History Series / JimmySavileABritishHorrorStory

->''"You see, I never, ever thought that I was clever. Tricky, yes. I'm a very tricky fella. But tricky is much better than being clever. If you are clever, you can slip up 'cause you're clever. But if you're tricky, you don't slip up. You never slip up if you're tricky."''
-->--'''Jimmy Savile'''

* BrokenPedestal: {{Invoked|Trope}} The documentary shows how Jimmy Saville went from a British national treasure to one of the most reviled men in the country's history after he died.

* BrokenPedestal: The documentary shows how Jimmy Saville went from a British national treasure to one of the most reviled men in the country's history after he died.

* AristocratsAreEvil: Despite his working-class origin, Savile was able to work his way into the British Establishment through his friendship with Margaret Thatcher and his appeal to rebuild Stoke Mandeville. This granted him a great deal of protection that he wouldn't have had were he just another person on the street.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: After the allegations came out, Jimmy Savile became one of the most reviled figures in British history.

* AmoralAttorney: George Carman, QC was regarded as one of the most powerful lawyers in Britain, and he was able to get a number of cases against celebrities dismissed. He once told his son Dominic that he could "tell him a number of things about Jimmy Savile." Carman was able to get newspapers to cancel articles which could have exposed Savile earlier.

* BittersweetEnding: Jimmy Savile died without any sort of punishment for his lifetime of abuse against children, and many of those interviewed express regret that they weren't able to put the pieces together until after he died. However, with the reveal of his insidious crimes, many of his honors were posthumously revoked, and the investigations into him helped expose other pedophiles such as Rolf Harris and Music/GaryGlitter and Savile is at least posthumously seen for the vile predator he was.

* DepravedBisexual: While Savile's main targets were young girls and women, he also had no issue in going after young boys as well.
* DepravedKidsShowHost: Savile's most famous show was called ''Jim'll Fix It'', where he granted the wishes of children who wrote in and told him what they wanted "fixed," ranging from meeting Creator/WilliamShatner on the ''Enterprise'' bridge set to driving Film/JamesBond's [[Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe Lotus Esprit]] to one boy taking his teacher out for a nice meal. However, Savile molested many of the children who came on the show.
* DirtyOldMan: As his career and life neared their ends, Savile's television interviews would feature him telling crude jokes, one claiming that once he retired from show business, he would get a job in an all-girls' school. Those who heard him say such things assumed he was trying to get a cheap laugh by playing to people's discomfort or engaging in good-natured self depreciation, but when the allegations came pouring out a year after he died, people took Savile's "jokes" as him essentially bragging that he'd gotten away with being a pedophile for decades.

* TheDreaded: Lynn Barber and Andrew Neil. Barber was a reknowned profiler of celebrities who asked many tough questions and had a reputation for writing "bitchy" columns. Neil had been with some of Britain's most prestigious newspapers for decades. Both of them come close to getting Savile to break his persona.

* EvilOldFolks: Savile's predatory behavior didn't cease as he got older, acquiring most of his victims in his fifties and sixties.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Savile was easily recognized by his jovial, chatty behavior and his charisma played a major part in his fame but it's clear that it's all a performance to hide his unpleasant nature. Notably, he maintained the performance even on occasions where normal people would have been more serious; Savile can even be heard firing off his usual bluster and bombast in a ''police interview'' of all places.

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Savile went from being a school dropout and regular miner and small time DJ from a working-class background to a national celebrity and one of the most prolific sexual predators in history.

* ScrewTheRulesImFamous: A key reason why Savile was able to get away with his crimes. People simply couldn't believe that a man who devoted so much time to charity work and was so beloved at every level of British society could be such a horrid individual.
-->'''Sylvia Nichol:''' Never knew anyone who did that much good. Simple as that.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Savile cultivated friendships with UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, Prince Charles, and Princess Diana, which afforded him a great deal of protection from the British establishment. He was also recognized by Pope John Paul II during his visit to the UK. Paul Connew mentions that when he had two women who wanted to come forward with their allegations, they asked who people were likely to believe: two former approved schoolgirls or a beloved entertainer who was honored by the Pope and was close friends with the royal family.

* TechnologicallyBlindElders: When asked by what his thoughts are of comments about him said online, Savile replies that he doesn't have a computer or anything connected to the Internet. While not mentioned by the documentary, Savile did once say he didn't own a computer because he didn't want people to think "he was downloading child porn."

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Savile made such a name for himself with his charity projects, particularly after his efforts to rebuild Stoke Mandeville, that the rumors about his private life were frequently dismissed out of hand. When Lynn Barber mentioned the rumor that he liked little girls in her profile of him, she received a number of angry complaints for accusing "this wonderful man" of being a pedophile.
-->'''Stoke Mandeville Doctor:''' This place would not be in existence without Jimmy Savile. He has been the driving force, been the focal point, the engineer. The saint.

