Dame Janet Smith report into Jimmy Savile abuse published
Dame Linda Dobbs report into Stuart Hall abuse also published
Savile sexually assaulted 72 victims, the youngest eight years of age; Stuart had 21 victims, the youngest aged 10
DJ Tony Blackburn 'sacked' over Savile inquiry
That's all from today's special live page, charting reaction to Dame Janet Smith's report and the "parting of ways" with DJ Tony Blackburn.
We'll be back tomorrow at the normal time, bringing you all the news from the world of art and entertainment.
See you then.
The World at One
BBC Radio 4
The BBC's Director General was interviewed by BBC Radio 4's Martha Kearney on Thursday's World At One.
Lord Hall said the BBC "will do everything we can to make sure that this never happens again”.
Martha Kearney interviews BBC Director General Lord Hall as Savile report is published
Speaking to Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2, broadcaster Nina Myskow called it a "black day" for the BBC.
Quote MessageI'm absolutely shocked, I think this is a very black day for the BBC and a black day for Tony Hall.
Quote MessageIt should be a black day for the BBC because of the revelations about the whole Savile episode, but in fact that's been buried very cleverly by the BBC as usual by sacking Tony Blackburn.
Myskow insisted she was "not a friend of Tony's" adding, "but every time I have met him I have found him to be rather sort of charming, sweet, gentlemanly and a bit earnest... I mean the only crime he's been capable of, as far as I'm concerned, is duff jokes and dodgy hair."
Image source, PATony Blackburn has issued a further statement this afternoon.
Quote MessageI have listened to what has been said by Tony Hall and others today in connection with the publication of the Dame Janet Smith Report. I repeat what I told Dame Janet when I voluntary gave evidence to assist her and the BBC. What I said in my earlier statement regarding the alleged meetings with Brian Neill QC and Bill Cotton Junior 45 years ago still stands.
Quote MessageGiven Dame Janet Smith's concerns of a culture of fear in coming forward at the BBC, the fact that I have been scapegoated for giving my honest account and best recollections of those events 45 years ago - which I felt was a whitewash - what whistleblower at the BBC would ever come forward when they see the way they have hung me out to dry.
Quote MessageSadly today's news agenda should have been about the survivors of abuse carried out within the BBC but, by sacking me, they have managed to take the focus off those who have suffered so much. My lawyers are now considering all statements made by the BBC about me today and we will be taking action.
Economics editor of Channel 4 News Paul Mason, who used to work at the BBC, gave this response to the report.
Esther Rantzen, broadcaster and Childline founder, said she had heard rumours about Savile at the beginning of her BBC career.
Speaking to the BBC's Nick Higham, she said:
Quote MessageI took my own children to Jim'll Fix It, I would never have put them at risk if I'd thought there was a serious danger there. Right at the beginning of my career as a researcher I heard a rumour from someone who worked in Fleet Street... but, as Dame Janet said, there is a real difference between rumour and gossip, and evidence. The problem was that throughout my career at the BBC, I never heard anyone disclosing the fact that Jimmy had abused them.
Tony Hall says Dame Janet Smith rejected evidence Tony Blackburn provided to the inquiry
Kevin Cook, who says he was sexually abused by Savile when he was nine years old, says he was told by the presenter he would not be believed if he told anyone.
Mr Cook waived his right to anonymity to speak to the BBC's Joanna Gosling.
David Sillito
Media correspondent
Back in 1980, a nine-year-old boy called Dan Davies went to see Jimmy Savile at a recording of Jim'll Fix It.
Watching his demeanour on set between takes left him, he says, feeling disturbed.
"He seemed cold, odd. I just felt uncomfortable."
As an adult, Mr Davies interviewed Savile again and again. He knew there was something dark about him but he did not know what.
Thirty-five years after that first encounter, he published what is the most comprehensive account of Savile's life and crimes. And yet he had been as surprised as anyone when the flood of revelations about him emerged two years before.
How did Savile get away with it?
