Your letter was only the start of it, one letter and now you're a part of it,
Now you've done it, Jim has fixed for it you, and you and you.
So went the classic theme tune that introduced Jim'll Fix It, a BBC television programme, hosted by Jimmy Saville, which ran from the mid-1970s through to the early 1990s. It became a fixture of Saturday evening television viewing, often sandwiched between Dr Who and The Generation Game.
Children would write in to ex-Radio One DJ Jimmy Saville asking him to fulfil their most precious wishes, and so often he did. Not only did they get to go off and do the activity of a lifetime, but then they got to meet him and be presented with their 'Jim Fixed It For Me' badge! Jim would sit in his big chair, bang his hand on the armrest and out would pop the badge. Other times it could produce a nice cup of tea if he was feeling a bit weary from the exertions of running the marathon1, or wearing all his heavy jewellery and smoking an enormous cigar.
Invariably, if the child had been on a visit to a chocolate factory or playing cricket with the England team, the managing director of the factory or Bob Willis - great English cricketing hero - would come on to give them an extra memento of their visit - maybe a year's supply of chocolate or a signed bat and a set of whites2.
Sometimes the Fix-its were plain dull and would be entirely studio-based. Most of the time though they were damn good, especially if you were ten years old. Occasionally adults would get to have their wishes fulfilled, although strangely these never involved becoming a porn star or being given a brand new three-bedroom detached house.
After 20 years or so the format became tired and also harder to follow as the children of Thatcher's Britain grew up to expect more than being able to appear on an episode of Terry and June3.
Some of the Fix-its remembered from the show over the years include:
The scout group who ate their lunch on a roller coaster - especially the fat kid with the glasses.
The boy who got to drive in the Lotus from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.
The girl who got to press the button on the demolition box for blowing up a chimney stack.
The girl who got to design her own Christmas wrapping paper and received rolls of it from the factory. More than likely, she's still using it now!
The boy who got to appear with Colin Baker in a mini Doctor Who episode titled 'In a Fix With the Sontarans'.
The girl who designed an outfit for her doll and got to see it produced. Factory-based Fix-its were always a favourite for the programme.
The ex-chauffeur had his dream of driving a Rolls Royce fulfilled. In the meantime, Rolls Royce presented Jimmy with miniature replicas of each of his five RRs! People were so kind to him...
The two blind children got to meet their pop idols - Showaddywaddy.
1 Jimmy Saville is also famous for running the London Marathon for charity.
2 'Whites' are the all-white jumpers, trousers, shirts and studded shoes usually worn as part of the regulation cricket outfit.
3 This was a gentle sitcom about a married couple living in suburbia.
Home
