Do you believe the allegations that he groomed underage girls for sex and if so, do you hold accountable those in the media/BBC et al who heard rumours, had suspicions, saw evidence etc., but said nothing (probably to protect their careers)?
Personally, I always thought he was weird - even going back as far as schooldays when he was an up and coming DJ. I wouldn't have been at all surprised if all this had come out years ago and maybe it should.
I hope that all men (possibly some women) who have abused vulnerable people are shaking in their shoes. I have no sympathy for them - they cannot help their desires, but they didn't have to act on them, and their targeting of powerless victims makes them beyond pity.
Yes the Gilbert Harding interview was in the series Face to Face in which celebrities were interviewed by John Freeman. It was unusually probing for the time - Harding was reduced to tears by the subject of his mother who was, I believe, recently deceased.
Another famous interview in the series was that with Tony Hancock, who was obviously uncomfortable under the pressure of questions about his happiness or otherwise, and the money his success had, at that time brought him.
The set consisted of panels with expressionist portraits of the interviewee by Feliks Topolski.
I think I remember Gilbert Harding being interviewed on television - there was a recording of it a while ago. He appeared to be very 'depressed' and wanted to die - he seemed as if there was something that he wanted to say, but didn't. Can anyone else remember seeing that programme?
What a shocking article. I remember my parents and grandparents saying Gilbert Harding was a grumpy old so and so but he was a respected TV personality. I was nine when I realised Uncle Mac only had one eye, one leg and was in a wheelchair. In my mind's eye he had the looks of a matinee idol. I wouldn't have understood anything else. How duped we all were. What bastards!
I remember there was some allegation that Isobel Barnett was 'spying' on girls in department store changing rooms around then - extremely shocking for that era!
The article chronicles how that abusive culture has developed at the Beeb. It's interesting to compare how Isobel Barnett was berated in sensational headlines for petty shop lifting during those years, yet known paedophiles enjoyed years of protection.