World's most popular TV program on the brink

"Top Gear" has been called the world's most widely watched TV show. The BBC program showcases the fastest and wildest cars on the planet, on and off the track. It regularly features long-distance races between cars and other forms of transport.

But right now the show is off the air because its popular host, Jeremy Clarkson, has been suspended for the latest in a long series of indiscretions and worse, CBS News correspondent Charlie D'Agata reports from London.

What better way to deliver a message than driving a tank through central London right up to the steps of the BBC?

At the helm was a man dressed as the enigmatic professional driver from "Top Gear," the Stig, delivering a million-strong petition calling for Clarkson to be reinstated.

The show was pulled off the air because Clarkson was pulled off the show for allegedly punching a producer and calling him nasty names for failing to provide a hot steak dinner.

But this isn't just any show.

"Top Gear" is the Rolls-Royce of the BBC, seen by 350 million viewers in 170 countries every week, including BBC America.

It's also a gold mine with its spinoffs and merchandising, an estimated a $1.5 billion franchise.

The show and its controversial star were profiled by "60 Minutes"' Steve Kroft in 2010.

A brutish bigot to some, a straight-talking renegade to others, Clarkson was already on final notice over previous scandals, including apparent racist remarks he made.

At a charity dinner this week, Clarkson suggested his employment status was up in the air.

"I don't know whether I did my last-ever lap of the 'Top Gear' test-drive before the [expletive] BBC sacked me," he said.

His co-stars, like James May, have reportedly refused to do the show without him.

"It's all getting a bit ridiculous," May said. But when asked what he understood about what actually happened, May said, "not very much. I was blind drunk."

If Clarkson returns, what will it mean for the star who has shown little inclination for ever applying the brakes?

"Speed is great, speed works," Clarkson told Kroft. "Where would we be as a species without speed? You know, we'd still be eating mud."

In his weekly newspaper column Saturday morning, Clarkson made a veiled reference to the support he's received, declaring that protest never works "because we are all plankton. And the world is run by whales."

At any rate, Clarkson's future is likely to be decided by the big fish at the BBC next week.