Jim'll Fix It is a British television series broadcast by the BBC between May 1975 and July 1994 and was devised and presented by Jimmy Savile and produced by Roger Ordish. The show encouraged children to write in a letter to Savile with a "wish" that would come true at the end of each episode, upon which the child would be granted a medal. Notable celebrity guests appearing on the show include Muhammad Ali, Tom Baker, and Peter Cushing.
The show was hosted by Savile, who would "fix it" for the wishes of several viewers (usually children) to come true each week. The producer throughout the show's run was Roger Ordish, always referred to by Savile as "Doctor Magic". The standard format was that the viewer's letter, which described their wish, would be shown on the screen and read out aloud, initially by Savile, but in later series by the viewers themselves as a voice-over. Savile would then introduce the Fix, which would either have been pre-filmed on location or take place "live" in the studio. At the end, the viewer would join Savile to be congratulated and presented with a large medal with the words "Jim Fixed It For Me" engraved on it. Occasionally, other people featured in the "Fix It" (actors from well known series, for example), might also give the viewer an extra gift somehow relating to the Fix. Savile himself played no part in the filming or recording of the "fix-its", unless specifically requested as part of the letter writer's wish. Some children apparently thought that Savile's first name was "Jim'll", so some letters shown on the programme started "Dear Jim'll".
Early series saw Savile distributing medals from a "magic chair" which concealed the medals in a variety of compartments. The "magic chair" was invented by Tony Novissimo and was built for the BBC by him at his workshops in Shepherd's Bush. The chair had first appeared on Savile's earlier Saturday night TV series, Clunk, Click. The chair was later replaced by a new computer-controlled robotic "magic chair", the brainchild of Kevin Warwick, built for the BBC by his team at the University of Reading. The arm for the chair was an RTX robotic arm,[1] designed by Roy Levell at Universal Machine Intelligence in Wandsworth around 1985.[1]
Internally, the BBC were concerned that the show was providing excessive product placement for corporations. Eighteen years after the show ceased airing, allegations of child sex abuse were made against Savile (who by then had died), including claims that special episodes of Jim'll Fix It were devised by Savile in order to gain access to victims.[2]
The Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, appeared in the second episode, where he tore off and handed away the frayed ends of his scarf to girls visiting the studio. Ten years later, a young Doctor Who fan, Gareth Jenkins, was able to take part in a short adventure titled A Fix with Sontarans with Colin Baker and Janet Fielding.
Veteran actor Peter Cushing wrote to the show in 1986 to ask if a variety of rose could be named after his late wife; the 'Helen Cushing Rose' was the result.
In the 1980s a young boy called Dom Lawson, who now works for Kerrang! and Metal Hammer magazines, got his wish to be Iron Maiden's tech for the day and meet the band. The incident was described in Iron Maiden's A Matter of Life and Death tour book, where Dom Lawson speaks about Iron Maiden and his history on the band.[3][4]
2007 revival (Jim'll Fix It Strikes Again)
This new series saw the return of Savile and began on 5 April 2007 on UKTV Gold, and was titled Jim'll Fix It Strikes Again. The series showed classic moments from the original shows, and attempted to 're-fix' it for some of the original participants.
2011 special
The BBC announced on 14 November 2011, following Savile's death, that the show would return for a one-time Christmas special on 26 December 2011, featuring Shane Richie as the programme's host. Only letters for 'fix-its' from children under 14 were eligible for the revived format.[5]Lewis Hamilton guest-starred in this episode, as well as Girls Aloud member Kimberley Walsh.
Theme song
The theme song was sung by voice-over artist Lynda Hayes.[6] The closing theme was sung by the group Good Looks (featuring Lavinia & Lewis Rodgers, siblings of Clodagh Rodgers) who competed in the 1982 A Song for Europe competition. Savile "fixed it" for a young viewer to perform the song with the group on an edition of the show.
