Now then, now then, now then...all these stories about Sir Jimmy Savile and his predilections for teenage girls shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody. For years - since the mid eighties, at least - he was the subject of rumour and innuendo on programmes like Spitting Image and Have I Got News For You, and as far as I'm concerned, I thought he was fairly creepy, a bit like my house-master at school who always ended up wrestling with the first-year boys. I remember Sir Jimmy appearing on a radio programme, In The Psychiatrist's Chair, where he said the happiest day of his life was the day he spent alone in the house with his dead mother, who he called the Duchess...weird, creepy, and also quite sad.
Of course, he's not around to defend himself, and I wonder why some of the alleged victims are just coming forward now; but it seems that a lot of people who worked with him had their doubts about him, but for one reason or another turned a blind eye to what was seeming to go on. Maybe they thought that the millions he raised for charity offset some of the darker aspects of his personality; maybe he was driven by a sense of guilt to carry out all his charitable work, and saw it as a kind of penance.
A couple of months ago, before this story broke, there was an auction of his memorabilia, which again raised thousands for good causes. I wonder how much his cigars and track-suit bottoms would raise today, and I wonder just how the people who bought his stuff feel now.
A used Jim'll Fix It badge, anyone?
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