Jimmy savile was truly a wolf in sheep's clothing, a beloved UK entertainer, whose fan base mainly consisted of young teens (thanks to his radio work) and kids courtesy of his hit tv show 'Jim or fix it'. His crimes, when eventually revealed were therefore more shocking, because of the trust and belief his young fans had in him and the access his job offered him in terms of potential victims.
This two part Netflix documentary thankfully avoids the lurid sensationalism that has been the norm when discussing or reviewing the Seville case in the mainstream media. The first part is a a contextual almost sober look at savile's professional career pre scandal and it is the most riveting episode, juxtaposing images of an exuberant albeit eccentric entertaining the nation via his myriad media work with information that reveals that this was the amongst the most prolific times n his monstrous criminal history. Part 2 is no less devastating but more forthright and detailed when dealing with his crimes. Suspicions are aroused, alliances are made with innocent members of the UK establishment, who knew nothing of savilles dark side and who were ultimately used as smokescreen of respectability for this truly wretched man. Part 2 culminates with his death and public unveiling as a predatory monster. What this superb two part documentary does so well is explore how the public were deceived , how the signs were always there and how one man used the cult of personality as a shield to batter away accusations. Rather than focus on all the lurid details of his crimes, it looks at how his crimes were able to be committed in the first place.
This two part Netflix documentary thankfully avoids the lurid sensationalism that has been the norm when discussing or reviewing the Seville case in the mainstream media. The first part is a a contextual almost sober look at savile's professional career pre scandal and it is the most riveting episode, juxtaposing images of an exuberant albeit eccentric entertaining the nation via his myriad media work with information that reveals that this was the amongst the most prolific times n his monstrous criminal history. Part 2 is no less devastating but more forthright and detailed when dealing with his crimes. Suspicions are aroused, alliances are made with innocent members of the UK establishment, who knew nothing of savilles dark side and who were ultimately used as smokescreen of respectability for this truly wretched man. Part 2 culminates with his death and public unveiling as a predatory monster. What this superb two part documentary does so well is explore how the public were deceived , how the signs were always there and how one man used the cult of personality as a shield to batter away accusations. Rather than focus on all the lurid details of his crimes, it looks at how his crimes were able to be committed in the first place.