This show about Sir Cliff Richard and celebs cleared of sexual abuse asks a good question: should their names have been made public? But its answers are far too shallow
Ah, 2012! Do you remember? The Olympic Games in London – that amazing opening ceremony reminding us, as the Queen jumped out of a plane with James Bond, of all that was good and right about our daft and glorious little country. And then, I think, there were some sporting events afterwards. The diamond jubilee celebrations and Prince Charles calling Her Maj “Mummy” so that we all went: “Aww!” It was even the wettest summer in 100 years, which didn’t seem like something to celebrate at the time, but, in drought-stricken retrospect looks like the planet’s last, dying gift to us.
And, it was the year of “paedo bingo” for the tabloids, as the ex-editor of the Daily Star Dawn Neesom puts it. There really was something for everyone. For 2012 was also the beginning of Operation Yewtree, the investigation led by the Metropolitan police into Jimmy Savile that rapidly expanded to include other sexual abuse cases involving celebrities. According to this documentary, by the end of it, three years later, 26 men were charged and 10 of them convicted – including high-profile names such as Gary Glitter, Rolf Harris, Dave Lee Travis and Max Clifford.
