’

In 2024,  Chris encouraged today’s youth to ‘fight back’ against ‘buffoons’ like Jeremy amid claims that The Grand Tour host purchased a ‘gas-guzzling’ Range Rover ‘just to spite’ him.

Clarkson opted to buy the environmentally unfriendly SUV after ‘Chris Packham said something annoying on television’, he told The Daily Star in February 2024.

The presenter had initially decided to buy a Land Rover with a ‘smallish diesel engine’ but ‘cancelled’ the purchase in a ‘hot internal walnut of spite’.

He hoped to ‘annoy’ and ‘punish’ the Springwatch star by buying a ‘Range Rover with a V8 that produces more carbon dioxides than India‘. 

He added that he found it ‘comforting to know that by talking about the environment Packham has actually made it a little worse.’

Packham hit back, branding Clarkson a ‘buffoon’ and telling Saga Magazine that his ‘spiteful’ decision ‘betrays such a tragic ignorance it has an almost comedic value’.

The Range Rover rage was the latest incident in the apparent ongoing feud between the pair, which saw Packham launch a furious tirade at Clarkson in after the outspoken presenter admitted he wasn’t impressed by Sir David Attenborough‘s latest Planet Earth series.

‘I got a Google alert last night saying Jeremy Clarkson had been thinking about buying a Land Rover with a relatively small engine,’ Packham told the magazine. 

‘But then he’d seen me on TV saying something which offended him – probably something positive about the environment – so he’d bought a five-litre, gas-guzzling, twin turbo-charged Range Rover just to spite Chris Packham.’

The Winterwatch presenter hit out at Clarkson in his latest attempt to highlight the gravity of the climate crisis, saying it is an ‘existential problem’ and ‘so big that it’s beyond us as individuals to do anything’.

However, he pointed out that ‘every single one of us has the capacity to do something positive’ and encouraged the younger generation to consider their individual ‘impact’ on the environment.

Packham, who is often referred to as Sir David’s successor, argued that today’s generation are ‘influenced by TikTok’ and need a ‘young person’ to get them fired up about the environment.

‘We don’t need another David, we need another person on social media doing the same job and that isn’t going to be me – it’s going to be a young person,’ he said.

Packham, who says he was ‘very angry young man, encouraged the youth to get upset about climate change, but also ‘turn that anger into something positive’.

The pair’s spat comes after Packham in November 2023 used his social media presence to attack Clarkson for sharing a mixed response to Planet Earth in his column with national tabloid The Sun.

Taking to X, the celebrated naturalist referred to Clarkson’s notorious former comments about the Duchess of Sussex – published in the same column.  

He wrote: ‘Not content with fantasies of throwing s**t over members of the royal family he now slams the world’s greatest broadcaster and the man who has done more than anyone has or ever will to protect life on earth . . . What a massive c**kchafer’.

The explosive rant was in response to Clarkson having voiced his lack of enjoyment for 97-year old Attenborough’s latest series, going so far as saying he ‘hates’ the show and urged for a change in its direction.

The former Grand Tour host admitted that while he’s been captivated by the new BBC series, he found the script ‘insane’.

Clarkson wrote in his column with The Sun: ‘Oh the photography is brilliant. Spellbinding even. But the words are driving me insane’.

The outspoken broadcaster then pointed out that despite once admiring Attenborough’s in-depth knowledge of animals, he now feels his mission to educate viewers on the impact of global warming has become a bit repetitive.

He wrote: ‘Now all we ever get is, ‘Here’s a see-through fish with an orange stomach, and it’s future is threatened by climate change and then it’s: ‘Here’s something with pointy teeth and soon it will be wiped out by global warming.’

‘We know already. So please, in future, tell us about the animals, not the b****y weather.’