Jim'll Fix It

Jimmy Savile.

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.

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 Following the revelations involving Savile, all episodes of Jim'll Fix It have been indefinitely withdrawn from public airing, minus footage featured in documentaries involving his crimes, due to them now falling in poor taste.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. An edited version of A Fix with Sontarans without the Jim'll Fix It segments was re-released in 2022 on the Blu-ray version of The Two Doctors as part of The Collection — Season 22.

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, all girls, 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".
• Another segment from an August 1975 episode (either episode 10, 11 or 12) featured Patrick Moore and a "suddenly [turned] up" Dalek. The Dalek in question claimed that Earth was under constant observation and was asked a couple of questions.
• 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 Helen Black.
• 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.