* WouldHurtAChild: Jimmy Savile did this for decades, using his influence to escape justice.

* {{Catchphrase}}: In addition to his famous phrases "now then, now then," "as it 'appens," and "'ow's about that then," Savile had a phrase he would utter any time someone tried to probe into his private life: "My case comes up next Thursday!"

* BelievingYourOwnLies: Savile seemed to truly believe that his charity work meant he never harmed anyone.

* BittersweetEnding: Jimmy Savile died without any sort of punishment for his lifetime of abuse against children, and many of those interviewed express regret that they weren't able to put the pieces together until after he died. However, with the reveal of his insidious crimes, many of his honors were posthumously revoked, and the investigations into him helped expose other pedophiles such as Rolf Harris and Music/GaryGlitter.

* BlatantLies: '''Everything''' Savile says to deflect scrutiny into his personal life. One particular example, Savile would repeatedly boast about his recent conquests with women. But there were never any candid pics by paparazzi, no kiss-and-tells given by these supposed women.

* BlatantLies: '''Everything''' Savile says to deflect scrutiny into his personal life.

* WouldHurtAChild: Jimmy Savile did this for decades, using his influence to escape justice.

* DueToTheDead: The Leeds funeral director discusses how he created the viewing for Savile, including a crucifix because he was Catholic and also the last cigar that he smoked.

* JekyllAndHyde: According to Ian Hislop, Savile somehow managed to coexist the image of being a national treasure and also the image of being "a deeply creepy bloke who was up to no good."

* OpenSecret: Allegations of Savile being a sexual predator follow him throughout his career, from as early as the 1960's, and his behavior is known among those at the BBC and various institutions but aren't openly confirmed until after his death.

* RefugeInAudacity: Savile was able to get away with his crimes for so long by being openly leering, inappropriate and generally creepy but in a theoretically harmless way and would often speak about his offenses in a manner that everyone assumed was simply self-depreciating humor as people assumed that if Savile actually was engaged in such acts, he'd likely try to distance himself from such rumors as much as possible. Added to this was his knowledge that anyone who did come forward would be dismissed right away due to his public image.

* ScrewTheRulesImFamous: A key reason why Savile was able to get away with his crimes. People simply couldn't believe that a man who devoted so much time to charity work could be such a horrid individual.

* SelfDeprecation: Horrifyingly used by Savile who would regularly admit to being less than trustworthy and using his positions of power for nefarious ends. It was generally assumed that this was simply good-natured joking but now in hindsight comes across as him openly flaunting his crimes because he knew he could get away with it.

* SelfDeprecation: Horrifyingly used by Savile who would often regularly admit to being less than trustworthy and using his positions of power for nefarious ends. It was generally assumed that this was simply good-natured joking but now in hindsight comes across as him openly flaunting his crimes because he knew he could get away with it.

* SelfDepreciation: Horrifyingly used by Savile who would often regularly admit to being less than trustworthy and using his positions of power for nefarious ends. It was generally assumed that this was simply good-natured joking but now in hindsight comes across as him openly flaunting his crimes because he knew he could get away with it.

* BookDumb: Savile had little formal education, having left school at fourteen like many men of his generation, but was very intelligent, being a member of Mensa, and extremely skilled at sing his intellect and charisma to build his career and get away with his crimes.

* RefugeInAudacity: Savile was able to get away with his crimes for so long by being openly leering, inappropriate and generally creepy but in a theoretically harmless way and would often speak about his offenses in a manner that everyone assumed was simply self-depreciating humor as people assumed that if Savile actually was engaged in such acts, he'd likely try to distance himself from such rumors as much as possible.

* DirtyOldMan: As his career and life neared their ends, Savile's television interviews would feature him telling crude jokes, one claiming that once he retired from show business, he would get a job in an all-girls' school. Those who heard him say such things assumed he was trying to get a cheap laugh by playing to people's discomfort, but when the allegations came pouring out a year after he died, people took Savile's "jokes" as him essentially bragging that he'd gotten away with being a pedophile for decades.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Savile was easily recognized by his jovial, chatty behavior, but it's clear that it's all a performance to hide his unpleasant nature. Notably, he maintained the performance even on occasions where normal people would have been more serious; Savile can even be heard firing off his usual bluster and bombast in a ''police interview'' of all places.

* TeacherStudentRomance: Downplayed. The ''Jim'll Fix It'' segment focuses on the wish of Steven Phillips, who wanted to take his grade schoolteacher out for a nice meal. The dinner is entirely platonic with the uncomfortable nature being Savile's involvement in "fixing" it.

* WorkingClassHero: Savile was seen as a man of the people thanks to his background as a miner, and Prince Charles asked him for advice on how to relate to the working class. This made him an unofficial advisor to the Royal Family. Margaret Thatcher also saw him as a model for her vision of society, where people lifted themselves up and then helped the less fortunate themselves.