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?!

I love Steve Coogan's work and really want to see this. Sounds like he's doing a great job.

Born in 1969, I never missed Jim'll Fix It. Me and my sibs all loved it. I even wrote a letter once, can't remember what it was for now!

Just thought he was a kindly eccentric uncle type. My Mum who has always claimed she can see through people saw no harm in him either.

Just shows you how wrong we were.

also loved Rolf Harris - was chatting to someone at a dinner party that new him very well through the charity he was involved in. He mentioned he could introduce us but warned me that Rolf does have a wandering hand & tends to cop a feel on a regular basis with the ladies!

Russell brand has always been controversial, he's never been seen as a,saint who raised millions for charity
I can't imagine he would ever have been given a,tv show, to make children's dreams come true

I don't think Brand and Savile are particularly comparable. I doubt Brand assaulted pre-teens and dead bodies, or was on the scale of Savile.

You’re taking my comment the wrong way. I’m just saying that children seeing him on tv or meeting him, they may have thought he was creepy or may not have thought that. I am not saying children who met him denied he was creepy and behaved in a creepy manner.

My first boss when I was 17 (late 80s) stroked my leg in front of clients. I knew it was wrong and I’m sure I told DM, but yes, it was laughed off generally back then.

Yeah, Rolf Harris was also part of my childhood. Loved the drawings and didgeridoo! Again, I thought of him as a kindly old uncle type. Because of family feuds, I had no wider family growing up, just my parents and sibs, so I think I liked JS and RH as they seemed like the kind of uncle figures I was looking for. Yikes!

I doubt they would be happy to be interviewed - would you want your face on national TV for all to see if your brother/uncle was a notorious paedophile and rapist - whether you thought he was innocent or not?

Even if you loudly condemned him, there are those who would persecute you by association.

I think West Yorkshire Police got off very lightly. His 'Friday Club' where he drew them into his spider's web and they looked the other way for eg. Not that their track record on criminal detection has been historically great.

He came to my school to accept a cheque for money we'd raised for a kidney machine at LGI.Just as our headmistress handed him the cheque he grabbed her arm and kissed it all the way up. The place was in uproar seeing this single, middle aged rather austere woman being touched like that. It's an image that's never left me. Seeing him (Steve C) do the same to the nurses in the drama was so accurate it made my flesh creep.

JS was a revolting man but had this aura of weirdness that was excused as eccentricity. He was also a thug; my uncle ran a dry cleaners, agreed to fast track some clothes for JS same day, stayed behind 2 hours and JS still didn't turn up so he went home. JS turned up next day issuing menacing threats and refused to pay. What a charmer.

I watched the whole thing last night and got to bed about 2am. I knew if I stopped watching it I wouldn't be able to go back to it because it was so dark. It was so well done - horrifying and sickening but carefully done so any sickos watching wouldn't get a kick out of the abuse it depicted, and honouring and respecting the victims.

The man was evil incarnate and it is mind blowing that he got away with it. He really was committing his crimes in plain sight. It was hard to understand his appeal even at the time. He really was as he seemed - a pervert and a creep. But he somehow managed to hoodwink people in positions of power (mainly men) while the more vulnerable/ less powerful - children, the sick, injured, those in care, women - could see him clearly but were ignored.

What do people get out of watching this programme? Who does it benefit?

Personally I find true crime really interesting
I have never understood how he managed to.deceive people and get away with his crimes for so long and dupe the general public into thinking he was a saint
This has given me some insight
That's why.I have watched it .

@x2boys So, just personal interest. That's fine. I understood that the makers of the programme said that it had a societal benefit of some sort? Maybe I misunderstood.

I think the answer is this:

“Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana

@EmpressSisi yes benny hill was a much loved character. It was just seen as a normal way to act then

Absolutely loved 5th Avenue! (or filth avenue as it was sometimes lovingly called) had many happy weekend nights there.

I'm 2 episodes in and I'm finding it a hard watch, I think because we know now what a complete predator he was shudder

@tenpoundpombear yes I used to go when it was 5th avenue. Loved, was it, room on the top in ilford and two puddings in Stratford. Seems like a lifetime ago!

@YokoOnosBigHat "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana"

So why a drama with made up bits and salacious images-why not a straight factual documentary-there already is one, of course. And what is this programme going to stop us repeating?

@Jojoanna agree I found him creepy as a kid, was disappointed when he presented TOTP but was a it sucked in by the prospect of Fix It...Jim spoiled it a bit for me.It's funny how astute you can be as a kid isn't it?

I didn't feel uncomfortable about RH..I don't think I would put them in the same category still. It was different times

This is interesting

www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jul/13/jimmy-savile-man-who-knew-him-best-dan-davies-in-plain-sight

I loved Rolf so much. I was so upset when the truth came out. I always dislike Savile though. He didn’t have the warm persona the Rolf seemed to have.

The Beeb have a lot to atone for. They can start by creating another drama on this. One that focuses on the lives of the victims - each episode dedicated to a new person and leaving out the abuse - not even showing them in the room with the bastard but either focusing on what their lives were like before or after the abuse (maybe both because some of them had quite tough lives which made them vulnerable).

that was a question I was left with after the show: how do we protect the most vulnerable amongst us?

I have the same reasons as you as to why I’ve watched this. I asked DM if she was watching it when I spoke to her and it was a big fat no, not interested.

Hiding in plain site yet the BBC could have fired him countless times.