Everyone’s favourite documentarian, Louis Theroux is to revisit old demons and make a film about paedophile Jimmy Saville.
Theroux had previous visited Saville as a subject in an episode of ‘When Louis Met…’ in the early 2000s. That film came before revelations of Saville’s abuses and before Saville became the centre of Operation Yewtree; the UKs largest investigation into child abuse on record.
During Operation Yewtree, over 450 cases of abuse were reported against Saville. The operation saw the arrest of many TV and radio personalities including Rolf Harris, Gary Glitter, Chris Denning and publicist Max Clifford.
In the new film, Theroux will interview the friends and family and work colleagues of Saville and investigate how he was able to get away with his crimes for nearly five decades.
After Saville’s abuses came to light, Theroux spoke out about his disappointment at failing to realise his crimes.
He said “I have grappled with, as someone who made a documentary about him, spent 10 days with him and failed to reveal the fact that he was one of the most prolific sex offenders of modern times possibly.
“I feel a sense of responsibility. I’m trying to go back and figure out how did I miss that?
‘”But there is a little bar chart where they have collated all the reported incidents of offences and do you know that [in the year] I was with him for 10 days or so, there is no victims?”.
A press release from BBC Two’s Controller Kim Shillinglaw said: “BBC Two should be part of the national conversation and this challenging subject matter is the kind I want to see on the channel. Louis Theroux is one of the country’s most talented filmmakers, and I am very pleased that he is revisiting this important – and deeply personal – subject for us, asking difficult questions about the life of Jimmy Savile and those around him and exploring the impact his crimes had on his victims.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeP78RHGLPg
