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BBC Panorama Jimmy Savile

Panorama set to lift lid on Newsnight's abandoned Jimmy Savile documentary

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

October 22, 2012 | 1 min read

An hour-long Panorama special that will air tonight, is set to claim that current BBC director general was involved in pressuring Newsnight to drop its investigation into the actions of Jimmy Savile.

The programme, Jimmy Savile — What the BBC Knew, will claim that Entwistle was more involved than previously reported, in persuading the producers of Newsnight to drop the investigation into whether or not Savile was a paedophile.

One allegation is that, with the programme scheduled to air ahead of tributes to the late DJ, Entwistle was warned that the Christmas schedule would need to be altered as a result of the Newsnight broadcast going ahead.

Entwistle has previously denied any involvement in the decision to stop the broadcast of the programme, although the BBC investigative programme will state that former Newsnight editor Peter Rippon had been pressured to drop the programme.

Emails from some of the BBC’s senior executives have also been obtained by Panorama, strengthening its claims.

BBC Panorama Jimmy Savile

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