The makers of the long-running BBC show ‘Top Gear’ are reportedly in “conversations” about whether to go ahead with making another series, according to its producer.

Andy Wilman, who hatched the plan to revive the show with controversial presenter Jeremy Clarkson back in 2002, said to Broadcast magazine that the BBC “does not trust” the show after its “annus horribilis” of 2014. Scandal after scandal beset the programme, which has been in hot water in the past, during the last twelve months and things now seem to be coming to a head for Wilman.

Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson, presenter of 'Top Gear', has been under scrutiny throughout 2014

He was asked whether he felt that the BBC’s relationship was supportive, and after a long pause he replied “sometimes yes, sometimes no. What the BBC like about 'Top Gear' is when it's naughty but it's all under control.”

"If your show is a bit wayward and naughty, there's an attitude within it. We walk a tightrope most of the time. Sometimes we're going to fall off it. And if you do, that's when the BBC is not a fan. Sometimes, I feel they don't trust us at heart," he admitted.

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During last year’s Burma special, broadcast back in February, Clarkson was censured by Ofcom for using a “racial term” after he said the phrase “it’s a proud achievement but there’s a slope on it” when a local man was crossing the bridge they had built.

A few months later, unseen footage emerged of Clarkson apparently using the n-word while reciting the children’s chant “Eeny Meeny Miny Moe” to choose between two cars. He eventually apologised, but the presenter was under even more intense scrutiny.

On the most recent special edition, the entire production team was chased out of Argentina when Falklands War veterans took exception to car license plates that, according to some, made reference to the conflict. Wilman says this was a coincidence, but admitted in the interview that he was now “bored” of defending the incident.

The latest series of ‘Top Gear’ begins on BBC2 on January 25th. Could it be the last?

More: Jeremy Clarkson’s chequered history with not saying racist things