Steve Coogan is “uncanny” as infamous Jimmy Savile in first look at divisive series

The BBC has revealed a first look at Steve Coogan as Jimmy Savile in The Reckoning, a new controversial drama about the infamous serial paedophile and TV personality.

Savile was one of the UK’s most recognizable celebrities, best known for hosting Top of the Pops and Jim’ll Fix It. Following his death in 2011, he was the subject of hundreds of sexual abuse allegations, having assaulted children as young as five and adults as old as 75.

In 2020, the BBC announced a miniseries titled The Reckoning, set to chronicle his life rising from “working-class origins to become one of the biggest stars of British television, but in death has become one of the most reviled figures of modern history.”

Alan Partridge star Coogan will play Savile in the series, which has just dropped a first look at the actor’s transformation into the predator.

Steve Coogan’s Jimmy Savile revealed in first look at controversial BBC series

The image shows Coogan’s Savile, dressed in one of his trademark tracksuits, sitting in a chair holding a cigar. You can check it out below:

ITV Studios

Reacting to the image, one user wrote: “Uncanny. *Shudders*.” Another tweeted: “No thanks. Coogan is great, but don’t need to see anything about that monster Savile.”

“I’m conflicted about whether I should watch it or not – I don’t want to be ignorant, as his survivors have reportedly supported this series since the beginning… but at the same time, just the thought of knowing what he did makes me sick to my stomach!” a third tweeted.

The series, directed by Sandra Goldbacher and penned by Neil McKay, was immediately controversial from the point it was announced. While the BBC has “worked closely with many people whose lives were impacted by Savile” during the show’s production, one victim told The Sun they held the BBC “partly responsible” for their abuse.

In his short stint as the BBC Director-General in 2012, George Entwistle offered a “profound and heartfelt apology on behalf of the BBC to every victim. It is the victims, these women who were subject to criminal actions, who must be central in our thoughts.”

As for Coogan, the actor has spoken extensively about the backlash, and why and how he approached the role. “Some people think it’s better not to talk about something, and there’s an argument for that… but on balance, there’s more pros to talk about something; air it, confront it, and once you’ve done that, then you can move on, and then you don’t have to dwell on it,” he told Rob Brydon.

“But you do have to go through some sort of catharsis of exorcizing the ghosts of the past, so that they don’t continue to haunt us.”

Sam Brown, a victim of Savile who cooperated with the series as it was developed, spoke to Deadline about the “creepy, weird, awful, disgusting” experience of seeing Coogan in character. “The voice was the thing that gave me a proper shock, I’ve got to be honest, and I don’t get shocked by much anymore because I try my hardest not to. But that was difficult,” she said.

“As he was walking towards me, in my head I was thinking, ‘No, go away’. I kept thinking, ‘Go away.’ Seemingly this wasn’t kept in my head. I was saying all of this [out loud] and didn’t realize I was bloody saying it. I was so embarrassed.”

The Reckoning is due to premiere on BBC One and iPlayer later this year, but we don’t have a specific release date. In the meantime, check out our other TV & movies coverage here.