He was idolised by the BBC, adored by royalty, knighted by the state … yet he was one of the most prolific predators in history. As a new show reveals how Jimmy Savile got away with it, Mark Lawson recalls a lifetime of encounters with him – and their most shocking confrontation
My family go to a local Catholic church where, to my wild schoolboy excitement, Leeds United players regularly attend mass. Sightings of Billy Bremner, Eddie Gray, Terry Yorath – tie-knots as wide as their trouser flares – are the real religious experience for me. Some weeks, there is a bigger buzz because of someone else who is clearly, from the way worshippers watch him go down the aisle like a bride, well known.
