Sunday, October 07, 2012

A can of worms

The revelations that are coming out about Jimmy Saville have opened a can of worms regarding the antics that went on at the BBC. As I said yesterday, the 60s and 70s were a different era – there was no such thing as political correctness in those days. What went on at the BBC was repeated in many places of work to a greater or lesser extent. 

Liz Kershaw, who was a young DJ at Radio 1 during the 80s describes the place as intimidating and compares it with a rugby club locker room. She says that she was routinely groped whilst on the air by one presenter.

“I would be sitting in the studio with my headphones on and my back to the studio door.  I couldn’t hear a thing . . . then I’d find these wandering hands up my jumper, fondling my breasts.I couldn’t say anything, I couldn’t even explain because  I was broadcasting to the nation.”

“When I complained, they (the managers) were incredulous and said “Don’t you like it? Are you a lesbian?”

Although Jimmy Saville had left the BBC before Miss Kershaw joined the station she says that the stories about his behaviour were rife. In particular the tales of what went on during the BBC Roadshow which toured the country each summer were scandalous. It wasn’t only Jimmy Saville though, there were also stories about the late John Peel and an underage girl.

In the PC world of today, these things would either never happen or would be dealt with straight away. That makes it less intimidating for young ladies in the workplace which must be a good thing.

No comments: