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?!

Indeed ,I was a child of the 70,s and 80,s I and most other children absolutely loved Jim,ill, fixit ,and clearly People must have loved watching him on TOTP,s too it was incredibly popular
Obviously with hindsight its very chilling he was allowed to get anywhere near ,children and teenagers and vulnerable adults .

So chilling it was allowed to continue so long.

Yup same here, remember being disappointed if he wasn't presenting it. Don't recall anyone I know thinking badly of him.

Certainly there’s some revisionism going on and you can see that in this series. I was a child and teenager when he was presenting Jim’ll Fix it in the 80’s up until 1994 and I rarely missed it. I thought he was a genuine and harmless TV presenter who seemed to care about the guests.

I never liked him and thought he was a creepy old man. But I was born in the 90s and my first experience of seeing him was the 2007 Jim’ll Fix It rehash. My sister forced me to watch it with her. She was born in the 80s and loved the original series/had written in to the show. She watched with fond nostalgia. I just saw a creepy old has been. I might have felt differently if I was born during his heyday. My sister was shocked but quickly joined up the dots.

I was devastated about Rolf Harris though! Absolutely adored him 🤦🏼‍♀️A lesson learnt not to put celebrities on a pedestal.

@EmpressSisi Rolf Harris was part of my DD's childhood- she's 27. She was really upset about him.

I was really upset about the Stuart Hall revelations
I know he did Its a Knock out but he was also our local BBC news reader on Look North West( as it was known then )
And he always came across as so friendly and jovial the BBC have a lot to answer for .

His victims have had no voice up till now - they were abused by Savile and then told to shut up and go away.

I hadn't watched the footage from his funeral before and I am still reeling at all the bowing and scraping going on. The people there must have known, surely?

Education?

@nobodysdaughternow "His victims have had no voice up till now - they were abused by Savile and then told to shut up and go away."
And the best way to give them a voice is for a comedian to make lots of money out of them? Right then.

Im.sure some must have known it wss implied ,that many people did but ,He was seen by many as St,Jim,for all.the money he raised for charity
I found the religious aspect quite interesting as a very lapsed Catholic.

In what way?

I can't belive how many people at the top had his back.
There were rumours he was into little girls yet they still knighted him? .
Think I've just gine off the royal family too...
A bit like Russell Brand. It was obvious and out there in the way he spoke but because he gave so much to charities it was like oh OK we will let this pass.

All those 400 plus victims and possibly hundreds more because a lot were probably either too frightened to report it, drugged with anti psychotics or died before. Beggera belief how he got away with it for so long.
Even his head stone was a mockery

Steve Coogban has done a great job . He had captured the menace and power charm and intimidation that Saville had . He has totally portrayed a classic narcissist.

Tbh i doubt much money is being made. The only way that would work is if there was a huge international market for it and I can’t think there is.

IMO this is more to serve as a warning.

Yes but if Savile had done nothing wrong then they’d be happy to be interviewed. I’ve read somewhere that some family members still think he’s innocent of what he’s accused of.

But that’s the worrying thing that some children didn’t get creepy vibes off him. He was funny, wacky, gave out medals and made kids dreams come true. Anything creepy we either didn’t see or chose not to see.

I feel the same as you. I’d worked so hard with my friends, we went round local houses to collect things to sell, went round local shops and businesses who donated huge prizes to be raffled and sorted all the things for sale out and priced them up. All my relatives came for the jumble sale and me and my class got our photo and a small article in the local newspaper which was a big thing. We were all proud and pleased to be doing something for charity and making money for a good cause. The tv visit was a treat.

Like you, I was very unimpressed by meeting Savile and I was going to do another fundraising event for PHAB but after this one chose not to.

My teacher aged 9 was young and attractive. I hope he didn’t try anything on with her, nor my classmates. But not seen some for years.

The New Statesman review by Rachel Cusk is sadly behind a paywall, but focusses on the gratuitous, exploitative nature of this show. Points out the parts which were made up-including the contribution by Saville's mother and concludes "It was all so beside the point. How many more dramas like this will be made? Why don’t film-makers write fiction any more? What is wrong with our culture that stories about abused women are served up, like so much supper on a tea tray, week after week, month after month?"

I don’t think it would have been possible for a child to deliberately deny creepy behaviour. I feel your comment is really inappropriate.

I’m not so sure about the 80s culture, but when there were programmes like On the Buses and the Carry On movies in the 60s/70s I’m not surprised that he got away with being a dirty old letch in public. It was practically encouraged for old men to grope and harass pretty young girls 😡 He hid behind this “acceptability” to prey upon his victims.

True. Benny Hill as well.

I just watched all of them. Steve Coogan is incredible in it. I don't quite now what to think about whether it was 'gratuitous' as per the Rachel Cusk article. The attacks did make me feel uncomfortable and felt bordering on being a bit salacious sometimes, but then again I don't know how else you would show the reality of how serious his assaults were.

I'd have liked more about the BBC failings, and his interactions with royalty and Thatcher. It's so shocking they were duped liked that.

I googled about the necrophilia afterwards. I thought it was just a rumour based on him having free access to the mortuary. I didn't know it was also based on things he had said. Wish I hadn't read it to be honest.

I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this but some of the scenes made me think of how similar saville and brand are. Long hair, always quoting verses from literature and the bible, the way they spoke about women, so many other things too...it sent shivers down my spine. When you hear something verbally and then 'see' it on TV. It hits harder. Feel so sorry for all those people abused.

Even the way brand threatened his victims with solicitors etc... similar to how saville threatened his victims...especially the one where the female police officers backed off after hearing he had contacts in the police...

Does anyone know if there is a documentary that will be aired afterwards?