Viswa Vanapalli
After Jimmy Savile died in 2011, there was an outpouring of grief and tributes for the DJ and broadcaster. However, the news then turned to a wave of sexual abuse allegations against the media personality, with many incidents occurring on the BBC premises. An ensuing investigation led to several hundreds of survivors speaking out against Jimmy’s abuse.
Netflix’s ‘Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story’ chronicles his life and the extent of the sexual abuse in addition to featuring interviews with people who knew him. One of them is Roger Ordish, the producer of one of Jimmy’s shows on BBC. So, let’s find out more about him then, shall we?
Who is Roger Ordish?
Roger Ordish was the producer for ‘Jim’ll Fix It’ that initially aired from 1975 to 1994 and had Jimmy hosting it. The idea for the show was that children would write to Jimmy, asking him to make one of their dreams come true. Jimmy would then help with the dream and have the children over on set later. However, initially, Roger felt that the show should be hosted by someone else because of Jimmy’s open “hate” for children.
Years later, Kevin Cook, who appeared on the show in 1976, accused Jimmy of sexual abuse. Kevin, who was 9-years-old at the time, said that he was at the BBC Television Centre in London, England, when he was taken back to Jimmy’s dressing room under the pretext of receiving a Jim’ll Fix It badge. There, Kelvin claimed he was abused. Kevin was one of several hundreds of survivors, including Karin Ward and Sam Brown.
Roger initially expressed shock when the allegations were made public. However, he did say that Jimmy was known to have a “predilection for younger females.” While Roger claimed to have not seen any abuse during his time, he said, “I remember saying he should not be left alone with children, but that would apply to any presenter because the rules were a young person should always be chaperoned. It wasn’t for fear he was going to do something awful to the child, but I did think his presence was unnerving for some children. I think yes, frightening.”
The producer added that Jimmy was very secretive during the time that he knew the broadcaster. Roger also mentioned that Jimmy often complimented younger girls and said, “These are girls who are young females; they’re not children. They could have been 14 looking like 18, but they were not children in my definition of the word.”
Where is Roger Ordish Now?
In the end, Roger Ordish never thought about Jimmy being a pedophile. He said, “[He was] creepy, yes, but it never crossed my mind there was any pedophilia going on. If someone had come to me and said a specific thing had happened, a complaint about Jimmy Savile’s behavior, I would have immediately done something about it.” The BBC’s inquiry eventually decided that Roger was unaware of any criminal conduct. Years later, it seems that Roger is still based out of England and owns a production company. Apart from that, he is a content creator on YouTube.
Read More: Where is Karin Ward Now?
