One definition of "reckoning" reads "the avenging or punishing of past mistakes or misdeeds", which is putting it mildly where Jimmy Savile was concerned and yet still I think the title to this new four-part BBC dramatisation could have been more explicit. I could even perhaps stretch a point and go onto describe the choice of title and aspects of the programme itself as symptomatic of the BBC's either inexplicable ignorance or, more likely concealed knowledge and tacit acceptance of the coal-dark side of this perverted, evil man who'd yet consorted with royalty, the Pope and the Prime Minister of the day and who on his death, received what amounted to almost a state funeral in his home town.
Yes, each episode begins and ends with the heartbreaking recollections of past victims still carrying the scars of Savile's violations from years ago and thankfully there are no on-screen reproductions of his vile acts on his numerous victims and yet there's still little real explanation offered as to how he was tolerated as one of the corporation's prime stars for almost thirty years before his career tailed off with his entry into old age. Similar to his apparently untouchable positions at the places where he ostensibly volunteered his help, like Broadmoor Prison and the hospitals in Stoke and his hometown of Leeds, he seemed invulnerable to any imputations against his conduct, given his fame, public profile, friends in high places and his wealth in employing expensive solicitors to "make go away" any threat to his "national treasure" status. All those people who made all those TV and radio shows with him at the centre of them - and none of them knew...?
This series told his story from back to front, from the point of view of an aged Savile, obviously in denial, looking back on his life and times, (but not crimes) with a would-be biographer apparently determined to seek a confession and some contrition but who is beaten to this by Savile's timely dearh.
His history commences with his time as a ruthless and even then predatory ballroom-owner in the early 60's before he got the gig which would project him to national stardom, presenting the hit music TV programme "Top Of The Pops", his public profile increasing even further in the 70's as he became the face of a national car-safety campaign ("Clunk-Click, every trip") and especially when he fronted the popular prime-time BBC show aimed at young children "Jim'll Fix It".
Steve Coogan is brilliant in his portrayal of this creepy, depraved man, a mummy's boy to a mother who had no love for him, friends only with other perverts and according to what we see here, tortured by his Catholicism.
With brooding music following his almost every step, the programme includes in each episode direct references to his terrible acts. This is of course as it should be but I felt that as a true-life drama, I found many of the scenes the producers state are invented for dramatic purposes to be far too expository and presumptive, none more so than when we see Savile in the act of confession to his local priest, deflecting his own sinful attributions to a third party "mate". I was also curious to see several scenes between Savile and an actress playing Margaret Thatcher and yet none with anyone portraying the then Prince now King Charles. And why this continuing and unnecessary wokism, changing the representation of a real-life victim to a person of colour. I personally find this disrespectful to the memory of the actual person concerned.
The latest in a long line of recent TV dramas dramatising infamous true-life crimes and their perpetrators, I must admit I found this one to be less convincing and cohesive, unlike others I've seen. That may in some way go back to Savile's ability to avoid prosecution while he lived requiring more than usual invention here by the writers but I still felt this series could and maybe should have been harder-hitting in its treatment of this admittedly difficult subject matter.
Yes, each episode begins and ends with the heartbreaking recollections of past victims still carrying the scars of Savile's violations from years ago and thankfully there are no on-screen reproductions of his vile acts on his numerous victims and yet there's still little real explanation offered as to how he was tolerated as one of the corporation's prime stars for almost thirty years before his career tailed off with his entry into old age. Similar to his apparently untouchable positions at the places where he ostensibly volunteered his help, like Broadmoor Prison and the hospitals in Stoke and his hometown of Leeds, he seemed invulnerable to any imputations against his conduct, given his fame, public profile, friends in high places and his wealth in employing expensive solicitors to "make go away" any threat to his "national treasure" status. All those people who made all those TV and radio shows with him at the centre of them - and none of them knew...?
This series told his story from back to front, from the point of view of an aged Savile, obviously in denial, looking back on his life and times, (but not crimes) with a would-be biographer apparently determined to seek a confession and some contrition but who is beaten to this by Savile's timely dearh.
His history commences with his time as a ruthless and even then predatory ballroom-owner in the early 60's before he got the gig which would project him to national stardom, presenting the hit music TV programme "Top Of The Pops", his public profile increasing even further in the 70's as he became the face of a national car-safety campaign ("Clunk-Click, every trip") and especially when he fronted the popular prime-time BBC show aimed at young children "Jim'll Fix It".
Steve Coogan is brilliant in his portrayal of this creepy, depraved man, a mummy's boy to a mother who had no love for him, friends only with other perverts and according to what we see here, tortured by his Catholicism.
With brooding music following his almost every step, the programme includes in each episode direct references to his terrible acts. This is of course as it should be but I felt that as a true-life drama, I found many of the scenes the producers state are invented for dramatic purposes to be far too expository and presumptive, none more so than when we see Savile in the act of confession to his local priest, deflecting his own sinful attributions to a third party "mate". I was also curious to see several scenes between Savile and an actress playing Margaret Thatcher and yet none with anyone portraying the then Prince now King Charles. And why this continuing and unnecessary wokism, changing the representation of a real-life victim to a person of colour. I personally find this disrespectful to the memory of the actual person concerned.
The latest in a long line of recent TV dramas dramatising infamous true-life crimes and their perpetrators, I must admit I found this one to be less convincing and cohesive, unlike others I've seen. That may in some way go back to Savile's ability to avoid prosecution while he lived requiring more than usual invention here by the writers but I still felt this series could and maybe should have been harder-hitting in its treatment of this admittedly difficult subject matter.