Sir Jimmy Savile: As It Happened

gentlemen, welcome to Top Of The Pops. Oh! He was a pop pioneer.

about that then? And a multimillion pound charity

fundraiser. He made us belt up in the 70s. Chunk, click, every trip.

And fixed it for thousands of kids' dreams to come true. For 60 years,

Jimmy Savile has been part of our lives, a great British eccentric.

He was crazy. Now then. Is it visible to smoke while you are

exercising? No. This is the story of Jimmy's remarkable life, As It

Happened, now then, now then. came through the lens and grabbed

you. A riddle wrapped inside a mystery, inside a gold lame

tracksuit! Here is Sir Jimmy filmed enjoying

one of his favourite past times, just a few days before he died.

have gotten to be nearly 100 right now, with nothing really basically

wrong with me at all, apart from being a bit odd. But I have been a

bit odd all my life. Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to

Top Of The Pops. # For goodness sake

Jim burst on to our screens and into our lives in the 60s, as the

first-ever host of Top Of The Pops. I will tell you what we will do now

ladies and gentlemen. Top Of The Pops to everybody.

Wednesday January 1th 1964, Saturday evening, live, first band,

The Rolling Stones. We might have been watching in

black and white, but his flamboyant and colourful character shone right

through. The programme and Jimmy were a

smash hit, and soon he was as famous as the big-name acts he

introduced. How about Mr Cliff Richard. The Rolling Stones. The

one and only Lulu. # Some people live within the world,

# Some people live without it Of The Pops was unbelievable, not

only were you in the charts, but you were heating and hanging out

with everybody else in the charts. Jimmy was a huge part of that.

One of those mad nights tonight, ladies and gentlemen. I have been

in the music business for 40 years, I have worked with some quite

challenging people, van Morrison, Shane McKeown, and others, there

was no-one like Savile, he was a complete creation of his own,

unique. I think Jimmy enjoyed the attention from the crowd, the way

all the young bands Z he felt like he was the same, you know, and he

was pretty famous, he was huge. knee everybody, he toured up with

the Rolling Stones, The Beatle, all these types of people.

Fortune soon followed fame, but Jimmy as millionaire lifestyle was

a long way from his humble beginnings.

James Wilson Vincent Savile, was born in Leeds on the 3 1sf October,

1926, and grew up here -- 31st October 1926, and grew up here in

Woodhouse, a stone's throw from the city centre. He was the youngest of

seven children, of Vince Savile, a bookmaker's clerk, and his wife,

Agnes. He survived a bout of childhood pneumonia, and life for

the young Jimmy, growing up in 1920s Leeds was certainly hard. As

he often recalled, to his best mate, Howard Silverman. We grew up in

Consort Terrace, he was the youngest of seven. He always used

to tell me that his nickname was Mr Hand -Down, he was the last to be

handed down clothes from the eldest kids. They had nothing, really.

Times were about to get tougher. The outbreak of the Second World

War saw a teenage Jimmy sent down the coal mine, rather than called

up to the frontline. Even in those days he was quite an extrovert lad.

He went down the hole thinking he knew it all, and he was going to be

fine. He said to me afterwards, he got into this black hole, and

wondered what on earth had he let himself in for. It was while down

the pit that Jimmy suffered a serious injury. They had a roof

fall in, part of it fell on him and injured his spine. He spent the

next three years or so walking round on crutches. As he recovered

from his injuries, Jimmy stumbled into the music business.

History has it that I was the very, very first, in the whole world, to

run a dance to records. When Jimmy Savile started getting involved in

clubs, people went to clubs to listen to live music, and Jimmy

Savile changed that. His vision was that people would go to clubs and

listen to prerecorded music, what he called disc-only nights,

listening to DJs. Jimmy's first Dis-o night, took

part in this building, then the Loyal Order of Shepherds Hall in

Leeds. Rock'n'roll had ray riefd, and armed with a borrowed record --

arrived, and armed with a few rowed record players, Jimmy had arrived.

I thought it was marvellous that you could put a record on and this

band came out of the sound. I got cards and wrote "grand record dance,

1s" and lo and behold I sold 12 wickets.

