''The Reckoning'' is a British

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

television

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

that depicts the career and

sexual crimes Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes. Some laws regarding sexual activity are ...

of British media personality

Jimmy Savile Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English media personality and DJ. He was known for his eccentric image, charitable work, and hosting the BBC shows ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. A ...

, portrayed by

Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English-Irish actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. His accolades include four BAFTA Awards and three British Comedy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Aw ...

, from the early 1960s to his death in 2011. It is based in part on the book ''In Plain Sight: the Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile'' by Dan Davies. The series sparked controversy during its production and was first broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

in October 2023. ''The Reckoning'' received mixed reviews, with praise for Coogan's portrayal of Savile.

Premise

The series recounts the career and sexual offences of Jimmy Savile, who was one of the best-known radio and television personalities in Britain during his life, and whose crimes emerged after his death. Four real-life survivors of Savile's abuse speak at the start and end of some of the episodes. Each episode has scenes taking place in the last years of Savile's life, primarily where writer Dan Davies, who is researching Savile for his book, interviews him in various locations.

Cast

Gemma Jones Jennifer "Gemma" Jones (born 4 December 1942) is an English actress. Appearing on both stage and screen, her film appearances include ''Sense and Sensibility (film), Sense and Sensibility'' (1995), the Bridget Jones (film series), ''Bridget Jo ...

as Agnes Savile *

Mark Stanley Mark Robert Speight, known professionally as Mark Stanley, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Game of Thrones'', '' Dickensian'', and as Rob Hepworth in the third series of BBC drama Happy Valley. Early life and educatio ...

as Dan Davies *

Robert Emms Robert Emms (born Robert James MacPherson; 20 May 1986) is a British film, stage and television actor, known for portraying Pythagoras in the BBC One fantasy-adventure series ''Atlantis'', Supervisor Lonni Jung in the Star Wars series '' Andor' ...

Ray Teret Raymond Teret (24 October 1941 – 5 May 2021) was an English radio disc jockey and convicted sex offender. Teret was closely associated with fellow DJ Jimmy Savile in the early 1960s, sharing a flat with him and working as Savile's support DJ, ...

Michael Jibson Michael Jibson (born 16 December 1980) is an English actor, director, writer and voice over artist. He was the winner of the 2018 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical, for his role of King George III in ''Hami ...

Bill Cotton Sir William Frederick Cotton (23 April 1928 – 11 August 2008) was a British television producer and executive, and the son of dance band leader Billy Cotton. The television and radio presenter Fearne Cotton is related to him, as he was her ...

Julian Rhind-Tutt Julian Alistair Rhind-Tutt (born 20 July 1967) is an English actor. He is best known for playing Dr "Mac" Macartney in the comedy television series '' Green Wing''. Early life Rhind-Tutt was born on 20 July 1967 in West Drayton, London, the youn ...

Johnnie Stewart Lorn Alastair "Johnnie" Stewart (7 November 1917 – 29 April 2005) was a British television producer who worked for the BBC. In 1964, he co-created and co-produced the long-running music programme ''Top of the Pops'' with Stanley Dorfman and ...

Faye McKeever Faye McKeever (born ) is an English actress. Her notable works include playing Linda in Sky 1 sitcom '' Trollied'', Marie in '' Massive'' and Claire Olssen in '' Little Boy Blue''. Career McKeever first rose to prominence in 2006 playing Do ...

as Alison *

Mark Lewis Jones Mark Lewis Jones (born 31 August 1964) is a Welsh actor, whose roles include that of a First Order Captain Moden Canady in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', a police inspector in BBC drama series '' 55 Degrees North'', a whaler in the film '' Mas ...

as Charles Hullighan *

Siobhan Finneran Siobhan Margaret Finneran (born 27 April 1966) is an English actress. She made her screen debut in the independant film '' Rita, Sue and Bob Too'' (1986) and subsequently worked consistently in television drama including roles in ''Coronation St ...

as Beryl Hullighan * Peter Wight as Peter Jaconelli *

Fenella Woolgar Fenella Woolgar (born 4 August 1969) is an English film, theatre, television and radio actress. She is known for her roles in films including '' Bright Young Things'', '' Swallows and Amazons'' and '' Victoria and Abdul'' and for TV shows incl ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

Neil Pearson Neil John Pearson (born 27 April 1959) is a British actor, known for his work on television. He was nominated for the 1994 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for '' Between the Lines'' (1992–1994). His other television roles include '' Drop the ...

Eric Morley Eric Douglas Morley (26 September 1918 – 9 November 2000) was an English television host and the founder of the Miss World pageant and ''Come Dancing'' programme. His widow, Julia Morley, is now head of the pageant and his son, Steve Douglas, ...

