Reportage

"David Mitchell, one of the stars of the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, references the tarnished BBC star [Jimmy Savile] in his memoir Back Story, just published but printed before the ITV documentary that accused Savile of sexual abuse was broadcast.

Writing about his own reputation as a "snooty swot" on TV panel game shows, Mitchell writes that you can't always judge people by appearances. "It's like Jimmy Savile and child molestation," he writes, "it rings true without being true. He in no way subverted people's stereotypical image of a child molester, any more than I do their vision of a snooty swot."

He goes on to "humorously" speculate that someone like the late actress and cosy Alan Bennett favourite Thora Hird would be more likely to get away with molesting children".

Sorry David, but the whole run of your book should have been pulped.

Wrong decision!