From humble beginnings, the injured miner, turned music impresario, was

soon managing some of Britain's biggest dance halls. What Jimmy was

table to do was he was able to key into that new generation at the end

of the 50s, who wanted something flamboyant, who wanted a bit of

rock'n'roll. He understood that generation probably better than

anyone else working in clubland in Britain.

My places were packed, packed. A guy walked in last night and said

he had never seen records played like that before, and would you

like a job on radio Luxembourg, I said, why not. I got a telegram,

your Radio Luxembourg programme starts next Thursday.

Radio Luxembourg, your station of the stars. It was Jimmy's big break,

he spent the next decade spinning discs and hanging out with

rock'n'roll's biggest stars. That only continued when TV came

knocking at Jimmy's door. Good evening ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to Top Of The Pops. Hosting Top Of The Pops had made him a

household name, wum the 70s, his public perzone -- come the 1970s

his public persona would be as flamboyant as those worn by the

bands. Those who appeared in the show alongside never forgot the

experience. He brought colour, excitement, he was a flamboyant

personality. He was just wonderful, in fact, that is what Top Of The

Pops was all about, it was all about this wonder cornucopia of

colours. And Jimmy was the centre piece. See you again, too much, too

much. I think in those days anything went,

and it was such a Greg gairous time. Everybody thought of him as a one-

off. What should we have now, should we have the number 1, Elton

John, Kiki Dee Don't Go Breaking My Heart. I so wanted to be on Top Of

The Pops, and eventually I got on there. # Don't go breaking my

heart? # I couldn't if I tried. Jimmy, I met him, he was a very

professional host, and full of life, and excitement, and great performer,

actually, great showman. Top Of The Pops had provided Jim with a

platform, now the whole world was his stage. Savile could be utterly

outrageous, because he didn't give a toss.

There's nothing he liked more than making a fashion statement. Jimmy

Savile was a total eccentric. was a psycadelic experience! That

is what I would say about Jimmy. Psycadelic, in Yorkshire, we have

had psycadelic sheep for years. How about that then?

You look at him and you would go, what? What is this? You could say

he was the first glam rocker. had a Jaguar, and the upholstery

was zeb bra skin, he wrote to Jaguar for some material to make a

jacket out of it. My outfit and delivery suited the people who

themselves were discovering themselves. There was one

particular look he would make his own. Yes indeed. I'm trying to

think of a time when I didn't see Jim in tracksuit? It is not easy.

It was extraordinary seeing this man in the 70s, on television, in a

tracksuit. He broke all the rules. He just got into that comfort thing,

it was easy, taky and bad taste, but it created his own image.

did, however, manage to smarten up to receive an OBE. REPORTER: How do

you feel about the medal? Fantastic. Can you see my heart beating.

Buckingham Palace was a different world from where Jimmy came from,

but he would never forget his roots. Jimmy's home would always be in

Leeds. Although a Penthouse had now replaced the humble terrace. Inside,

Jimmy surrounded himself with souvenirs from his life. There are

the wrestling posters from early semi-professional bouts, and the

racing bike he completed the 1951 Race of Britain on. But it is the

walls that reveal the true extent of Jimmy's fame. From pictures with

The King. The Princess. Even the Pope.

Jimmy's relationship with the Royal Family, most notably, Prince

Charles, was more than passing acquaintance.

I once picked up a phone fall, and Jimmy was in one of the other rooms,

and he said to me, answer the phone for me, would you. I picked it up,

and the voice on the other end of the phone, "could I speak to Sir

Jimmy, please". It suddenly dawned on me I was speaking to Prince

Charles. You finished the marathon with

Jimmy and quarter of an hour later you were at Buckingham Palace

having tea. It wasn't case of getting changed, it was in your

shorts and still weighting with your medal. Not many people do that.

The working-class lad from Leeds ended up becoming a firm favourite

of the establishment. You can knock on the door.

Hello, welcome. Come in. I remember turning to Prince Andrew and going,

"right, boss". I thought it was great. I bet he was with members of

the Royal Family and Prince Charles, to whom he was close, and Mrs

Thatcher, I think it was a little window into Jimmy's world. He would

probably say that to the Queen. Alongside Top Of The Pops, another

prime time hit show would cement Jimmy's status as a TV legend.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome indeed to Jim Will Fix It.

Jim Will Fix It was just a superb programme for Jim, for you know,

the kids that came on there and everything.

