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Media
BBC pulls Savile fronted TOTP repeats
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 8 October 2012
The BBC has scrapped plans to air two archive editions of ‘Top Of The Pops’ fronted by Jimmy Savile, as the number of sexual assault allegations against the former TV and radio star grow following an ITV documentary last week that claimed the DJ frequently abused teenage girls during the height of his fame in the 1970s, sometimes at the Corporation’s studios.
The BBC said it thought it was “appropriate” to postpone the airing of the pop shows, in one of a number of statements issued last week in response to the growing scandal around Savile. The Corporation’s stance grew ever stronger during the week as the scale of the allegations increased, and amidst questions as to why a ‘Newsnight’ investigation into similar claims was canned last year.
By Friday, new BBC Director General George Entwistle encouraged any BBC staffers past or present who knew anything about Savile’s alleged criminal behaviour to tell the London Metropolitan police, who are investigating the allegations.
While said investigation may ultimately permanently tarnish (if it hasn’t already) the reputation of Savile – widely hailed as a much loved entertainer and clubbing innovator after his death last year – many now wonder if it may also name and shame other radio or music stars of the era, some of whose behaviour in this regard is already on the record, though much more, as with Savile’s conduct, has generally been the subject of rumour and innuendo rather than rigorously assessed investigation in the past.
