Behind the Bastards – Part Four: Jimmy Savile: Britain's Unending Nightmare

Date: April 23, 2026
Host: Robert Evans
Co-hosts: Brett, Courtney Kosak

Episode Overview

In the fourth and final installment examining the horrifying legacy of Jimmy Savile, Robert Evans and his co-hosts dig into the depths of institutional complicity that enabled Savile to remain one of Britain's most prolific and protected serial abusers. The episode spotlights Savile's abuse at Duncroft Approved School for Girls, his manipulation of the British establishment—including the BBC, NHS, and Royal Family—and the culture of silence surrounding his crimes. The hosts reflect on how class, the media, and outdated libel laws perpetuated cycles of abuse, and highlight the deep scars Savile left on both his victims and British society.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Duncroft Approved School & Systemic Abuse ([04:09])

• Duncroft Overview: An "experimental facility" for girls from "good families," Duncroft was supposed to reform "intelligent" but "troubled" girls, often those who’d suffered sexual abuse, run away, or embarrassed wealthy parents.
• Margaret Jones' Role: The headmistress, Margaret Jones, was "enamoured" with Savile, allowing him frequent overnight stays and unsupervised outings with the girls.
• Access to Victims: Savile's role as a "celebrity volunteer" allowed him to groom and abuse vulnerable girls in an environment starved of attention.
• Notable Quote:
  Brett: “He was allowed to sleep overnight at Duncroft with some regularity… even allowed to take girls off campus in his car for day trips.” ([06:43])

2. Institutional Enablers: The BBC, NHS, and Libel Laws ([13:22], [15:05])

• BBC’s Complicity: Savile brought dozens, possibly hundreds, of children he abused onto BBC premises. The BBC hierarchy and culture of fear dissuaded staff from reporting on his behaviour.
• Libel Laws: UK’s strict libel legislation both empowered Savile to threaten legal action and fostered a chilling effect in media reporting.
• Royal and Political Connections: Savile's ties to Margaret Thatcher and the Royal Family cemented his untouchable status.
• Notable Quote:
  Robert: “Jimmy Savile’s abuse of hundreds and hundreds of children and adults would not have been possible without the eager and ready assistance of the British Broadcasting Corporation.” ([13:22])

3. Manipulation Tactics & Myth-Building ([21:41], [23:56], [53:27])

• Public Persona: Savile masked his abuse by framing himself as an eccentric and claiming to "hate children" in interviews—providing cover for his predation.
• Institutional Grooming: By fulfilling institutions’ needs (fundraising, PR), Savile created "debts of gratitude," grooming not just victims, but staff and executives.
• Notable Quote:
  Savile (to Louis Theroux, recounted by Brett): “We live in a very funny world… it’s easier for me as a single man to say I don’t like children, because that puts a lot of salacious tabloid people off the hunt.” ([24:33])

4. Power & Immunity: Honors, the NHS, and the Royal Family ([28:44], [34:09], [42:10])

• Knighthoods: Despite public unease, Thatcher lobbied persistently for Savile’s knighthood, which he parlayed into further social capital. He also received a papal knighthood.
• Control at Broadmoor: Thatcher’s government made Savile head of a task force at Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital, giving him an apartment in the women’s wing—effectively granting unfettered access to victims.
• Notable Quote:
  Brett: “Broadmoor gives him a suite of rooms permanently that he is allowed to occupy and live in as a private apartment in the women’s wing of the hospital.” ([37:59])

5. Surrounded by Power, Shielded from Consequences ([48:48], [62:51])

• Royal "Counselor": Savile acted as a "fixer" and "marriage counselor" for Princes Charles and Diana, and advised on public relations.
• Police Connections: Savile maintained friendships and regular meetings with senior police, further protecting himself from investigation.
• Party Supplyer Allegations: Speculation arose that Savile provided girls for parties attended by the British elite. The hosts raise the troubling, unproven but likely possibility that Savile and his access to hospitals directly fueled elite sex abuse.
• Notable Quote:
  Brett (on party girls): “We know he’s taking girls that he is raping and taking them to secondary and tertiary locations from hospitals and from, like, the approved school… Is it so crazy to think that maybe he used his access to provide girls to parties for his rich and famous friends?” ([62:03])

