BBC's The Reckoning leaves subtle hint of hope that Jimmy Savile died in torment

06 October 2023 , 23:01

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BBC's The Reckoning leaves subtle hint of hope that Jimmy Savile died in torment

With so much now known about Jimmy Savile’s crimes, it’s hard to watch The Reckoning without wondering which characters and incidents are based on real-life and which are invented, based on the research. Either way, it’s grim viewing.

The abuse is not graphic in detail, but implied. The impact is enormous. He is detestable from start to finish. Particularly painful to watch are his attacks on children including poor Kevin, a cub scout who went to Jim’ll Fix It, a paraplegic girl in a wheelchair who is doing a radio interview and Sam, in the chapel at Stoke Mandeville hospital.

And then there’s the 15-year-old who was raped by Savile after a Top of the Pops recording at the BBC and later committed suicide. Despite the rumours that he was involved, the BBC’s head of light entertainment Bill Cotton is happy to give Jimmy other jobs. Ugh.

Steve Coogan plays Savile in the four-part BBC drama series (BBC)

Coogan, in a series of blonde wigs, looks the part and sounds eerily like him, with his Yorkshire twang, swaggering walk and staccato manner of speaking. There’s a great moment early on when Savile’s mother, the so-called “Duchess” who is the centre of his world, is heard in the confessional telling the priest that she doesn’t like, let alone love, her seventh child.

While this scene is made-up, writer Neil McKay says there’s plenty of evidence to suggest devout Catholic Agnes not only didn’t want Jimmy, but knew he was a wrong ‘un. And he’s sure she’d have mentioned this to her priest.

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For viewers who make it to the end of the fourth episode, when Savile dies without facing any justice for his multiple crimes, there is one shred of hope. We’re shown that Savile never confessed his sins either to the church or to his long-suffering biographer Dan Davies but, according to the Catholic faith Savile so firmly believed in, you can’t atone for sins unless you’ve aired them.

So his fear that he was going straight to hell was genuine - which might explain why, when he was found, he was clutching a roll of cash and had his fingers crossed.

There’s a chance he died in torment. We can but hope.

The Reckoning, BBC1 and iPlayer, 9pm, Monday 9 October.

Nicola Methven