Marcus Parks

But they didn't, and that's the problem.

Well, Savile also had the sympathy of the nation in 1973 because his mother, the Duchess, had just died.

And Savile had milked his mother's death by very visibly sitting with her corpse in repose for five days straight.

And the nation became invested in the death of the Duchess, not just because of the weirdness of the situation, but also because Jimmy Savile was one of the BBC's top personalities by 1973.

Besides his rotating top-of-the-pops hosting gig on television, Saville was also hosting two shows on BBC Radio 1, a travel show, Saville's Travels, and a chat show, Speakeasy.

Because of Jimmy's constant presence on the airwaves, the people of England felt like they, quote-unquote, knew Jimmy by the early 70s.

Ironically, considering his appearance and his demeanor, Savile had become a comforting presence to the people of England, a symbol of altruism, charity and working class success.

They also have a nation, their nation of celebrating eccentrics.

Yes, they are.

And Jimmy Savile was the gruff Yorkshire clown.

He was the man who swooped in with his God given gifts of gab to make everything all better when someone had a problem.

But while he would usually rape or abuse someone in the process of said swooping, his celebrity and reputation ensured that his crimes went unreported or uninvestigated.

encapsulates that swooping no he's a swooper oh he's a swooper yeah police all over england have been getting reports on jimmy saville for decades by this point and they had done nothing but they weren't the only ones in the uk who actively hampered any opportunity to stop jimmy saville the other organization at fault here was the bbc they'd had knowledge of saville's crimes since top of the pops began in 1964 they knew that saville was a creep when they hired him for top of the pops

But since ratings trumped every other concern, the brass at the BBC decided to once again ignore Savile's crimes when they offered him his biggest opportunity yet, a decade after hiring him.

Even after seeing what Jimmy Savile was capable of, both in the halls of the BBC and out on the road in his caravan, the BBC still gave Savile his own television show, a show centered around children, no less.

And they premiered that show...

Jim'll Fix It on May 31st, 1975.

With the BBC's full support, Jim'll Fix It solidified Jimmy Savile's transition from counterculture weirdo into an older, familiar, uncle-like figure in British society, which, of course, gave Savile even more opportunity to hide his monstrous habits in plain sight.

I don't think they even thought about it at all.

I really don't think they did.