Jimmy Savile's vile hiding tricks from sick jokes to 'terrorist' lifestyle
In the 70s, 80s and 90s Saturday tea time meant sitting down with the family and tuning into the BBC to watch Jim’ll Fix It, where presenter Jimmy Savile would make childrens’ dreams come true. Dressed in a shiny shell suit, gold jewellery and chomping on a big fat cigar, Savile was clownish, eccentric and loved by millions. But what fans didn’t know was that he was hiding a sick secret.
During his career spanning five decades, he used his fame and philanthropy to sexually assault and rape hundreds of victims, some aged as young as two. His sick crimes were only uncovered after he died in 2011, but there were clues - they were just ignored. Now, his misdeeds - and how they were concealed - are the subject of BBC drama The Reckoning, which continues tonight. Here, The Mirror looks at how the predator managed to hide in plain sight...
Jimmy Savile at Stoke Mandeville Hospital where he abused patients (Alamy Stock Photo)Diversion tactics
When Savile was interviewed by journalist Andrew Neil for Is This Your Life he famously avoided a difficult question by taking a banana from his pocket and eating it. Body language expert Cliff Lansley tells viewers of Faking It: Jimmy Savile he believes this was his way of hiding the truth. "Why have a banana prepared in your pocket?” he asks. “Because he knew he would get some difficult phases in the documentary, therefore having some props handy would help him to counter that and get the audience engaged again.”
As the interview progresses, Savile is thrown off guard when one friend claims he had "an eye for the ladies, young ones as well. And when I say young, I mean the proper age. 16 upwards." Professor of Linguistics Dawn Archer says this is another red flag suggesting he had something to hide. She explains: "It’s almost like he does a self-correction at this point, which itself is interesting. Why did he feel the need to make sure that ‘young ones’ meant 16 and over?"
'Terrorist' tactics
Det Sgt Gary Pankhurst from Operation Yewtree, which was set up to investigate Savile after his death, said the TV star and DJ operated like a 'terrorist'. Speaking to ITV for the documentary Portrait Of A Predator, he explains that Savile had a number of properties including a plush flat in his home city of Leeds, an apartment in Scarborough, North Yorks and a cottage in Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands.
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“There were pockets of offences in many different parts of the country, and they weren’t connected," the detective explains. "It would be Leeds General Infirmary, or at the BBC, or up in Scotland, or he’d be over at Scarborough. Each of these elements of his life were separate circles that didn’t intersect, rather like terrorist cells in which you don’t provide all your information to more than one. That was the way he ran his life.”
Det Sgt Gary Pankhurst from Operation Yewtree, which was set up to investigate Savile after his death (ITV)Police investigations
At least seven allegations of sexual assault were made to police while Savile was alive but none of the complaints led to him being prosecuted. Four victims approached Surrey police, who investigated Savile in 2007 and passed a file to the CPS - but it concluded there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.
The BBC also missed chances to stop Savile according to the Dame Janet Smith review. It found senior managers were not told of complaints about Savile because of an 'atmosphere of fear'. When a junior employee at Television Centre complained to her supervisor in the late 1980s that she had been sexually assaulted by Savile, she was told "keep your mouth shut, he is a VIP", the report found. Back in 1971 Vera McAlpine telephoned the BBC to complain her daughter Claire, then 15, had been seduced by a celebrity after she had attended TOTP as a member of the audience. While the BBC carried out an investigation, it was not conducted in a satisfactory way and Savile’s denial was accepted.
Steve Coogan is playing Jimmy Savile in BBC drama The Reckoning (BBC/ITV Studios/Matt Squire)Hiding in plain sight
During an appearance on Have I Got News For You in 1999, Savile once said: "I’m feared in every girls' school in this country,” something viewers took as a joke but Professor of Linguistics Dawn Archer says is a double bluff. "He’s hiding in plain sight, the audience are thinking that this is all part of a showmanship and actually he’s telling us about things that are true - lots of girls at that point who would have been his victims were fearful of him. It’s a double bluff. We think it’s funny because we think he’s poking fun at himself because he’s probably quite harmless, but that’s the case here is it? In hindsight, what he’s saying isn’t very funny at all."
The sick star wasn't scared of being found out - in the 1970s he ran girls-only parties at Broadmoor hospital away from staff. This is where he recruited young women for his private parties but nobody seemed alarmed when he insisted on ‘lasses only’.
Jimmy Savile entering the Big Brother house (Video Grabs)Big Brother 2006
Savile went into the Big Brother house to grant wishes for some of the housemates in 2006 and left a trail of clues in his wake. Admitting he couldn’t stay overnight because he comes from a 'red-blooded part of the country' and would not be able to restrain himself was perhaps the biggest clue of all. He also came across as a creep telling Coronation Street star Rula Lenska: "I would want to marry all of you ladies for at least 24 hours."
Kissing Chantelle Houghton’s hand he said ‘I always tell the truth even when I'm lying’ and told the women housemates ‘Don't forget ladies I'm available most weekends for home visits’. It wasn’t just TV where he left clues - in the days leading up to his death just before his 85th birthday, Savile was quoted as saying: "So many women, so little time." Looking back the signs were everywhere, so how did Savile manage to cover up his vile secret? He didn't have to - he was hiding in plain sight.
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