The Reckoning

4 part docu/drama on the life and crimes of one Jimmy Savile - the notorious British DJ, TV 'n radio presenter, showbiz personality, charity fund raiser supremo and serial paedophile with hundreds of victims spanning over half a century.

Steve Coogan plays the title role of Savile and is utterly brilliant - if that's the right word - in capturing the normality juxtaposed with the utter horror of a man who, for a long time, fooled a nation and manipulated those in positions of authority into turning a blind eye to his crimes. Within a few minutes of viewing this you are watching Savile and not Coogan playing Savile.

It's a tough watch I have to say and one wonders what quite was the purpose in bringing this back to screen? That said it makes for compelling viewing but not something I'd ever want to watch again. The various interviews with a handful of Savile's victims in each episode are heartbreaking...

The Reckoning. BBC 2023 docu drama on the life of Jimmy Savile. Steve Coogan plays Saville over a 40+ years and he is frighteningly real. His recreation is stomach turning and he gets the mannerisms perfectly. The main point of the drama is to highlight how Savile was able to get away with years of sexual abuse under the noses of the establishment? Because he made friends with various establishment figures who covered for him and protected him. That element of the story will never be known. He had friends in very high places. Mrs Thatcher, Prince Charles/ Prince Philip. If they didn't know what he was getting up to I'd be very surprised. Guilt by association.

The bravery of all the survivors of his abuse can not be praised enough, credit to the writers and producers of the series, although he is utterly repulsive at the same time it is utterly compelling. 8/10 although I'd never want to watch it again Coogan is stunning.

Growing up in 70s every kids will have their own thoughts and stories of Saville. Mine is seeing Saville and Peter Jaconelli parade down the sea front at Scarborough as if they owned it. Jaconelli in his mayor's chain and Saville in a gold track suit.

Their bling glistening and rattling as they walked by. Not a very exciting story but even then in the mid 90s their celebrity status gave them a certain kudos even though they look outlandish and just weird. Ps nice mention of Green Tambourine by the Lemon Pipers pop fans.

Reviewing the acting in The Reckoning is easy - Steve Coogan is excellent. But reviewing the presentation of the subject matter is not so straightforward.

As someone born in the 60's, I grew up in what might be called, "The Savile Era" and have always been slightly irritated by the notion that Savile was somehow hiding in plain sight and that what happened was another manifestation of 'The Emperor's New Clothes' when, in actual fact, pretty much everyone that I grew up with considered him a weirdo many, many years before anything appeared in the newspapers. There were, in fact, kids up and down the land who were pointing and making fun of him on a daily basis right from the get-go. If anyone was starstruck by Savile, and is mainly to blame, it is the adults and not the children.

I have not read the book by Dan Davies, but assume that it must cover a lot more than was shown in this docudrama. To be honest, I was expecting more disclosures in this series than I already knew, but there didn't seem to be anything else to add.

There is no mention at all on his relationship with his father, and you'd be forgiven for thinking that Savile was an only child as his six older siblings are suspicious by their absence and barely get a mention - did they really all abandon their mother?

The BBC's/ITV's completely unnecessary decision to change the real suicide of (Samantha) Claire McAlpine into the story of an entirely fictional British Asian girl called Sara is not only disrespectful, but utterly unforgiveable. As a viewer, you know that the bar has been set pretty low when the writers have to resort to inventing conversations that took place in a church confessional.

Savile himself reveals nothing, despite the claims made in the final episode that he was going to - and then he died (see review by DC1977 for the veracity of this claim).

Savile comes across not as some mastermind groomer but as a chancer: a pathetic, hapless groper with a sense of misguided entitlement. There were lots like him around in the 70's & 80's and, I'm sure, there still are today.

A strange, creepy, evil man who exploited his celebrity status on vulnerable young people, but though he may have pulled the wool over the eyes of The Establishment, there were plenty of us (like Beryl Hullighan) who made up our minds about him very early on.

We thought he was a weirdo, and we were right.

Have just started watching the 1st episode and I feel so uneasy at the obvious predatory nature of the man that nobody called him on in his lifetime.

Must admit that I never liked him in "jim'll fix it" or on "top if the pops" so obviously am looking for a reason for my feelings.

That being said Steve Coogan does a good job with such a subject, people say its Alan Partridge with a blonde wig but missing the point that the Alan Partridge persona was based I believe on a number of DJ's that were around in 60's.

I also can't believe that BBC who ignored his behaviour is now prepared to profit off of the misery he cause.

I watched this to understand why Jimmy Savile did what he did and to understand how he got away with it for almost 6 decades

To be clear, I never really understood what he did and so it was an education. Personally for me, it gave a better understanding of what Savile was like and he is vile monster!!

After watching it made me hate him. The man was vile, disgusting, disrespectful and he should have been stopped immediately when he was first investigated in 1958

Due to no one doing anything, for years and subsequent decades afterwards he caused so much pain and suffering due to the abuse he inflicted on his victims. Savile thought he was doing no wrong and was a little man with big ego as well as a liar - shame on him!

Savile should have been sent to prison and served a whole life sentence with no parole.

Steve Coogan was absolutely outstanding in playing Savile and it was an incredible performance. The acting and performance throughout this mini series was exceptional and for that reason I scored it highly.