Jimmy Savile

James Wilson Vincent Savile, also known as Jimmy Savile, (31 October 1926-29 October 2011^[1]) was a British broadcaster and media personality. He was the host of Jim'll Fix It, and so appeared in its Doctor Who crossover episode A Fix with Sontarans.

You may be looking for the fictional character.

Controversy[[edit] | [edit source]]

Savile was one of the BBC's main personalities — particularly popular in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, hosting shows such as Top of the Pops and Jim'll Fix It. He was a prolific fundraiser, raising £40 million in his lifetime. In the autumn of 2012, a year after his death, ITV journalists broke the news that he was a serial sexual abuser, with most of his victims being children. The ITV documentary about Savile revealed that had abused his position as a popular BBC television personality throughout his long career.^[2]

The BBC's response to this revelation, as well as a subsequent act of incompetent journalism related to the Savile investigation, led directly to the resignation of the newly-installed Director-General George Entwistle. London's Metropolitan Police launched a formal criminal investigation into historic allegations of child sexual abuse by Savile and other individuals, called Operation Yewtree. This led to the convictions of other prominent UK celebrities, such as Rolf Harris and Gary Glitter.^[3]

It also led to A Fix with Sontarans being removed from later pressings of the DVD release of The Two Doctors, which had included it since the DVD's original 2003 release.^[4] However, the version of A Fix with Sontarans that was released in Doctor Who: The Collection — Season 22, all of Savile's scenes were cut, with the ending scene being replaced by a CG cliffhanger.