The Reckoning: BBC boss defends Jimmy Savile drama - 'It’s something that we have to continue to talk about'

The BBC has defended its decision to release a dramatisation of Jimmy Savile’s life. The series, titled The Reckoning (streaming on iPlayer now), sees Steve Coogan play the disgraced presenter who was publicly revealed, after his death, to have been a serial abuser of children.

The broadcaster has been criticised for “capitalising” on the story despite the broadcaster being responsible for propelling Savile to fame with the TV shows Jim’ll Fix It and Top of the Pops.

Speaking after a screening of The Reckoning attended by Yahoo, Charlotte Moore, the Chief Content Officer at the BBC, defended the decision to commission the programme, which has been produced by ITV Studios.

“I'm afraid I think the subject matter of this series is something that we have to continue to talk about,” she said.

Moore explained that the creative team behind the series — Jeff Pope and Neil McKay, who also wrote the series — asked themselves whether they should tell the story in drama or documentary form.

“With a drama, we have a really unique ability to really set events in their emotional and historical context in a way that I don't think documentary does quite the same thing,” she continued. “We all felt there was a story to tell here.”

Regarding the BBC being a part of the story, Moore acknowledged that they didn’t want to shy away from the broadcaster being put to task in the series. “Just because the BBC is a big part of this story, it's not a reason to not tell the story,” she said.

“How can we explain the context in which this was allowed to happen, and [how] he got away with it, and the powerful connections that he forged, and how he used a celebrity stasis? We thought it was really important to actually explore and chart that, and the vulnerable people that he picked on.

“The more we talk about it and the more we allow vulnerable people the ability to have a voice and feel that they can find a safe place to talk about it, [that’s] the best hope we have a rooting out and making sure it doesn't happen again.”

Moore went on to say that it was important that an external studio produced the series so that the BBC could be held to account. “All four episodes deal with the BBC,” she said. “And all four episodes trace the moments where the BBC could have done something to stop this man and didn't, the failings of the institution.”

She added that the series, which was first announced back in October 2020, could not be rushed out due to their duty of care to the victims of Savile, four of whom appear in the series as talking heads.

The Reckoning starts on BBC One on Monday, 9 October, 9pm, with all episodes available the same day on BBC iPlayer.

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