The Reckoning: Jimmy Savile - BBC1 9 Oct SPOILERS

[YokoOnosBigHat]

I couldn't see a thread for the five part drama The Reckoning starring Steve Coogan as Jimmy Savile, so thought I'd start one.

I'm in bed with Covid so have decided to start watching. Half an hour into the first episode and I can safely already say that Coogan's performance is extraordinary. The voice, the mannerisms, they're amazing.

For anyone interested and who isn't familiar, the framing device of Savile telling his life story for an author interested in writing a book is based around Dan Davies's research for his account 'In Plain Sight'. Well worth a read for anyone who wants to know more about how the establishment wilfully ignored what was going on right under their noses.

Interesting article on the drama by Mark Lawson for The Guardian here and Lawson's account of how he tried and failed to report Savile at the BBC in 2006 here.

Look forward to discussing this all. Have marked it as spoilers as all parts are on iPlayer and are there really any spoilers possible for this story?!

Someone mentioned this programme today and I'm checking mumsnet to see if I can stomach watching it.
I'm only commenting on this thread because I just want to say I can't believe your dad ran the Ilford Palais! Lovingly known and enjoyed by me when it was 5th Avenue! What a place 😁

@mynumber, I’m on the last episode. It is hard viewing. I’m furious and sad on the victims behalves. It’s shocking that any legal action he wriggled out of.

I raised money for him as a 9 year old as I organised and ran a jumble sale for PHAB and got to meet him with my DB and watch Jim’ll Fix It with my class. Nothing happened to us but he was similar to how he was in the programme, not friendly and not thankful really that I’d raised £500 for his charity! He did seem egotistical looking back but then as kids we all hero worshipped him due to TOTP and Jim’ll Fix It.

I watched half of it yesterday and will finish it this evening. It hasn't told me anything so far that I didn't already know from reading the Yewtree report.

I wondered why none of his brothers or sisters were really mentioned. I also wondered whether he'd moved his mother to Scarborough to keep control of her. If she were nearer to the other children, then she wouldn't depend on him so much.

I'm watching part 2. Steve Coogan is excellent in this role, am finding him nearly as creepy as the real thing. I've a horrible feeling there's an awful lot we still don't know about Mr Savile and maybe never will. Chilling.

Have just finished binge watching
Steve Coogan was brilliant he did a,Fab job of portraying Jimmy Savile
But I do.feel.the BBC glossed over their involvement and minimized how they enabled him to become untouchable.

I wondered that too re his siblings. I bet all his family disassociate themselves from him now.

Didn’t he or his mum say something about childcare she gave to his other siblings before he moved her to Scarborough?

Steve Coogan is amazing. Why is BBC showing it though? To atone for employing him and denying his past crimes?

If the victims haven’t received all their compensation then they need to get it. Also as spoken about, I’d like his body exhumed and cremated.

Of course they glossed over their involvement and minimised how they enabled Savile to become untouchable. They must be so embarrassed especially as ITV broke the story with their documentary.

I wondered that too re his siblings. I bet all his family disassociate themselves from him now.

It's reasonable for them to respect the privacy of his surviving family.

Is "Sara" supposed to be Claire McAlpine?

Steve Coogan is great but it's not the best produced/directed programme

Just watched episode 2. It's chilling how many people he had under his spell, even though they knew what he was doing.
He was a vile and nasty manipulative bully.
Steve Coogan plays him to a T

Omg they did a scene in the mortuary in episode 4. I feel sick and you don’t even see anything 😭

I think so:

https://www.g7uk.com/photo-video-blog/20121007-jimmy-savile-implicated-in-the-tragic-story-of-a-15-year-old-top-of-the-pops-dancer-who-took-an-overdose-and-died-after-spending-the-night-with-a-well-known-disc-jockey-in-1971.shtml

Watched all episodes- Steve Coogan has portrayed him to a T

A PP mentioned his mother as an influence on what he did - I worried during this portrayal that it was a neat ‘answer’ to portray mum as a bit distant and deeply religious. Many people have this start in life but - he sought out similar men, groomed and manipulated so many people to do what he did - he is responsible

It highlighted how the police fail to link up across boundaries- not enough evidence would not be the case if they had kept information on file and shared knowledge ( same with Huntley)

It has left me wondering how much has changed?
Are victims believed?
Are attitudes to vulnerable women and children any better?
Are work colleagues more likely to blow the whistle - and are there systems in place to deal with the information?

It was sickening to hear the audience laugh at the tv comments the real JS made about animals and victims……. Not long ago people were laughing at someone else who spoke about things that not all of us found funny!

I lived near JS - and my parents were warned about him and told to keep us kids away from him in 1974, by someone connected to the bbc - so many people knew ( perhaps not the extent)

I am sure there are some victims who didn’t want this to be filmed and I understand and respect that. However I think this was an important portrayal - that missed out the depth of the bbc collusion- a difficult watch
Huge respect to the survivors who spoke on the film.

Thank you kindly, but he didn't run it- Savile did my dad was just a patron who had heard the stories. You're probably far too young to have been there when Savile was manager- was when my dad was in his midteens, 1959ish.

He started there doing a "teen and twenty disc club" type thing for teenyboppers and then became manager... which seemed to be how all his musical endeavours began, no doubt to get near to dangerously young girls. Arsehole.

I mean... is she nice though? She openly admits not to loving her son in confession, she's mean to him consistently throughout episode one and quite dismissive of all of his endeavours... until he buys her a flat! And then presents songs of praise! And then gets an OBE. I actually thought she seemed like a right old cow, who never loved him til he was someone she could brag about.

as kids we all hero worshipped him due to TOTP and Jim’ll Fix It.

He already gave me the creeps even then. Thought he was a right weirdo.

I also raised money with PHAB and met him, what a disappointment, so unfriendly.

Am I alone in thinking it's shocking that this programme was made at all? I'm assuming the money made isn't going to charity-so what possible justification can there be for it?

I thought Steve Coogan was outstanding. I grew up in the 80's and remember watching Jim'll fix it. His portrayal is fantastic.

I like the fact that the victims spoke at the start of each episode. It was like they had their say before his story is shown.

I agree they glossed over their collusion with him and their acceptance of his (and others) behaviour. .

@Bananalanacake I’m watching it via a VPN. Binged the lot.

When I was young we all hated him. Thought he was a creepy old man. We wondered why an old man was presenting TOTPs.
In which case how did the establishment love him so much ? He must have had so many "friends" in high places.

@Jojoanna "When I was young we all hated him. Thought he was a creepy old man. We wondered why an old man was presenting TOTPs."

That differs so much from mine and many others recollections. I do think there is always a lot of 20:20 hindsight about cases like this.

my ds called him Ol Big Ed, for his OBE
at the time.