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​New Jimmy Savile Documentary Airs Tonight On ITV

​New Jimmy Savile Documentary Airs Tonight On ITV

Savile: Portrait of a Predator explores how the popular entertainer engineered his career and lifestyle to ‘abuse and escape detection’.

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

A new documentary about Jimmy Savile airs tonight on ITV, offering an insight into his depraved world of deception through the eyes of those who worked with him - and the people who investigated his crimes.

Tying in with the 10th anniversary of Savile's death, Savile: Portrait of a Predator explores how the popular entertainer engineered his career and lifestyle to 'abuse and escape detection'.

In the hour-long documentary, which is a production from Voltage TV for ITV, we hear from key witnesses and investigators, including a detective who looked into his crimes for the Metropolitan Police's Operation Yewtree.

Alamy

A synopsis reads: "Savile's decades-long career of abuse seriously affected the reputation of those who failed to stop him - most notably the BBC, hospital trusts and the police - once the truth emerged widely after his death ten years ago.

"Seen through the eyes of those who worked alongside him and investigated him after his death ten years ago, this programme features new testimony from those who were victims and who bore witness to his crimes, while providing a vivid insight into how he courted the Establishment as a way of protecting himself."

Over the course of Savile's successful career, which saw him get knighted in 1990, he was able to act with impunity, with survivors finding they had no one to turn to in going against such a high profile figure.

Alamy

His crimes were only thoroughly investigated after his death in 2011 when hundreds of survivors courageously came forward and told their stories.

A 2012 ITV documentary called Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile, contained several allegations made by women claiming they were sexually abused by the celebrity as teenagers.

Many other people also came forward with their own harrowing stories after the film was broadcast.

The same year, the Metropolitan Police launched Operation Yewtree to examine the various allegations of sexual abuse - predominantly involving children - against Savile and others.

A report was published the following year, and by October 2015 a total of 19 people were arrested by the operation, with seven leading to convictions.

Alamy

In 2016, an independent investigation also found that the BBC missed opportunities to stop Savile's 'monstrous' abuse as there was a 'culture of fear'.

The BBC recently announced actor Steve Coogan would be playing Savile in a forthcoming mini-series called The Reckoning, which will tell the story of his rise to prominence through to the sexual abuse scandal that emerged after his death.

Watch Savile: Portrait of a Predator tonight on ITV at 9pm.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Documentary