“Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story” Reveals The Shocking Actions Of The Late Entertainer — Here Are 18 Takeaways From The Documentary
Imara Oshibanjo
5 min read
Content warning: This article includes references to sexual assault and abuse.
Netflix’s two-part documentary Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story has just been released. The miniseries sheds light on the disgraced entertainer’s sexual abuse scandal, which hit headlines shortly after he died in 2011.
NetflixMarjorie Wallace was investigating 19-year-old twins June and Jennifer— known as the “silent twins” because they only spoke to each other — when she met Savile. They were both visiting Broadmoor Hospital, and Wallace immediately noticed Savile’s predatory nature towards June and Jennifer. She would ultimately flag the encounter with MP Edwina Currie, but her account didn’t give rise to any investigation at the time.
8. One victim revealed the lengths she would go to to avoid being assaulted by Savile when she was just 11 years old.
Sam Brown recounted her harrowing experience with Savile, which she estimates started at a chapel in Stoke Mandeville Hospital when she was 11. Shielded from the eyes of others, Savile would go into the presbytery that overlooked the service and assault Brown for several weeks without anyone knowing. To protect herself, she would wear three pairs of knickers and insert tampons into her vagina. Ultimately, this would not protect her from being assaulted by Savile.
9. Investigative journalist Meirion Jones recalled seeing Savile drive off with three young girls from Duncroft, a reformatory school.
Savile and other celebrities would visit the school to raise money and support the facilities, but Savile would start making regular appearances at Duncroft, where he would solicit the girls who lived there.
10. Margaret Thatcher repeatedly made attempts to award a knighthood to Savile.
Lord Robin Butler, who worked for Thatcher as a private secretary, gave us insight into the former prime minister’s relationship with Savile, saying it was “quite established”. Savile would write letters to Thatcher, and she even invited him to the Chequers, the country house of the prime minister.
According to Butler, Thatcher liked Savile because of his “entrepreneurialism”. In the early 1980s, she would begin her campaign for him to get a knighthood, and before she ceased to be prime minister, she included him on a list given to the Queen. Savile was eventually given a knighthood in 1990.
11. Prince Charles once wrote to Savile asking for advice regarding his public image.
Alison Bellamy, Savile’s biographer, showed viewers letters in which Charles asked for Savile’s PR advice, even though he had a big team of his own advisers. Savile gave instruction to the prince about how to react publicly if there was a major incident in Britain.
12. A letter accusing Savile back in 1998 was not filed or investigated due to lack of evidence.
Mike Hames, who was part of the Metropolitan Police’s anti–child abuse squad, revealed that after he left the police force, he received a letter exposing the so-called untouchable Savile. It was sent to Leeds for investigation, as that was where Savile resided, but the letter would not lead to an investigation, and it wasn’t even filed anywhere.
13. There was a culture of ignorance and even endorsement around Savile and his comments about women.
When asked to review clips from her interview with Savile, television journalist Selina Scott pointed out how different it was sitting there in that moment compared with watching it at home. “What I’m looking at here is something totally different from [how] I actually felt at the time, so the camera does lie. You know, if the camera never lies, then the camera would’ve picked up on him years ago.”
14. Savile candidly spoke about believing in God and living a decent life in the hopes that he’d end up going to heaven.
NetflixSavile grew up in a Catholic home and would continue many of his beliefs into adulthood. He still went to church and cheekily spoke about “many sorts of gods” and his “own God”, which he described as looking like him.
15. Many believe that Savile did so much charity work to strike a balance with the “bad” he was doing behind the scenes.
Throughout the docuseries, many contributors comment on just how much Savile did for his local community, and to some, it was remarkable to note how many lives he changed for the better. Broadcaster Mark Lawson theorises that Savile cleverly flaunted his good deeds and charity work in order to create a public persona whom no one could accuse of wrongdoing even if they tried.
16. Savile had a close friendship with several police officers whom he would invite to his house as part of a “secret club”.
Savile had a habit of both intimidating and befriending the police. In May 2007, an investigation was launched due to allegations arising from Savile’s visits to Duncroft. Surrey police called him in to be questioned, and Savile asserted his power and authority as best he could during the interviews, threatening to sue people inpidually and boasting that he’d done it several times before.
17. Savile regularly promised women that they could appear on his show if they agreed to engage in sexual acts with him.
After becoming a journalist, Meirion Jones decided to take a deep pe into the Savile sex abuse scandal. He soon uncovered damning evidence from one of Savile’s victim, Karin Ward, who was offered the opportunity to appear on Savile’s television show, Clunk-Click, but only if she would have sex with him.
Jones would follow this up with a face-to-face interview exposing Savile for who he was, a sexual abuser of women. Ward’s account of what happened, and her appearance on archival footage from the show, proved to be key in forming a case against Savile.
18. The investigation started by Jones would eventually lead to many victims coming forward — in excess of 450. However, Savile would never stand trial for his crimes, as he passed away in 2011.
Many brave women came forward in the investigation, but Savile would never stand up in court because he died before his victims could get the justice they deserved. This trajectory of events highlights not only how society failed to believe and support Savile’s victims, but also how corruptly the police acted. Officers were even discouraging victims from coming forward as late as 2009, two years before Savile’s death.
If you or anyone you know has experienced sexual assault or abuse, please reach out for help using the links below.
In the UK you can contact the Rape Crisis national freephone hotline on 0808 802 9999, or you can contact voluntary organisations like the Survivors Trust for their helpline and live chat service.
In the US, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here.
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