Jim'll Fix It

Jim'll Fix It was a long-running BBC television series hosted by Jimmy Savile. Children from the public would write in to the host requesting that he "fix" something for them or make some wish come true.

Jimmy Savile.

The Doctor Who mini-episode A Fix with Sontarans featured Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor came about as a request by a fan named Gareth Jenkins. Gareth had his own child-sized version of the Doctor's costume made for him by his grandmother. (A different Gareth Jenkins works with Big Finish Productions).

Jimmy Savile died in 2011. A year after his death, Savile was exposed as a paedophile, and one of the most prolific sex offenders in British history. Following the revelations involving Savile, all episodes of Jim'll Fix It have been indefinitely withdrawn from public airing, minus footage featured in documentaries involving his crimes, due to them now falling in poor taste. For the same reason, A Fix with Sontarans, which was originally included as an extra on the DVD release of The Two Doctors, has been removed from more recent future pressings by BBC Worldwide as of 2014.

Other connections

• Tom Baker appeared in costume and in character as the Fourth Doctor in a segment in the second episode in 1975. He handed out torn-off pieces of his scarf (attached to the main scarf with Velcro) to three children who had written to Jimmy Savile, asking to "meet Doctor Who". Baker was not billed on the closing credits, with the show's regular "With the help of..." listing reading simply "Dr. Who",
• Veteran movie actor Peter Cushing (who played Dr. Who in Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.) wrote to the show in 1986 to ask if a variety of rose could be named after his late wife.
• Numerous viewers reportedly wrote in in wishing for a TARDIS of their own or to ride in the Doctor's.
• In Colony in Space, after the power goes out, Mary Ashe says, "Don't worry, Jim'll fix it!", referring to character Jim Holden. This is not intended to be a reference to the series, coming from an episode that predated the premiere of Jim'll Fix It, but in hindsight, name-drops its title through sheer coincidence.