In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile

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In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile

In Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile

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As a survivor of sexual abuse at the age of 12 by a family friend, a much older man, I found the programme helpful in understanding the grooming process when it includes people around the survivor, and fascinating to note how many people fell for Savile’s so-called charm while oblivious to the darkness within. It wasn’t exclusively women who spotted that something was very wrong, at least in the programme, but it was noticeable that older women felt this the most strongly. He took Louis around the Duchess's old bedroom, showing him her wardrobe which still had his mother's clothes in. "My cleaner takes them out and gets them freshened up about once a year," Savile told him. "These make better souvenirs than photographs," he added. Davies confesses in the book that, for a long time – before the truth about Savile came out, while he was still obsessed with his dark side but didn't know what it was – he wondered if Savile had murdered someone. But then, given the nature of his transgressions, including the latest from the NHS inquiry at Leeds infirmary, which found allegations of necrophilia, and the instances of violence cited in the book, it's hard to know what he would stop at.

My abiding memory was I was really glad I had a photographer with me. He was undoubtedly a showman and was all for posing in bed – but his conversation was peppered with innuendo and he made me feel distinctly uncomfortable.

When the news broke I felt ashamed that I’d been unaware he’d even been ill. My wife had organised a surprise birthday party for me in a pub near our home in London. My friends were there waiting for me, but I was in no mood for socialising. Savile’s passing provoked such a storm of conflicting emotions that I cried tears of frustration, anger and, I’ll admit it, sorrow. This was gripping radio: elegant, erudite, entertaining. It helped that Clare was clearly impressed by Geller and that Geller could bend keys with his mind. But the real magic came from Clare’s openness to Geller’s performance and persona, Clare’s willingness to express his bafflement at what he saw, and Clare’s endless curiosity about people – not only about people who could bend spoons with their minds, but about everyone whom Clare encountered in his media and medical careers. If you could ask him anything, I say, what would it be? Davies thinks about it. "Did you feel remorse for what you did? Did it plague you when you were alone in your flat at night? Did you sleep easy?" I was sure that his evasiveness, his refusal to be known, was connected to the darkness that seemed to emanate from him. But while it proved impossible to access its source, and none of his victims had been heard, I was left only with conjecture. I thought he was a wonderful man. The two hours that I spent with him helped me to cope with the immense difficulties that I was facing at that time in my life and I was very grateful. It wasn’t just that he was a psychiatrist, he was also a father and he felt a deep empathy for me as I watched my darling daughter battling for life.”

There is not a day that passes where I don’t wonder why I chose Savile. Of all the people to become obsessed with, to follow and agonise over, why did it have to be him? It is a question that provides no answer. The only consolation I can find is that my instincts were right. I struggle to write the next paragraph but Smith, in her section 5: 262, records what happened with the pellucid neutrality of legal prose:Reading this book made me realise how many signs were there that something untoward was happening and yet none of the allegations made to the police and others in a position to act on them were ever properly investigated. Nurses told patients to ‘pretend to be asleep’ and to forget about it and not make a fuss because ‘no one will believe you.’ Many knew of the rumours throughout Jimmy Savile’s long career and yet they were just accepted as something which happened and because it was JS nothing could ever be done about it because he had friends in high places and did so much for charity.

It took until almost a year after his death for the facade that he had built, and protected so fiercely, to crumble to dust. It did so under an onslaught of testimonies from people he had abused. Top of the Pops makes Savile a household name. His growing influence within the BBC and at a range of institutions enables him to act with apparent impunity. After his mother, who suspects a dark side to him, dies in 1972, his behaviour continues.How the hell should I know?” he grunted. “The only thing you can expect from pigs is shit.” I will never know for sure whether he was actually speaking to his lawyers or had stage-managed the episode as a warning to me. The clutter of the room's time-warp interior was in stark contrast to the panoramic views of Roundhay Park and the hills beyond. An ancient-looking exercise bike, a low sideboard with two This Is Your Life books lying open on the top and a glass-fronted cabinet stuffed with what looked like cups, medals, plaques and various awards from his career in entertainment dominated the first half of the room.



  • Fruugo ID: 258392218-563234582
  • EAN: 764486781913
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