Behind the Bastards – Part Three: Jimmy Savile: Britain’s Unending Nightmare

Date: April 21, 2026
Host: Brett (Robert Evans)
Guest: Courtney Kosak
Podcast: Behind the Bastards (Cool Zone Media / iHeartPodcasts)

Episode Overview

In this harrowing third installment of their multi-part series on Jimmy Savile, host Brett (Robert Evans) and guest Courtney Kosak continue to unpack the staggering extent of Savile's sexual abuse, his calculated rise to power, and the culture of complicity and silence that enabled his decades-long reign of terror in Britain. The episode focuses on the horrifying realities of Savile’s crimes against children and vulnerable adults, his relationships with the elite (including the Royal Family and Margaret Thatcher), and the systems that shielded him.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Early 1960s: Evidence and Warnings Ignored

• The episode opens with an account of a 1964 police bust of a London flat being used to pimp out underage girls, many of whom escaped from the Duncroft Approved School.
• Jimmy Savile was a “repeat visitor” at this brothel, but faced no charges; the police merely noted his presence ([03:41]).
  • Quote (Brett, 05:47):
    “They don’t go after him or anything... They’re just like, oh, Jimmy Savile’s going to this brothel for children an awful lot.”

2. How Did He Get Away With It?

• Savile manipulated police and the powerful by framing his relationships with teenagers as “protective.”
• He openly joked about the number of underage girls around him—even boasting to police chiefs about protecting their daughters from other men ([05:49-06:46]).
  • Quote (Brett, 06:46):
    “He tells the journalist this... he’s just like, yeah, you know, people get angry at me for all the underage girls I hang out around, but some of them are the children of cops.”

3. Insider Knowledge and Open Secrets

• Former industry insiders and colleagues described Savile’s behavior as known but dismissed as merely “odd,” not out of step with the music industry’s culture.
  • Quote (Roger Holt via Brett, 07:55):
    “Jimmy’s at it again. That’s how people would talk about him molesting teenagers… what made Jimmy weird is that he exclusively goes for girls that age and younger…” ([08:00])
• Savile avoided deep social bonds with other DJs, perhaps out of strategic caution.

4. Elite Connections: Royalty & Organized Abuse Networks

• Savile’s social circle included Lord Louis Mountbatten, who introduced him to the Royal Family (including Prince Charles and Prince Andrew).
  • Quote (Brett, 11:14):
    “We know that one of his close friends as early as 1966 was a member of the British Royal Family… the person who introduces Jimmy to the British royal family, Lord Louis Mountbatten.”
  • Mountbatten was himself rumored (and by the FBI, investigated) to be a pedophile ([13:04-13:30]).
• Savile participated in elite networks of child sexual abuse, as detailed in chilling testimony from his nephew, Guy Marsden. Marsden described parties attended by rich men, Savile, and children as young as six; some older teens acted as intermediaries to normalize abuse for younger victims ([15:30-21:49]).
  • Quote (Marsden via Brett, 18:55):
    “Most of the kids who were taken into rooms to be abused by adults were 6 to 10 years old. The older teens aren’t being as often molested… their purpose is to be there to normalize the situation for the kids who are the real targets.”
  • Courtney (19:13):
    “Wait, so that was my job on the Girls Gone Wild tour was just to be the girl so the other girls felt comfortable on the bus, sadly.”
• Savile was not the organizer, but a participant in organized networks of elite abuse ([22:28]).

5. BBC: Facilitator and Protector

• Despite rumors and complaints, the BBC empowered Savile, launching new shows and letting him exploit its resources to facilitate his crimes.
  • Quote (Brett, 23:19):
    “The BBC doesn’t give a fuck. He utilizes the resources of the BBC to aid him in abusing people. That’s a major part of this story.”
• Savile’s TV and radio shows provided further, easy access to vulnerable children ([23:58-24:16]).

6. Charitable Persona as Camouflage

• Savile’s high-profile charity work, including marathon walks and money raised for hospitals, further deflected scrutiny ([26:16+]).
  • He openly demanded access to underage girls as a condition for event participation:
    • Quote (Brett, 26:54):
      “Find me a blonde teenage bird who lives in a house with a drive so I can park outside so she can wake me up in the morning with tea at 8 o'clock. The organizer agreed. This is just in the press.”
• The press and public excused or outright ignored allegations due to his “good works” ([36:14]).

7. Obscene Popularity: “National Uncle”

• Savile ascended to national fame, hosting major TV shows like “Jim’ll Fix It” (1975–1994), where he made children’s “dreams come true”—and further groomed victims ([41:58-44:00]).
  • Courtney (54:58):
    “He’s kind of like Regis Philbin or something.”
  • Brett points out UK’s narrower channel selection made Savile’s omnipresence even more powerful.

