# Jimmy Savile series Netflix **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** netflix, documentary-bio\ **Created:** [April 9, 2022, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596 "2022-04-09T22:02:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/141 "2022-04-23T09:14:41Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > He was an all-rounder in entertainment, he could sing, dance, act and do funny sketches (which he wrote himself), but first and foremost he was known as presenter of big time variety shows, at least in the seventies. He was actually Dutch by origin. The first Dutch entertainer to make it big in Germany. Followed by Linda de Mol (traumhochzeit). In Holland it used to be the same. Everyone knew the big tv personalities, no question. And I recognise the schoolyard story. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/142 "2022-04-23T09:15:52Z")
> [@Drsunflower1](#): > > He was actually Dutch by origin. Of course I knew this. We all loved his slight Dutch accent. ---
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/143 "2022-04-23T09:19:36Z")
šŸ˜‰ yes. We made fun of that back home, but admired him nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/144 "2022-04-23T09:30:38Z")
> [@Drsunflower1](#): > > The first Dutch entertainer to make it big in Germany. Nitpick: the first Dutch entertainer after the war, but before Carrell there was Johannes Heesters who had made a career in Nazi Germany. Unsurprisingly, from all Iā€™ve heard, Heesters (who died at age 108 in 2011 and was the oldest active actor of the world for a while) was not as popular in the Netherlands as Rudi Carrell, to say the leastā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/145 "2022-04-23T09:51:29Z")
You are, of course , absolutely right. ---
**Author:** ![AzFavorite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@AzFavorite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AzFavorite)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/146 "2022-04-23T13:43:58Z")
Darn it, I got confused about the thread, I thought it was Jimny Saville and here you are describing our former El Jefeā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/147 "2022-04-23T14:06:55Z")
It is the huge influence of TV when the channels were few and in the same time zone. That world has long gone now. We get a glimpse of the shared experience that the TV schedules brought with shows like Gogglebox, which quaintly re-creates families and friends sitting together watching TV. That is the way it used to beā€¦kindaā€¦they omit the huge arguments that used to take place over which channel to watch when there was a clash of tastes. I am sure the world of TV production still has its fair share of monsters. A regular influx of youngsters into the business competing for jobs as unpaid interns is a recipe for exploitation. Just like Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/148 "2022-04-23T17:20:05Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > We all loved his slight Dutch accent. If thatā€™s a slight Dutch accent, Iā€™d love to hear what you consider to be a thick one. Iā€™m not even a native speaker and yet I nailed him as a Dutchman before heā€™d sung the first five words of that song. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/149 "2022-04-23T17:23:26Z")
Youā€™re right, his accent was rather pronounced. But his grammar and vocabulary were almost impeccable. ---
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/150 "2022-04-23T17:24:45Z")
And that is exactly which drew our admiration, given how difficult German is for a non-native speaker šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/151 "2022-04-23T20:44:07Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Some West German TV shows had regular 20+ million audiences in the seventies too, when there were only three TV channels This would be why _Derrick_ was so popular (also in South Africa) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/152 "2022-04-23T20:51:15Z")
Also in SA? I knew that Italy and Japan loved ā€œDerrickā€, but Iā€™ve never understood why, for me it was the most boring crime series I knew. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/153 "2022-04-24T08:30:36Z")
Yes, it was huge here. But then, we had very limited TV choices - at the time, just one TV channel - as well as the various bans on selling TV shows to Apartheid South Africa. It was dubbed into Afrikaans (as was the British show _The Sweeney_) ---
**Author:** ![Drsunflower1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drsunflower1/32/12711_2.png) [@Drsunflower1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drsunflower1)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2022, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/154 "2022-04-24T09:27:39Z")
Derrick was very popular with us as well. As was Tatort. We didnā€™t dub them, though. We had subtitles. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/155 "2022-04-25T11:30:15Z")
I would say the most appropriate analogue to Saville and his level of fame would be Dick Clark, Ryan Seacrest, and perhaps Steve Harvey. They all started in radio (maybe Harvey didnā€™t) and presented multiple shows, appeal to a broad range of ages, and most people in the US know who they are. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/156 "2022-04-25T11:39:24Z")