I used to watch Jim Will Fix It every Saturday, I used to love T I

wrote, I asked him if I could meet the Leeds United team of the early

70s, my absolute heros, I heard nothing. I don't hold it against

him. We got a letter from the 2nd St Mary's Cub Scouts, how about a

new place to eat our lunch, they said. Are you sure you want to eat

The show received over 20,000 letters a week, from kids hoping

Jim could fix it for them. From stock sport, "dear Jim can you

fix it for me to drive a 125 high- speed train, I'm six, Robert ." I

wrote a letter, and in my best handwriting, and sent it off to the

producers. A lot of my friends wrote off as well. It was amazing

to get a response, once to say thank you for the letter, and when

to say, come and do it. I was so excited, it was untrue. What we did,

we sorted it out, just like this. First, Jim fixed for Rob to travel

back in time to the golden era of steam. It brings back a few

memories standing up here, I remember shuffling coal into the

fire box. Then he experienced the age of the train, on an Inter City

125. I was only six, it was the best thing in the world, I couldn't

believe it was happening to me. Thank you. For Rob, just as

exciting was his chance to meet Jimmy. Was it good? Yes, very much.

Smashing? Yes. I was massively awe struck, I had

seen him a lot of times on Jim Will Fix It and Top Of The Pops, to meet

him in real life, I was ready to faint. It was just amazing. We have

had a special high-speed Jim Will Fix It badge, will you fix that on

his high-speed head now, everything he has to do is high-speed, he has

to have his breakfast at high-speed, and his dinner at high-speed, and a

high-speed Jim Will Fix It badge. Look at that.

There you go, Jim Fixed It For Me. It has pride of place at home,

thousands of kids wanted this, and I'm the lucky person who has one.

Jim Will Fix It went for almost 20 years and made the dreams of almost

1300 kids come true. But these luck yie youngs -- lucky

youngsters weren't the only people to benefit thanks to Jimmy. Always

the formidable amateur athlete, from cycling races, to over 100

wrestling bouts. Do you do wrestling in this part of the

country? If you have half an hour I can show you. I'm busy but do you

have any. Jim was soon to become synonymous with sponsored marathon

running. He realised he could exploit his popularity with the

press and public to help raise millions for good causes. I think

Jimmy was a pioneer in many ways, for me he was the first non-running

celebrity to seem to be interested in running events. Ladies and

gentlemen, the London Marathon, a very serious and spectacular event.

He was really ahead of his time in that sense. Now so many celebrities

want to run the London Marathon, the Great North Run, et cetera,

they have followed in his footsteps, and the millions raised for charity.

People shouldn't forget, that he had a massive role to play in

what's now become very common practice.

A The man who calls finshes this race, is Jimmy Savile, running

today his 156th half marathon or marathon. Everything was a joy, you

hated everyone, because it was a love-hate relationship, when you

cross the line, you think, terrible, when's the next one! Amazingly Sir

Jim ran more than 200 marathons and helped raise a staggering �45

million for various charities. Including raising �20 million to

rebuild Stoke Mandeville's Spinal Injuries Unit, a cause close to his

heart following his war time mining accident. He even got a couple of

pals to open it. I didn't like to ask you, because you're always here

and you do such a lot for us. didn't know how to ask me, I'm very

hurt now. Jimmy knew that giving his personal time was just as

important as donating cash. For over 20 years he worked with

patients at Broadmoor Secure Hospital. Despite his celebrity, it

wasn't unusual to see Jimmy working as an unpaid hospital porter at

Leeds infirmary. He was very proud of the fact that he was the only

porter at the infirmary driving a Rolls-Royce. I said you may be the

only one driving a roller, but don't par park it in the

consultant's car park! Jimmy was the real deal. Five minutes in a

hospital is ag imm-- gimmick, five years not a gimmick.

He gave back, and I think he got pleasure from giving back. He had

this tremendous gift of making people feel good. I watched

people's faces light up as soon as he was around them. That's a memory

that I will never forget, and never lose. Hello ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to Top Of The Pops, here we go with the charts and music of

Leon Hayward. Throughout the 80s and 90s, Jimmy remained a familiar

face on our screens. Welcome to the Christmas Top Of The Pops.

signature voice on national radio. The day I joined Radio 1, in 1987,

I spent a couple of hours with him doing a photocall, I was completely

overawed, this was Jimmy Savile. Thinking about it now it was

terrifying, but wonderful. He was very friendly, very accommodating,

very Jim. He took me to one side, and he said, this is when I kind of

got a little bit of the real Jim, he took me to one side and he went,

young man, you have just obtained the keys to open the Bank of

England. I thought well that's quite interesting.

