Hi °C | Lo °C
THE BBC is to stop using archive footage featuring Jimmy Savile and is to axe all re-runs of classic editions of 'Top of the Pops', because of fears that they might offend viewers.
Richard Klein, the controller of BBC4, said it would not air hundreds of hours of vintage programmes because they would go "against public feeling".
His channel has been broadcasting classic editions of 'Top of the Pops' for the past two years and is currently at 1977, but Mr Klein said he may stop the series before it gets to 1978 because of the Savile sex scandal.
Similar discussions are likely to be happening throughout the BBC, he added.
Complex
"It is complex and difficult to judge," he said.
"If it is not in the public interest, or it is against public feeling, we won't do it. I don't think one can have the answer now for a question far in the future [but] it feels very wrong now. It might feel better in a year's time, it might feel better in 10 years, but I honestly don't know at the moment [whether we will ever be able to show this footage again]."
Some archive episodes featuring Savile have already been shelved after he was accused of sexually molesting scores of young women and teenagers, including some on BBC premises. Last week, the broadcaster also pulled an episode presented by Dave Lee Travis, who has been arrested over allegations of molesting women. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
Irish Independent