Claims surfaced in 2012 that Savile sexually abused some of the children who took part in Jim'll Fix It.[7][8] Ordish said: "I didn't see anything and nothing was reported to me", but added that he knew Savile had a "predilection for younger females".[9]
Transmission guide
Series
No. of editions
Aired
1
12
31 May 1975 – 16 August 1975
2
7
21 February 1976 – 10 April 1976
3
8
1 January 1977 – 19 February 1977
4
11
7 January 1978 – 18 March 1978
5
12
30 December 1978 – 17 March 1979
6
12
29 December 1979 – 15 March 1980
7
13
26 December 1980 – 28 March 1981
8
13
2 January 1982 – 27 March 1982
9
14
25 December 1982 – 26 March 1983
10
14
25 December 1983 – 24 March 1984
11
13
29 December 1984 – 23 March 1985
12
13
11 January 1986 – 5 April 1986
13
13
3 January 1987 – 28 March 1987
14
13
2 January 1988 – 26 March 1988
15
13
7 January 1989 – 1 April 1989
16
13
6 January 1990 – 31 March 1990
17
13
19 January 1991 – 13 April 1991
18
13
4 April 1992 – 4 July 1992
19
13
10 April 1993 – 17 July 1993
20
13
2 April 1994 – 24 July 1994
Series
No. of editions
Aired
Jim'll Fix It Strikes Again
6
5 April 2007 – 10 May 2007
Specials
Title
Date
Christmas Special
24 December 1975
Bank Holiday Special
22 May 1976
Bank Holiday Special
28 August 1976
Christmas Special
24 December 1976
Bank Holiday Special
4 June 1977
Bank Holiday Special
29 August 1977
Christmas Special
26 December 1977
New Year Special
31 December 1977
Bank Holiday Special
27 May 1978
Bank Holiday Special
28 August 1978
Christmas Special
26 December 1978
Bank Holiday Special
28 May 1979
Bank Holiday Special
27 August 1979
Christmas Special
26 December 1979
Bank Holiday Special
26 May 1980
Bank Holiday Special
25 August 1980
Bank Holiday Special
25 May 1981
Bank Holiday Special
31 August 1981
Christmas Special
25 December 1981
Bank Holiday Special
31 May 1982
Bank Holiday Special
30 August 1982
Bank Holiday Special
30 May 1983
Bank Holiday Special
29 August 1983
Christmas Special
24 December 1984
10th Birthday Special
27 May 1985
Bank Holiday Special
26 August 1985
Christmas Special
24 December 1985
Bank Holiday Special
25 August 1986
Christmas Special
24 December 1986
Bank Holiday Special
25 May 1987
Bank Holiday Special
30 August 1987
Christmas Special
24 December 1987
Bank Holiday Special
28 May 1988
Christmas Special
26 December 1988
Christmas Special
26 December 1989
Sir Jim'll Fix It Special
8 July 1990
Christmas Special
26 December 1990
Christmas Special
28 December 1991
Christmas Special
28 December 1992
Christmas Special
27 December 1993
20 Years of Jim'll Fix It Special
2 January 1995
Jim Fixed It For Me
31 December 2000
Jim'll Fix It with Shane Richie
26 December 2011
Compilations
Series 2 Compilation: 17 April 1976
Series 3 Compilation: 26 February 1977
Series 4 Compilation: 25 March 1978
Series 5 Compilation: 24 March 1979
Series 6 Compilation: 22 March 1980
Children in Need Compilation: 23 November 1984
Series 13 Compilation: 27 August 1988
Series 14 Compilation: 28 August 1989
Series 15 Compilation: 25 August 1990
Series 16 Compilation: 24 August 1991
Series 17 Compilation: 29 August 1992
Series 18 Compilation: 5 September 1993
References
^ ab"Inside the UMI RTX Robot Arm" (PDF). Retrieved 23 October 2012.
^Marsden, Sam (13 November 2012). "Jimmy Savile 'Engineered' His TV Shows to Abuse children". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
^"Metal Hammer Iron Maiden – Jim'll Fix It – Dom Lawson Music Video on". Muzu.tv. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
^Jim Fixed It For Iron Maiden And Me The Guardian, 2 November 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2012
^"Jim'll Fix It returns to BBC One for Christmas special". BBC. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
^Chris Evans Breakfast Show, BBC Radio 2, broadcast 9 March 2011
^O'Mahoney, Jennifer (12 October 2012). "Jimmy Savile: BBC did nothing when director caught him in the act". The Daily Telegraph. London, England. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
^"Jimmy Savile scandal: Alleged victims' stories". BBC News. London, England: BBC. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
^"Savile producer: "I knew nothing"". ITV News. London England: ITV. 17 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
January 30, 2023
this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, march, 2012, learn, when, r. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Jim ll Fix It news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2012 Learn how and when to remove this template message Jim ll Fix It is a British television series broadcast by the BBC between May 1975 and July 1994 and was devised and presented by Jimmy Savile and produced by Roger Ordish The show encouraged children to write in a letter to Savile with a wish that would come true at the end of each episode upon which the child would be granted a medal Notable celebrity guests appearing on the show include Muhammad Ali Tom Baker and Peter Cushing Jim ll Fix It1986 series titlesCreated byRoger OrdishJimmy SavileStarringJimmy Savile 1975 1994 1995 2007 Shane Richie 2011 Country of originUnited KingdomNo of series20 1 revival No of episodes286ProductionProduction locationBBC Television CentreRunning time35 min ReleaseOriginal networkBBC One UKTV Gold 2007 revival Original release31 May 1975 1975 05 31 24 July 1994 1994 07 24 Jim ll Fix It was briefly revived in 2007 as Jim ll Fix It Strikes Again and later had a television special air in 2011 Shortly after Savile s death in 2011 allegations of child sex abuse against Savile arose relating to the television series Contents 1 Format 2 Notable Fix its 3 2007 revival Jim ll Fix It Strikes Again 4 2011 special 5 Theme song 6 Sexual abuse scandal 7 Transmission guide 7 1 Specials 7 2 Compilations 8 ReferencesFormatThe show was hosted by Savile who would fix it for the wishes of several viewers usually children to come true each week The producer throughout the show s run was Roger Ordish always referred to by Savile as Doctor Magic The standard format was that the viewer s letter which described their wish would be shown on the screen and read out aloud initially by Savile but in later series by the viewers themselves as a voice over Savile would then introduce the Fix which would either have been pre filmed on location or take place live in the studio At the end the viewer would join Savile to be congratulated and presented with a large medal with the words Jim Fixed It For Me engraved on it Occasionally other people featured in the Fix It actors from well known series for example might also give the viewer an extra gift somehow relating to the Fix Savile himself played no part in the filming or recording of the fix its unless specifically requested as part of the letter writer s wish Some children apparently thought that Savile s first name was Jim ll so some letters shown on the programme started Dear Jim ll Early series saw Savile distributing medals from a magic chair which concealed the medals in a variety of compartments The magic chair was invented by Tony Novissimo and was built for the BBC by him at his workshops in Shepherd s Bush The chair had first appeared on Savile s earlier Saturday night TV series Clunk Click The chair was later replaced by a new computer controlled robotic magic chair the brainchild of Kevin Warwick built for the BBC by his team at the University of Reading The arm for the chair was an RTX robotic arm 1 designed by Roy Levell at Universal Machine Intelligence in Wandsworth around 1985 1 Internally the BBC were concerned that the show was providing excessive product placement for corporations Eighteen years after the show ceased airing allegations of child sex abuse were made against Savile who by then had died including claims that special episodes of Jim ll Fix It were devised by Savile in order to gain access to victims 2 Notable Fix its In 1976 Muhammad Ali appeared in a fix The Fourth Doctor Tom Baker appeared in the second episode where he tore off and handed away the frayed ends of his scarf to girls visiting the studio Ten years later a young Doctor Who fan Gareth Jenkins was able to take part in a short adventure titled A Fix with Sontarans with Colin Baker and Janet Fielding Veteran actor Peter Cushing wrote to the show in 1986 to ask if a variety of rose could be named after his late wife the Helen Cushing Rose was the result In the 1980s a young boy called Dom Lawson who now works for Kerrang and Metal Hammer magazines got his wish to be Iron Maiden s tech for the day and meet the band