Television and/as testimony in the Jimmy Savile case

Abstract

In October 2012, TV presenter Jimmy Savile was identified as a sexual predator in an ITV documentary, Exposure. Focusing on documentaries dealing with the case, this article explores the interrogation and recalibration of the television archive. Paying attention both to the use of archival footage of Savile, and televisual testimony of victim/survivors, I argue that the Savile documentaries present an unusual space where victim/survivor testimony is accumulated and ultimately privileged. In light of the 2017 sexual abuse allegations in the film industry, the Savile case offers useful lessons in representing the aftermath of abuse in and on the television screen.