Television The Reckoning (Jimmy Savile drama with Steve Coogan)

[MoskvaRed]

Anybody watching this BBC dramatisation about the life and times (and no doubt death-related good times) of Jimmy Savile? Steve Coogan is doing a wonderful job of portraying without caricature a man who presented himself as a caricature so as to avoid scrutiny. So far (no iPlayer for me) we are still at the early stages of regional DJ stardom and opportunistic sex attacks before he was given the keys to the kingdom at the BBC and (literally) to Broadmoor while being friends with Thatcher and Prince Charles. The only key to his character offered so far is that his mother didn’t love him but, as I found out when I tried to explain the Savile story to my non-British wife, it remains inexplicable even if you accept that the past is a different country. One obvious question is whether the BBC are effectively marking their own homework but we’ll see how it progresses now that the story is moving on to the Top of the Pops days.

 

[caid]

I've avoided this and will continue to. I dont want a dramatisation of his life, do some investigative journalism and a documentary or go away. Just feels icky

 

[Hugh Jass]

Yea will probably give this a miss. Sexual abuse stuff tends to be horrible to me. Ever see the film sleepers - that is the most horrific film i have seen.

 

[MoskvaRed]

I've avoided this and will continue to. I dont want a dramatisation of his life, do some investigative journalism and a documentary or go away. Just feels icky

It’s a legitimate question whether there is anything new to be gleaned by making this show. I haven’t watched the new Yorkshire Ripper drama for that very reason. I just like Coogan and was curious to see how he tackled this challenging role.

 

[dannyrhinos89]

I saw bits of it and I don’t understand the praise coogan was receiving for his role, his acting wasn’t bad but his Yorkshire/Leeds accent was awful.

 

[Woodzy]

I find it hard to separate Coogan from Partridge at the best of times tbh, and there were moments in this especially where it felt like he slipped into Partridge.

 

[Nickosaur]

Bit conflicted about this. Don't really want to go near it, but I do like Coogan and think it's a very brave role to take on.

 

[CassiusClaymore]

Watched the first two. Coogan is excellent but my God it's grim, probably as it needed to be.

Having victims bookend the episodes is wise and prevents it from feeling exploitative. They deserve to have their stories heard.

 

[Swedish_Plumber]

It’s good. Shame it’s a reminder that the fecker got away with it. Not much of a ‘reckoning’

 

[Massive Spanner]

The BBC making it seems a bit.. rich, no?