The incident was described in Iron Maiden s A Matter of Life and Death tour book where Dom Lawson speaks about Iron Maiden and his history on the band 3 4 2007 revival Jim ll Fix It Strikes Again This new series saw the return of Savile and began on 5 April 2007 on UKTV Gold and was titled Jim ll Fix It Strikes Again The series showed classic moments from the original shows and attempted to re fix it for some of the original participants 2011 specialThe BBC announced on 14 November 2011 following Savile s death that the show would return for a one time Christmas special on 26 December 2011 featuring Shane Richie as the programme s host Only letters for fix its from children under 14 were eligible for the revived format 5 Lewis Hamilton guest starred in this episode as well as Girls Aloud member Kimberley Walsh Theme songThe theme song was sung by voice over artist Lynda Hayes 6 The closing theme was sung by the group Good Looks featuring Lavinia amp Lewis Rodgers siblings of Clodagh Rodgers who competed in the 1982 A Song for Europe competition Savile fixed it for a young viewer to perform the song with the group on an edition of the show Sexual abuse scandalMain article Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal Claims surfaced in 2012 that Savile sexually abused some of the children who took part in Jim ll Fix It 7 8 Ordish said I didn t see anything and nothing was reported to me but added that he knew Savile had a predilection for younger females 9 Transmission guideSeries No of editions Aired1 12 31 May 1975 16 August 19752 7 21 February 1976 10 April 19763 8 1 January 1977 19 February 19774 11 7 January 1978 18 March 19785 12 30 December 1978 17 March 19796 12 29 December 1979 15 March 19807 13 26 December 1980 28 March 19818 13 2 January 1982 27 March 19829 14 25 December 1982 26 March 198310 14 25 December 1983 24 March 198411 13 29 December 1984 23 March 198512 13 11 January 1986 5 April 198613 13 3 January 1987 28 March 198714 13 2 January 1988 26 March 198815 13 7 January 1989 1 April 198916 13 6 January 1990 31 March 199017 13 19 January 1991 13 April 199118 13 4 April 1992 4 July 199219 13 10 April 1993 17 July 199320 13 2 April 1994 24 July 1994Series No of editions AiredJim ll Fix It Strikes Again 6 5 April 2007 10 May 2007Specials Title DateChristmas Special 24 December 1975Bank Holiday Special 22 May 1976Bank Holiday Special 28 August 1976Christmas Special 24 December 1976Bank Holiday Special 4 June 1977Bank Holiday Special 29 August 1977Christmas Special 26 December 1977New Year Special 31 December 1977Bank Holiday Special 27 May 1978Bank Holiday Special 28 August 1978Christmas Special 26 December 1978Bank Holiday Special 28 May 1979Bank Holiday Special 27 August 1979Christmas Special 26 December 1979Bank Holiday Special 26 May 1980Bank Holiday Special 25 August 1980Bank Holiday Special 25 May 1981Bank Holiday Special 31 August 1981Christmas Special 25 December 1981Bank Holiday Special 31 May 1982Bank Holiday Special 30 August 1982Bank Holiday Special 30 May 1983Bank Holiday Special 29 August 1983Christmas Special 24 December 198410th Birthday Special 27 May 1985Bank Holiday Special 26 August 1985Christmas Special 24 December 1985Bank Holiday Special 25 August 1986Christmas Special 24 December 1986Bank Holiday Special 25 May 1987Bank Holiday Special 30 August 1987Christmas Special 24 December 1987Bank Holiday Special 28 May 1988Christmas Special 26 December 1988Christmas Special 26 December 1989Sir Jim ll Fix It Special 8 July 1990Christmas Special 26 December 1990Christmas Special 28 December 1991Christmas Special 28 December 1992Christmas Special 27 December 199320 Years of Jim ll Fix It Special 2 January 1995Jim Fixed It For Me 31 December 2000Jim ll Fix It with Shane Richie 26 December 2011Compilations Series 2 Compilation 17 April 1976 Series 3 Compilation 26 February 1977 Series 4 Compilation 25 March 1978 Series 5 Compilation 24 March 1979 Series 6 Compilation 22 March 1980 Children in Need Compilation 23 November 1984 Series 13 Compilation 27 August 1988 Series 14 Compilation 28 August 1989 Series 15 Compilation 25 August 1990 Series 16 Compilation 24 August 1991 Series 17 Compilation 29 August 1992 Series 18 Compilation 5 September 1993References a b Inside the UMI RTX Robot Arm PDF Retrieved 23 October 2012 Marsden Sam 13 November 2012 Jimmy Savile Engineered His TV Shows to Abuse children The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 23 February 2014 Metal Hammer Iron Maiden Jim ll Fix It Dom Lawson Music Video on Muzu tv Retrieved 23 March 2012 Jim Fixed It For Iron Maiden And Me The Guardian 2 November 2011 Retrieved 1 November 2012 Jim ll Fix It returns to BBC One for Christmas special BBC 15 November 2011 Retrieved 23 March 2012 Chris Evans Breakfast Show BBC Radio 2 broadcast 9 March 2011 O Mahoney Jennifer 12 October 2012 Jimmy Savile BBC did nothing when director caught him in the act The Daily Telegraph London England Retrieved 24 October 2012 Jimmy Savile scandal Alleged victims stories BBC News London England BBC 24 October 2012 Retrieved 24 October 2012 Savile producer I knew nothing ITV News London England ITV 17 October 2012 Retrieved 24 October 2012 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jim 27ll Fix It amp oldid 1116664464, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