Except none of them have raised tons of money for charity in nearly the same way. There simply isnā€™t an equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/157 "2022-04-25T14:14:43Z")
Saville also became a trusted advisor to Royalty the Prime Minister at the time because he seemed to be a working class hero. The Monarchy was worried about their popularity with the working classes and for Margaret Thatcher, she wanted that working class vote. They sought his advice and this won him influence from the top the British establishment and, no doubt, opened the doors to the hospitals where he preyed on the vulnerable victims. Seeking a virtuous image through charitable works is quite powerful in British culture, as is any sort of notable public service. His work as a porter in hospitals, entertaining the staff and patients made him highly regarded by the public. The UK went through something of a moral panic following the Savile scandal. There was also a janitor who murdered school children, the Soham murders case. Parents became very paranoid. Politicians responded by passing laws requiring anyone working with children or vulnerable adults have a police check and a sexual offenders register was created. There are also ā€˜safeguardingā€™ responsibility provisions in many contracts. The Netflix documentary really did not cover any of this. It focused on his public personality and scoured the video archives to find questionable remarks he made and interviewed people who interviewed him. I would rather have liked to see some interviews with the senior people who allowed him access to hospitals and clearly ignored warnings from staff about what they had seen and heard of his behaviour. But then scandals in hospitals are nothing new, the body count usually has to be quite high for surgeons and consultants to be challenged. Lots of institutions have blind spots and weaknesses, in the UK, there is a tendency to protect those at the top. Will the BBC reveal which executive tried to get the Panorama expose documentary cancelled? I doubt it. The BBC will soon broadcast a four part docu-drama about Savile, played by Steve Coogan. There has been a lot of criticism about the BBC doing this since they were clearly an important part of the story. Should be interesting. > **[Steve Coogan defends Jimmy Savile drama following 'antagonism'](https://metro.co.uk/2022/04/03/steve-coogan-defends-jimmy-savile-drama-following-antagonism-16397259/?ico=tag-post-strip_item_1_entertainment)** > > ā€˜If you sweep it under the carpet and just donā€™t talk about it anymore, then those people are destined to come back.ā€™ ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/158 "2022-04-25T16:51:29Z")
Does the Netflix series mention the Johnny Rotten BBC interview from _ **1978** _, where he calls out the BBC for covering up for Saville and bets they wonā€™t air the interview?(They didnā€™t, but surprisingly the footage still exists) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/159 "2022-04-25T18:25:29Z")
> [@filmstar-en](#): > > The UK went through something of a moral panic following the Savile scandal. There was also a janitor who murdered school children, the Soham murders case. Parents became very paranoid. Iā€™m not sure I agree with that. The Soham murders were nine years before Savile died, and although some parents did become worried about whether the staff at their kidsā€™ schools had been at least checked out (which wouldnā€™t weed out everyone, but would have weeded out Huntley, because an enhanced DBS - the one introduced after Huntleyā€™s conviction and then called the CRB check - can include relevant, and substantial, accusations as well as convictions) it was partly because there were also a lot of discoveries about priests and care home workers having abused their charges in the past. Savileā€™s crimes instigated the setting up of Operation Yewtree, investigating accusations against media figures (they were often connected, hence it being one operation). But it was generally adult women making accusations about what had happened to them as teenagers and young women. Nothing to do with parental panic. Iā€™m not sure why the Netflix documentary should have mentioned a completely unconnected double murder several years earlier by someone not connected to Savile. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2022, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596/160 "2022-04-25T21:25:33Z")
Overall, the Netflix series prefers to focus on frustrated journalists, who had an inkling of Savileā€™s crimes without ever getting a strong enough source to go to print, versus the many people who had a good enough idea of what Savile was up to to either a) deliberately turn a blind eye or b) do what they could to keep him away from potential victims, even if he couldnā€™t actually be arrested and prosecuted. In the latter category, for instance, Sir Roger Jones, then-director of Children in Need, [made sure Savile had no association with the charity](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/oct/29/children-in-need-chairman-jimmy-savile). I wish the doc had highlighted stories like that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jimmy-savile-series-netflix/962596.md?page=9)