Jeremy Clarkson takes verbal battering

Jeremy Clarkson is returning to the BBC for the first time since he was sacked from Top Gear for assaulting a producer.

Guest Richard Osman even tweaked the Pig-Gate story about PM David Cameron to insult the auto show host, saying: “He put his Clarkson in a pig’s mouth”.

To which Richard replied: “You remember how to punch don’t you?” before panellist Paul Merton jokes: “Oooh, he’s rolling up his sleeve”.

It is rumoured Clarkson, Hammond and May will present a new motoring show, though details remain thin on the ground.

And the banter may not be so gentle in the case of Clarkson, given the manner of his departure from the BBC.

At one point, Merton fell off his chair punching himself, and a joke about new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was twisted into a remark about Clarkson by Hislop, who said: “A man called Jeremy who has extreme views and won’t be in a job for long”. When asked if he regretted the bust up, he said: “Yeah – apart from the pay rise”.

“It’s nice to be back”.

Clarkson, 55, pulled out of guest hosting Have I Got News For You earlier this year in fear of the backlash he would receive.

Jeremy Clarkson has been spotted outside London Studios as he films his big BBC return. I can’t say the C word”, before back-tracking: “What are they going to do?

Have I Got News For You stalwarts Paul Merton and Ian Hislop took turns poking fun at Clarkson, working the “fracas” of his sacking, for lashing out at a producer who failed to provide the presenter with a hot meal, into nearly every punch line.

A video teaser for the new series shows Hislop and Merton spoofing Strictly Come Dancing.