8. Bald-Faced Hints and Jokes About Abuse

• Savile repeatedly joked, on-air, about having relationships with underage girls or upcoming court dates for such behavior. These “jokes” normalized and obscured his abuse ([46:44-49:44]):
  • Example (Jim’ll Fix It Clip, 46:44):
    “Give both these young ladies their Jim’ll Fix It badges. How old are you? — 12. Hello Judge.”
  • Brett notes, “...he’s just making a joke about molesting a 12-year-old and getting in trouble in court...” ([47:10])

9. Societal and Institutional Complicity

• Journalists, hospital staff, politicians, and industry insiders knew or suspected, but kept quiet—often cowed by Savile’s connections, threat of libel lawsuits, or the pressure of losing charity funding ([64:55], [74:55]).
• The public image of Savile as a benevolent oddball continually outweighed horrifying rumors.

10. Political Power: Thatcher and the Monarchy

• Savile became close with Margaret Thatcher, who viewed his charity fundraising as a way to plug growing holes in the NHS budget during her austerity regime ([57:11+]).
  • Quote (Brett, 58:57):
    “If you walk into the hospital and say, well, my taxes pay for this hospital, people are gonna be like, fuck you. But if you walk in and say, ‘You guys were gonna have to close down and I raised $10 million to keep you in business,’ they’re gonna let you do whatever you want.”
  • Thatcher persistently lobbied for Savile’s knighthood, even as other civil servants warned he might bring the system into disrepute ([71:40-73:02]).
• Savile leveraged his friendship with Thatcher and the royal family to intimidate victims and hospital staff, suggesting he could have employees fired and was above the law ([75:28-77:05]).

11. Abuse of the Most Vulnerable

• Savile’s so-called “volunteering” at hospitals, especially wards for spinal injury and psychiatric patients, gave him unfettered access to patients who were literally unable to escape or fight back ([55:49–57:11]).
  • Courtney (56:48):
    “It’s hard for them to get away. They have spinal injuries.”
• Internal investigations after his death found hundreds of victims across institutions.

12. Necrophilia and Extent of Depravity

• Savile’s abuses included necrophilia in hospital mortuaries, making macabre jokes about rings made from glass eyes of corpses ([77:05-78:22]). Even among his staggering offenses, this was a chilling aside.

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On how Savile collaborated with the elite:
  • “Savile was not just a guy who abused a lot of kids at scale, but was part of an, or several, organized networks of child abuse and exploitation.” (Brett, 16:10)
• On institutional complicity:
  • “The BBC... utilizes the resources of the BBC to aid him in abusing people. That’s a major part of this story.” (Brett, 23:19)
• On the role of charity:
  • “People leap about. Yes, they do. If he wants something because of his charitable work, right? Folks will do anything for me because of all the money I’m raising for good causes.” (Savile, via Brett, 74:55)
• On Thatcher and Savile's partnership:
  • “She is a major... He’s a major part of Thatcherism... He allows her to do a lot of the austerity shit she wants to do without seeming like she’s fucking the country as much as she is, because he’s keeping the lights on in some of these facilities.” (Brett, 73:23)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 03:41–06:46 – Early investigation, Duncroft School, and how police looked the other way
• 11:14–15:30 – Lord Mountbatten, introduction to Royal Family, shared criminal predilections
• 15:30–22:01 – Elite abuse networks, testimony from Guy Marsden
• 23:17–26:16 – The BBC, radio/TV career, and complicity
• 26:16–36:14 – Charity fundraising as a smokescreen; demands for access to girls
• 41:58–50:20 – “Jim’ll Fix It”, jokes about pedophilia in plain sight
• 55:47–57:11 – Savile’s predatory volunteering in hospitals, impact of austerity
• 57:11–69:54 – Friendship and quid pro quo with Thatcher, further expansion of influence
• 77:05–78:22 – Savile’s necrophilia and grim “glass eye” ring stories
• 79:30– End – Reflections, emotional impact, and note on the incalculable scale of the abuse

Tone & Emotional Impact

• Courtney Kosak (79:30):
  “Oh my gosh, I hate this guy.”
• Brett (79:39):
  “Yeah, this is one of the worst ones as we’ve ever done. This guy is… the devil himself.”
• The hosts are consistently horrified, angry, and incredulous at the scale and openness of Savile’s crimes, and the cowardice or complicity of those around him.
• Courtney repeatedly asks for moments to recover emotionally; Brett describes crying during the research.

Conclusion

This episode is an unflinching, deeply disturbing account of Jimmy Savile’s predations and the social, political, and institutional networks that empowered him. The hosts dissect how charity, stardom, class, and the culture of silence created a perfect storm for unchecked abuse—and how Savile’s very public persona, coupled with persistent rumors, allowed him to hide “in plain sight.” As the episode ends, both hosts declare Savile “loathsome” and reflect on the incalculable damage he caused ([80:36–80:47]).

For Listeners New to the Series

This summary presents the essential facts, major themes, and most memorable details discussed in the episode. It omits the extended ad breaks and intro/outro chatter, focusing on the content and the judges’ raw, emotional analysis of one of the 20th century’s most monstrous public figures.