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LONDON (Reuters) - The identity of "The Stig," the mystery test car driver on the popular BBC TV motoring show "Top Gear" was revealed on Wednesday after the broadcaster lost a legal battle to keep his name secret. Ben Collins, who began his racing career in 1994 and drove at Formula 3 level, was named as The Stig after the High Court refused to grant a temporary injunction preventing the revelation of his identity in an upcoming book.
Each episode of the cult show, which has been sold to television channels around the world, sees The Stig whizzing around tracks in powerful cars wearing a white jumpsuit with his features hidden by a white crash helmet with a dark visor. The BBC had taken legal action to block publication by publisher HarperCollins of an autobiography by Collins in which he said he was the test driver.
The broadcaster claimed the Stig was bound by a confidentiality agreement and that revealing who he is would spoil viewers' enjoyment of the popular programme. But after more than a day of legal submissions in private, lawyers for HarperCollins said the case had concluded in their favour, the Press Association reported.
HarperCollins said it was disappointed that the publicly funded BBC had decided to spend money taking the legal action. However, on the show's website last week, Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman attacked the book's publishers for trying to "cash in" on the secret and so spoil viewers' enjoyment.
"HarperCollins have decided none of that is as important as their profits, so if you get your Christmas ruined by one of the best and most harmless TV secrets being outed, you can rest easy in the knowledge that by contrast, HarperCollins' executives will be enjoying a fantastic Christmas," he wrote.
Collins, who also featured as a stuntman in the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace," was first named as the Stig in media reports last year after he went to a photographic studio to commission prints of the masked driver in action. The BBC refused to confirm those reports.
He is not the first driver to have been used in the role on the programme. The original Stig was axed from the show after British racing-car driver Perry McCarthy revealed his identity in an autobiography in 2002. Michael Schumacher, Formula One's most successful driver and seven times world champion, was also unveiled as the Stig in an episode last June, but the show's fans believed it had been a one-off or a joke and that his true identity remained a secret.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Steve Addison)
The Stig: high court judge unmasks mystery Top Gear driver
The Stig: high court judge unmasks mystery Top Gear driver
• BBC fails to halt sale of autobiography by Ben Collins
• Spat is part of wider feud with Murdoch press
guardian.co.uk, <time datetime="2010-09-01T20:32BST" pubdate="">Wednesday 1 September 2010 20.32 BST
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Ben Collins was unmasked as the Stig in August, but has since refused to confirm whether or not he plays the character. Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA
</figcaption></figure>His identity remained a mystery for eight years despite his star billing on one of the BBC's biggest shows. But today the Stig, the anonymous Top Gear driver disguised beneath a white crash helmet and blacked-out visor, was finally unmasked by a high court judge.
Mr Justice Morgan threw out a request from BBC's lawyers to grant an injunction preventing publication of an autobiography by Ben Collins, the racing driver who has played the character since 2003, following nearly two days of legal arguments heard behind closed doors.
Shortly before the ruling Collins, 35, strode down the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice in London but refused to confirm to waiting reporters that he is the man who trains celebrity guests to race around the Top Gear track.The court proceedings, and the media interest that surrounded it, has bordered on farcical at times, not least because the Stig's identity had already been revealed.
Collins, from Bristol, was named as the Stig by the Sunday Times in August, and photos of the driver have subsequently appeared in the press.The BBC has repeatedly refused to confirm that Collins plays the character, however, as it seeks to protect the commercial value of one of its hit shows.
Simon Dowson-Collins, director of legal services at HarperCollins, which would publish the book, also refused to discuss the Stig's alter ego, but criticised the BBC . "We were very surprised the BBC took such action to prevent freedom of expression. We maintained all along that the information is already in the public domain," he said.
The request for an injunction was prompted by the corporation's determination to keep the identity of one of its employees secret after HarperCollins bought the rights to his life story.Mr Justice Morgan ordered on Monday that the hearing should be conducted in private to ensure the case did not bring news of his identity to a wider audience.
The furore surrounding his forced unveiling is testament to the popularity of Top Gear, which regularly attracts an audience of 5 million armchair drivers in a Sunday BBC2 evening slot. Presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond command high salaries, and the producers and co-creators have also profited from the show.
It has also become a huge money-spinner for BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm, which made pre-tax profits of £145m last year. It is regarded as one of a handful of "superbrands" with global appeal, along with other hit shows including Strictly Come Dancing.
Late last week Top Gear producer Andy Wilman angrily dismissed HarperCollins as "a bunch of chancers" and insisted that the Stig was effectively the property of the men who invented him.However, the BBC's legal battle has not been motivated purely by a desire to protect the creative integrity of the character's creators.
It also wants to prevent HarperCollins from cashing in on the Stig in a bid to protect the money-making potential of the show.The fact that HarperCollins is owned by News Corporation, the media giant controlled by Rupert Murdoch, has given the legal battle a compelling subplot. The BBC director general, Mark Thompson, last week used the annual MacTaggart lecture to question whether News Corp should be allowed to take full control of BSkyB, the pay-TV company in which it is the largest shareholder.
Thompson warned that News Corp will become the dominant force in the British media industry if the deal is waved through by the government, which has the power to block it. He warned that Sky already "dwarfs" its commercial rivals.Some senior executives at the BBC privately claim News Corp is using the Stig case to undermine the BBC as the two organisations fight a war by proxy.
The BBC is waiting to see the court's full judgment before deciding whether to take Collins to court for breach of contract but has signalled it is likely to do so. The book is due to be published on September 16.Nicola Cain, a member of the legal team working for the BBC, said: "This is about contractual obligations and confidential information." She added that she couldn't second guess what action the corporation would take, but said: "It isn't over yet."
This photo combo shows an undated file photo of the driver for the BBC motoring programme Top Gear 'The Stig' left, and Ben Collins seen at the High Court in London Wednesday Sept. 1, 2010. The opaque visor of one of Britain's most famous helmets has been lifted. The identity of The Stig, the always-anonymous test driver on 'Top Gear,' the wildly popular British television show about cars, has long been kept secret. The BBC had asked Britain's High Court for an injunction blocking the publication of an autobiography revealing The Stig's identity. But lawyers for publishers HarperCollins said Wednesday it was not granted. The publishers said in a statement that 'Ben Collins has a great story to tell about his seven years as The Stig.'<cite id="captionCite"> (AP Photo/ PA)</cite>