Jimmy was evolving into a true national treasure sure. He appeared

on the most popular chat shows. Give us a touch of your knee!

us inexpensive train travel. Away day is an offpeak ticket. And found

himself back at Buckingham Palace to add a Knighthood to the OBE.

is mine, I'm telling you, tell him, it's mine.

And of course, he continued to be, one of Britain's most impersonated

celebrities. How about that then, if you please.

So it's James, is it? Jimmy, Mr Savile, OBE, call it what you like.

What do you do? I used to be on television, young lady. His voice

was so recoginsable, any impressionist knew if they did

Jimmy people would know t he was so warm, people would like to hear the

voice done. To do Jimmy Saville, you have to get the Leeds accent,

then the phrases, now then, Goodness Gracious Me, love,ly,

lovely, jewellery, lots of hesitation, lots of stucato rhythm,

then very wide mouth, then at the end, a lovely little look down the

camera, how's that. I have been off these good people's screens now for

long enough, to become interesting again, haven't I. People watch Huw

Edwards reading the news and they don't know him. But Jimmy came

through the lens and grabbed you. Goodness gracious. Ladies and

gentlemen, good morning, Top Of The Pops to one and all. While his

public persona was there for all to see, a documentary by Louis Theroux,

attempted to discover if there was another side to Jim.

Is Jimmy there, please? Is that the Spice Girls? Yes it is. Go away.

When Louis Met Jimmy, they are they are tried to get behind Jimmy's

flamboyant facade. How are you feeling? Regularly, how are you.

I'm like a butcher's dog, as it happens. The resulting film seemed

to suggest Jimmy was complex, lonely and fixated with his late

mother. When I come in, I always go, all right darling. Which is a

greeting as I walk past the door. It is a friendly thing, it is not

morbid or anything like that. It is totally friendly. He was close to

his mum, basically because he loved his mum. He kept a lot of her

things. All this gear was gear she wore. Instead of slinging it away,

I thought I would hang on to it, these are better souvenirs than

photographs. He was just devoted to his mother, and devastated when she

died. Again, they all seemed to try to make this big thing about the

fact that he had never thrown away his mum's clothes and stuff. But we

all keep photographs of our mums and dads who have died, and

pictures and Mel memorabilia, what was the difference, he could afford

it. He just left it as it was. have you said in interviews you

don't have emotions? Because it is easier. The truth is, I'm very good

at masking them. I have often heard people say that

no-one really knew the real Jimmy. That is not true. Jimmy allowed

people he wanted to get to know him, to get to know him. He was

eccentric, everybody knows he was eccentric, of course he was. But he

wasn't a loner. He was just an ordinary guy. All I hope is, maybe,

some young person somewhere sees all this and says, hey, I thought I

had no chance, but if Jim did it, can I do it. Makes it well

worthwhile then. Maybe it's a bit too yuky for them! Even at 80 years

old, Jimmy continued to light up our TV screens. Hello, and welcome

to the very last Top Of The Pops. Closing the show, that he opened 42

years earlier, and that made him a household name. Don't forget, it is

number one, it is still Top Of The Pops.

Who else could they possibly choose to switch off the lights at the BBC

Top Of The Pops studios, it had to be Jimmy.

For six decades, Sir Jimmy Savile was part of the fabric of British

life. He was about the brightest thread that there was. Wow, there's

someone who has really lived. Had really the best time he could

probably have, and you can't really ask for more than that. He was a

complete one-off. There was really nobody like him, never had been,

and never will be again, really. He literally lit up a room when he

came into it. That was him, that was Jimmy, that was the real person.

Now, Sir Jimmy has gone. But undoubtedly his legend will live on.

Yes indeed. Now then, now then guys and girls

as it happens. Now then, now then, now then. As it happens, as it

happens. How's about that. That is like right good. Now then, now then,

how's about that then? Time to go now, it is a happens.