| Jim'll Fix It | |
|---|---|
| Format | Entertainment |
| Created by | Roger Ordish Jimmy Savile |
| Starring | Jimmy Savile (1975–1994) Shane Richie (2011) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 20 1 (revival) |
| No. of episodes | 286 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 35 min. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One UKTV Gold (2007 revival) |
| Original run | 31 May 1975 – 24 July 1994 |
Jim'll Fix It was a long-running British television show, broadcast by the BBC between 1975 and 1994. It was presented by the late Jimmy Savile. It was produced by Roger Ordish, who also worked on other BBC shows, including A Bit of Fry & Laurie. When Savile was knighted, the accompanying book for the 1991 series of the comedy sketch show carried a statement that in future Jim'll Fix It would be known as: Sir James will bring his influence to bear in arranging matters to your satisfaction.[1]
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The show debuted on 31 May 1975, and ran until July 1994, in the Saturday teatime slot. It was devised and hosted by the late Jimmy 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 by the letter's writer, although initially Savile himself read the letters. This would be followed with a quick chat between Jimmy and the letter writer, where they would discuss the wish. The wish would then be enacted (either live in the studio or shown in a pre-recorded format, which usually consisted of a segment recorded on film), and finally the viewer would be presented with a medal which had 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 Jim's first name was "Jim'll", so some letters shown on the programme started "Dear Jim'll".
Early series saw Jim 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 Shepherds 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.
Internally, the BBC were concerned that the show was providing excessive product placement for corporations. Producer Roger Ordish admitted in a televised interview in 2000 that the 'fix-its' generally started with an offer from a company or organization to provide the 'wish' and then the production team would look for a letter from a viewer to match. He cited examples being offers from singers & groups looking to showcase a new single or airlines such as British Airways providing aircraft and tickets for viewers wishing to visit places. The BBC also used the show to promote other BBC productions.[2]
The theme tune song was sung by voice-over artist Lynda Hayes.[3] 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. Jim 'fixed it' for a young viewer to perform the song with the group on an edition of the show.
A group of Cub Scouts from the 2nd Sutton St Mary’s troop, who wrote to the programme asking to have a meal in an unusual place. The show opted to send them, complete with packed lunch, to ride the Revolution rollercoaster at Pleasure Beach Blackpool — the result, thanks to the force of gravity and momentum, being lots of little faces full of food and drink. This was repeated with the same former Cubs in 2007 for Jim'll Fix It Strikes Again, with similar results.
A young Doctor Who fan, Gareth Jenkins, was able to take part in a short adventure titled A Fix with Sontarans with Colin Baker. The fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, also appeared in one episode, where he tore off and handed away the frayed ends of his scarf to girls visiting the studio.
Adam and the Ants allowed one young viewer to become their third drummer for an in studio performance of Kings Of The Wild Frontier.
A young girl drove a London Bus on the Chiswick Skid-Pan.
A boy travelled from his home to Paris with his family to paint a piece of the Eiffel Tower, trying to prove his teachers wrong.
Ian Harold Brown from Southampton wrote to the show asking to visit the factory where Borg-Warner torque converters were made. Jim fixed it for him and allowed him to appear onstage with The Piltdown Men where they performed "Piltdown Rides Again" as Ian disassembled the torque converter using a Dremel hand tool.
Veteran movie actor Peter Cushing wrote to the show in 1986 to ask if a variety of rose could be named after his late wife.
In the 1980s a young girl wrote to ask if she could "accidentally" drop and smash a seemingly-valuable vase on an edition of Antiques Roadshow. This was broadcast as part of a regular edition of Antiques Roadshow (as well as in the Jim'll Fix It episode), with many of the crowd at the Roadshow looking on, horrified, until the antiques expert explained the ruse.
The swedish pop group, ABBA, appeared on a pre-recorded segment for the show in 1979, when Claire Lindeman and Clare Doggett got to sing "Thank You For The Music" with them in a London recording studio. The girls later complained that while they had sung live, ABBA had not sung at all, but mimed to the track, and they were disappointed to be given copies of the 1976 Greatest Hits album, which was almost three years old at the time the show was recorded.
On the same programme, Savile took part in a Christmas 'fix-it' when he took a young boy to the Holy Land and Jerusalem to visit some of the places made famous by the biblical Christmas story.
In the 1980s a young boy called Dom Lawson, who now works for Kerrang and Metal Hammer magazine, got his wish to be Iron Maiden's tech for the day. This came true and he also met the band. This was found out 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. [4]
In Spring 1976 Muhammed Ali was on a whirlwind World tour to promote his book, "The Greatest". Landing in London, catching the BBC by surprise, and with no time to bring the thousands of hopeful letter writers to a meeting with the legend, the TV company nipped next door "borrowing" three schoolboy boxers from the school (Christopher Wren). Vince, Andly and Nigel were whisked off to meet the great Ali.
A young schoolboy asked Jim if he could dance with male semi-naked troupe The Chippendales. The wish was granted, with the young boy 'stripping' to his bare chest with the dancers, leading to a very high number of complaints from viewers. Savile personally responded to the criticism in BBC's The Radio Times Magazine, pointing out to the complainants that there was nothing untoward about the performance or in the intention of the child taking part and that anything construed inappropriate was in the minds of the adults watching.
In October 2006 UKTV announced that they were to revive Jim'll Fix It with a new series provisionally called Jim'll Fix It: Now and Then.[5]
This new series saw the return of Sir Jim (complete with customary jewellery, garish tracksuits and big red chair), and began on 5 April 2007 on UKTV Gold and was actually titled Jim'll Fix It Strikes Again. The series set out to show classic moments from the original shows, 're-fix' it for some of the original participants, and make dreams come true for a number of new people.
In the first episode, which was co-presented by Mel Giedroyc, the infamous 'fix-it' was recreated whereby a group of Cub Scouts attempted to consume food and drink whilst travelling on a roller coaster. The show went back to Pleasure Beach Blackpool and once again rode the Irn Bru Revolution. It featured a number of the original lads — now grown men some 26 years older — who donned woggles and caps and made more of a mess than in the 1980s. Towards the end, Go West performed their top five hit We Close Our Eyes.[6]
The BBC announced on November 14, 2011, that following Savile's recent death, the show returned for a one-off Christmas special on 26 December 2011, featuring Shane Ritchie as the programme's host. Only letters for 'fix-its' from children under 14 were eligible for the revived format.[7] Lewis Hamilton guest starred in this episode.