6. The Aftermath: Late, Partial Reckoning ([67:07], [73:23])

• Delayed Justice: Only after Savile’s death in 2011 did the full scope of his crimes emerge. By 2012, more than 450 victims had come forward; further investigations confirmed at least 1,000 victims on BBC property alone.
• Institutional Failure: Dame Janet Smith’s report concluded that BBC executives were aware of and ignored Savile’s abuse.
• Notable Quotes:
  Brett: “We know he rapes and molests at least a thousand boys and girls in BBC changing rooms and studios… that’s just a thousand victims in BBC property.” ([73:23])
  Robert: “All of the survivors of this man, which there were thousands… did not get to have any sort of justice while he was alive. Nobody believed them. The libel laws fucked them over. The BBC is despicable. Royal family… it’s just unfathomably gross.” ([76:45])

7. Final Reflections and a Modicum of Comeuppance ([74:21])

• Brief Justice: The only moment of satisfaction comes from wrestler Adrian Street recounting how he brutally dispatched Savile in a wrestling match in the 1970s, after refusing to throw the fight for Savile’s PR.
• Hosts' Emotional Response: The hosts repeatedly express horror and exhaustion, underscoring the uniquely monstrous scope of Savile’s predation and the number of institutional actors who enabled him.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Duncroft’s purpose:
  “Many of these patients were eager for the opportunity to escape because… it’s not a fun place to be… constant chores are seen as like a therapeutic aid.” – Brett ([06:44])
• On Savile’s "altruism":
  “He identified the specific needs of an institution such as fundraising… to create a debt of gratitude. This symbolic power then allowed him to operate in a clinical vacuum.” – Brett ([57:58])
• On institutional grooming:
  “He was constantly probing for the point where 'Jimmy being Jimmy' ended and 'Sir Jimmy Savile' began.” – Quoting Investigative Psychiatry ([57:58])
• On the BBC & Royal honors:
  “Getting this knighthood is great. It’s gotta make it a lot easier for me to commit sex crimes without getting noted. Thanks, the Queen. Off I go. He just says that.” – Brett ([42:10])
• On victim count:
  “I want to really highlight something. We know he rapes and molests at least a thousand boys and girls in BBC changing rooms and studios… that’s just a thousand victims in BBC property.” – Brett ([73:23])
• On Savile’s only punishment:
  “I kicked his legs from underneath him… then I picked him up by his hair, held him upside down and dropped him on his skull… I absolutely crucified the bloke.” – Adrian Street, via Brett ([74:21])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [04:09] – Duncroft School background and Savile’s unchecked access
• [13:22] – BBC’s hierarchy, culture of fear, and complicity
• [15:05] – Media cowardice and libel law consequences
• [28:44] – Thatcher’s campaign for Savile’s knighthood
• [34:09] – Savile’s appointment to run Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital
• [42:10] – Receiving knighthoods from both the Queen and the Pope
• [53:27] – Institutional grooming and calculated oddness
• [62:51] – Royal family connections: parties, gifts, and Savile as fixer
• [67:07] – Louis Theroux’s attempts to expose Savile and personal regret
• [73:23] – Scope of sexual abuse, institutional failure, and victim count
• [74:21] – Adrian Street’s wrestling fight: the only physical comeuppance

Tone & Language

The hosts maintain their trademark mix of exhausted outrage, dark humor, and blunt condemnation. They oscillate between disbelief, gallows humor, and calls for accountability, honoring the stories of victims while eviscerating the structures that protected Savile.

Conclusion

This episode serves as a damning indictment not just of Savile himself, but of the deference, cowardice, and corruption at the core of British institutions—media, law enforcement, and the political elite. With a mix of horror and bitter laughter, the hosts demand that the legacies of those who enabled Savile, as well as systemic reforms, not be forgotten as Britain reckons with this unending nightmare.