Episodes

Production

The production was announced in October 2020, and was criticised before filming was underway. Richard Morrison, writing in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', stated that, as it was commissioned by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, it felt "less an act of contrition than of exploitation." Pragya Argawal, writing in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', stated: Ben Lawrence, writing in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', said the victims of Savile's crimes deserved "better than the kneejerk hysteria that has surfaced about ''The Reckoning''", and that "... the question is not whether we should make a drama like ''The Reckoning'', but how we do so." In September 2021, it was announced that Steve Coogan had been cast as Jimmy Savile. Coogan said the decision to play Savile was "not one I took lightly", but felt that writer Neil McKay's script "tackled a horrific story which – however harrowing – needs to be told". Work on the production started in early October 2021, and included filming location scenes in North-West England and North Wales. During production, Coogan met with real life survivors of Savile's abuse, and reassured them when they saw him in character. Coogan asked the filmmakers to tone down a scene where Savile is implied to molest an elderly woman's dead body in a morgue, finding it too uncomfortable. Coogan, who later explained he had his head shaved for months during production, said that he was so uncomfortable playing Savile that he eventually was "pleased" when production finished. In light of the controversy surrounding the series and the events regarding the

death of Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, died on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. Elizabeth's reign of 70 years and 214 days was the longest of any British monarch. She was ...

, the drama was first expected to be broadcast by the BBC in 2022, before being pushed back to 2024. A source said, “The four-part drama is being edited in such a meticulous and careful way, so as not to create more pain and suffering for Savile’s victims.” It was later brought forward to 2023. The series went to air on BBC One from 9 October, with all episodes available on iPlayer from the same date. Coogan reportedly cancelled a string of book signings as

Alan Partridge Alan Gordon Partridge is an English comedy character portrayed by Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept broadcaster with an inflated sense of celebrity. Since his debut in 1991, he has ap ...

during the broadcast. The programme was presented as being partly fictionalised, with some characters and events created for dramatic purposes. Several scenes have been described in the ''

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

'' as embellished or false. In a

subplot In fiction, a subplot or side story is a strand of the plot that is a supporting side story for any story or for the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or thematic significance. Subplots often involve supporti ...

in Episode 2, Savile, after hosting an edition of ''Top of the Pops'', rapes a young Asian girl who subsequently kills herself with an overdose of pills. This incident is based on the suicide in 1971 of 15-year-old Claire McAlpine, who claimed to have been sexually abused by two disc jockeys: it is unclear whether Savile was one of her abusers. One of McAlpine’s friends said she was upset about the filmmakers' decision not to use her real name, and

Mark Williams-Thomas Mark Alan Williams-Thomas (born 9 January 1970) is an English investigative journalist, sexual abuse victim advocate, and former police officer. He is a regular reporter on ''This Morning'' and Channel 4 News, as well as the ITV series '' Exp ...

criticised the casting of the character's race from white to Asian. Williams-Thomas was criticised for his comments about the character's race. The final scene of Savile dead in his armchair with his fingers crossed, is based on the claim that when Savile was found dead, he had a smile on his face and his fingers were crossed.

Critical reception

''The Reckoning'' received mixed reviews from television critics, with most praising Coogan's performance. In ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'',

Lucy Mangan Lucy Mangan (born 1974) is a British journalist and author. She is a columnist, features writer and TV critic for ''The Guardian'' and an opinion writer for '' i'' news. Early life and education Mangan was born in 1974 and grew up in Catford, ...

wrote that Coogan was "chillingly brilliant as Jimmy Savile", but that "to watch ''The Reckoning'' is to come away depressed but unenlightened". The series was criticised as gratuitous and for being shown on the BBC, which was accused of having shielded Savile in his lifetime. John Nugent of ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'' gave the series three out of five stars, describing it as a "tough watch, of course, made with obvious conscientiousness, centred around a deeply disturbing central performance from Steve Coogan. Whether this is the appropriate form of reckoning for such inconceivable crimes, however, should be up for debate."

Louis Theroux Louis Sebastian Theroux (; born 20 May 1970) is a British and American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received three British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award. After graduati ...

, when asked on whether he thought the series was in "bad taste", said that he was "struck" by the series' attempt "to scrupulously adhere to the facts". He also praised Coogan's performance. Coogan was nominated for the

British Academy Television Award for Best Actor This is a list of the British Academy Television Awards for Best Actor. The Best Actor award was initially given as an "individual honour", without credit to a particular performance, until 1962, when Rupert Davies won for his performance in ''Mai ...

in 2024.

References

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reckoning (2023 Tv Series), The 2023 British television series debuts 2023 British television series endings 2020s British crime drama television series BBC crime drama television shows 2020s British television miniseries British English-language television shows Television series by ITV Studios Television shows set in England Works about Jimmy Savile Television series set in the 1960s Television series set in the 1970s Television series set in the 1980s Television series set in the 1990s Television series set in the 2000s Television series set in the 2010s Television shows set in Leeds Television shows set in London Television shows set in North Yorkshire Cultural depictions of Margaret Thatcher Cultural depictions of presenters Cultural depictions of British people Television controversies in the United Kingdom