Jim'll Fix It
British television show
Jim'll Fix It is a British television series broadcast by the BBC, presented by Jimmy Savile and running for almost two decades, between May 1975 and July 1994. Devised by Bill Cotton, the show encouraged children to write 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. Famous people who appeared on the show included Muhammad Ali, Doctor Who stars Tom Baker and Colin Baker, Rolf Harris, Gary Glitter, Margaret Thatcher and Peter Cushing.
Jim'll Fix It was briefly revived in 2007 as Jim'll Fix It Strikes Again and a television special aired in 2011 following Savile's death. A year after Savile's death, allegations of child sex abuse against him arose relating to the television series.
Development
The idea for a show based on viewers' requests came from the BBC's head of light entertainment, Bill Cotton, and the idea was originally offered to Harry Secombe, but he turned it down. The show was instead hosted by Top of the Pops presenter 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, who later recalled that he had advised Cotton to choose a different presenter from Savile, saying "That was nothing to do with Jimmy Savile's moral behaviour, it had to do with his ability to communicate with young people. He did openly say: 'I hate children.'"
Format
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.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Jim'll Fix It” as british television show. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as british television show. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6193251. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1975, 1994, 2007 and 2011.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Jim'll Fix It”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Jim'll Fix It primary sources, Jim'll Fix It archive and Jim'll research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jim'll Fix It”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Jim'll Fix It” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.