The Government has responded to the report, with the Leader of the Commons Chris Grayling telling MPs :
Quote MessageWhat took place was absolutely shocking. Lessons need to be learned, not just in the BBC, but in institutions across this country. It is inexplicable to our generation today how these things could have been let pass over those years ago. But we must not think it couldn't happen today, and we must make sure it never happens today.
A lawyer who is representing 168 victims of Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall said they will feel let down by the Dame Janet Smith report and will see it as "an expensive whitewash".
Liz Dux, from Slater and Gordon, said:
Quote MessageAll the Savile and Hall victims have ever wanted from this report is truth and accountability. Despite millions having been spent on the inquiry, my clients will feel let down that the truth has still not been unearthed and many will feel it is nothing more than an expensive whitewash.
Quote MessageIt is unfortunate that Dame Janet had no power to compel senior managers to give evidence, giving the impression that the whole picture of who knew what has not been revealed. With 117 witnesses giving evidence of concerns and rumours, it's implausible to suggest that this did not reach the upper echelons of the BBC.
Quote MessageWhat's apparent is that the senior managers only had to scratch at the very surface and a lot of Savile's offending would have been revealed. There is real concern that the culture of fear and oppression referred to might have prevented more from speaking out more candidly and still exists today.
NSPCC chief executive, Peter Wanless, has issued a statement about Dame Janet Smith's report in to Jimmy Savile and the BBC.
Quote MessageThis report demonstrates just how disturbingly easy at the time it was for Savile to get away, unchallenged, with despicable acts against children at the BBC. The impact on his victims has been profound – as we have already witnessed from calls to our helpline.
Quote MessageIt is tragic that a culture existed at the BBC in which Savile became too powerful to confront, so allowing him to use his celebrity status to abuse at will, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake.
Quote MessageThe BBC must ensure staff can easily raise concerns and that robust safeguarding procedures are in place to effectively act on these so that a scandal of this kind, never mind this magnitude, is never repeated.
His old I'm A Celebrity... camp-mate Christine Hamilton is among those who have tweeted in support of Tony Blackburn.
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Tony Blackburn has repeatedly stated he never witnessed Savile "doing anything wrong".
In a 2014 interview with Piers Morgan, Blackburn called it a "sin" that Savile would not pay for his crimes.
Blackburn, who worked with Savile at BBC Radio 1 for many years, said none of his colleagues "liked him particularly", adding: "He was an oddball. I didn't like him as a person.
"It was always this silly Jimmy Savile. He never talked to you in a normal way.
"There were always rumours about him but I never saw him do anything wrong. I didn't realise how bad he was."
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The political editor of Newsnight has tweeted the section of the report that explains why Tony Blackburn was fired.
Asked about the dropping of Tony Blackburn for failing to fully co-operate with the inquiry, Lord Hall clearly stated it was "a judgement about the standards of behaviour of everyone working at the BBC now".
He said it was the "responsibility on everybody who took part [in the report] … to cooperate fully".
"As Dame Janet has said, she has rejected [Blackburn’s] evidence and she has explained very clearly why. I have to take that extremely seriously."
"Tony Blackburn fell short of the standards of evidence that such an inquiry demanded."
Responding to questions from the press about Tony Blackburn, Dame Janet clarified the DJ had been referred to in her documentation as 'A7'.
Dame Janet said she questioned Mr Blackburn about an interview he was said to have participated in 1971 with a senior BBC executive and a lawyer.
"A7 told me that no such conversations had taken place, [he said] this was not a lapse of memory on his part; the interview had not taken place."
Dame Janet rejected his evidence.
She added: "I was looking at how the BBC dealt with a complaint of a sexual nature."
"His identity was not a matter of interest to me - my interest was about how the BBC handled the complaint."
Lord Hall has confirmed the BBC has "parted company" with DJ Tony Blackburn in connection with Dame Janet's report.
Hall was jailed in 2013 for sex assaults and had his sentence increased the following year after he was convicted of further offences. Dame Janet's report said this about him: