Jonathan Dimbleby attacks 'witch-hunt' against BBC over Jimmy Savile scandal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/06/jonathan-dimbleby-bbc-jimmy-savile

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Jonathan Dimbleby has accused the BBC's critics of showing "disturbing relish" in their attacks on the corporation over the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal, as new allegations were made against another former BBC star.

The Radio 4 presenter said there has been a witch-hunt since allegations emerged that the late TV star abused hundreds of young girls and women, some on BBC premises.

Separately, the Reggie Perrin actor Leonard Rossiter, who died in 1984, became the latest former BBC star to be linked to sexual offences, accused of involvement in an attempted male rape at Television Centre in the late 1960s.

In an interview with the Times, Dimbleby said: "I think it's disgraceful and horribly out of proportion to hound everyone at the BBC in a way that is unwarranted and lacks perspective when the real focus should be on what Savile did wrong.

"Paedophilia is a huge national problem that no one thought about 50 years ago and is now something that concerns everyone, but this has become a witch-hunt against the BBC."

Blaming the media and politicians for getting their priorities wrong, Dimbleby said: "Organisations that have come under flak recently such as newspapers and MPs want to get their revenge. They think the BBC is too smug and holier-than-thou. But there is a disturbing relish in the way the critics have laid into the BBC, holding today's office-holders to account for what happened 30 years ago."

He said it was "highly unlikely" that his father, Richard, a distinguished BBC correspondent from the 1940s to the 1960s, would have known about the Savile abuse at the time. He said calls for George Entwistle and Lord Patten to step down as director general and BBC Trust chairman were "ridiculous".

"I don't think this is the worst disaster in the history of the BBC," Dimbleby said. "It has been through crises that go back past Suez into the 1930s. It is always under incredible pressure. However, the licence fee payers are far cooler and wiser than the hyenas in the media. I absolutely think their priorities are to find out who Savile has harmed and whether anyone else was involved and that is what the BBC must do."

The Sun reported on Saturday that Rossiter allegedly watched as three BBC staff tried to rape an 18-year-old television extra on the set of drama The Year of the Sex Olympics in 1968.

His accuser said Rossiter performed a sex act behind him as he was attacked, and accused the BBC of being a "cesspit of depravity" at the time.

On Friday the comedian Freddie Starr was released on bail for a second time after being questioned by police investigating the Savile abuse scandal. The 69-year-old from Warwickshire was held on suspicion of sexual offences before being re-bailed to a date in December.

Starr has consistently denied any involvement in the alleged abuse and last month branded Savile "despicable" and "disgusting", urging police to interview him so he could clear his name.

• This article was amended on 5 November 2012. The original said Richard Dimbleby was a BBC correspondent from the 1940s to the 1970s. He died in 1965.