You may wonder why I have spent some time recently watching videos of Jimmy Savile on YouTube. This is a very good question, and one that I am unable to fully answer. I guess this is what happens when I get fed up of new Star Trek and get desperate for something to watch.
Nonetheless, here is yer evil bastard himself, on BBC2’s Open to Question in the 80s, being interrogated by a bunch of high school kids. Warning: video contains Jimmy Savile.
If you don’t want to watch the above – which is perfectly understandable – the below hilarious video condenses it down to three minutes. And while it’s clearly made partially for comedy purposes, it does accurately represent much of the content and feeling of the full interview:
Anyway, our question for today: when exactly was this interview broadcast?
At first, it seems obvious. Most online sources seem to agree: the 21st September 1988. The big two, IMDB and Wikipedia, certainly claim this. This post on Dangerous Minds, actually written by a researcher on Open to Question, indicates 1989.1 Another post online claims 1987, but as it’s written by someone silly enough to claim Savile’s innocence, I’m not going bother linking to it here.
So let’s check our good friend BBC Genome. The Radio Times does indeed claim that the interview transmitted on BBC2 on the 21st September 1988:
Open to Question
Wed 21st Sep 1988, 18:50 on BBC Two EnglandAt 18, Krishnan Guru-Murthy steps out of the studio audience to take over the presenter’s role in a new series of Open to Question. His first guest, approaching 62, is Jimmy Savile, Britain’s famous fund-raiser and one of the most popular television celebrities.
But something doesn’t quite add up. As indicated above, the 21st September marked the first episode in a new run of the series. In which case, what do we make of the trail below?
This states that John Prescott, not Jimmy Savile, was the subject of the first episode broadcast in the series. And yet there’s this piece, written by Krishnan Guru-Murthy in 2012 when the Savile story first broke2, which seems to contradict this:
“Jimmy Savile was my first ever interviewee when I became presenter of the BBC’s “yoof” discussion programme Open to Question. I was 18, rather naive and had not heard the rumours of his sexual preferences.
But he was a big disappointment: cold, aggressive, slightly menacing in his reaction to tough questions from teenagers in the audience – and I’ve never forgotten the creepy feeling he left me with.”
How can we reconcile all of this? As it turns out, relatively easily, with a little poking around in the correct paperwork that someone kindly gave me access to.
The Savile episode of the Autumn 1988 series of Open to Question actually aired second, on the 28th September 1988. The episode which aired first, on the 21st September, was John Prescott, as indicated in the above trail.
So why the confusion? The answer lies in the following. God, I do love a good table.
| Ep | Guest | RX | TX |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Prescott | 19/9/88 | 21/9/88 |
| 2 | Jimmy Savile | 11/9/88 | 28/9/88 |
| 3 | Claire Rayner | 26/9/88 | 5/10/88 |
| 4 | Dr. Jerry Nims3 | 3/10/88 | 12/10/88 |
| 5 | David & Yvonne Stayt4 | 10/10/88 | 19/10/88 |
| 6 | Richard Branson | 17/10/88 | 26/10/88 |
The Savile episode was actually recorded first, on the 11th September 1988.5 The Prescott interview was recorded second, on the 19th September, just two days before transmission. At some point, the decision was taken to swap the two episodes around. The paperwork for the Savile episode clearly states:
OPEN TO QUESTION (Autumn 1988)
JIMMY SAVILE, OBE
Rec as Prog. 1, TX’D as Prog. 2
As for the trail pointing the Prescott interview: as per the table above, that episode was recorded on the 19th September. The trail aired on the 20th September, and then the episode itself aired on the 21st. The trail was almost certainly recorded on the 19th, the same date as the actual interview; by that point, it must have been clear that they wanted to swap the first two episodes around, and so scripted the trail accordingly.
Which leaves us with just one final puzzle: why were the two episodes switched around? I think we can make an educated guess at that, too. When the Prescott interview was transmitted, Labour were right in the middle of a leadership election, the ballot for which took place less than two weeks later, on the 2nd October 1988. Crucially, the deputy leadership was also up for election, with Prescott challenging the incumbent Roy Hattersley. If the Prescott episode had actually gone out as planned on the 28th, rather than the 21st, it would have been transmitted less than one week before the ballot, and the programme seriously risked being out of date. Far better to air the episode first in the series, just two days after it was recorded.
And there you have it. Yet another reminder of how easily transmission dates can get mangled and confused over the years. It’s almost enough to make me want to put together a full episode guide for Open to Question.
Almost.
This piece was written before the truth about Savile came out, which is why it reads rather… oddly now. ↩
It’s worth reading this piece in full, by the way, not least because of the swipe at Janet Street-Porter. ↩
President of the Moral Majority. The organisation dissolved the following year. ↩
Leaders of “Concern for Family and Womanhood”, aka “Campaign for the Feminine Woman”. Hmmmm. ↩
No, this date isn’t a typo; Savile’s episode is unusual in that it was recorded on a Sunday rather than a Monday like all other episodes. ↩