The Reckoning

Available on BBC iPlayer

Your appreciation (or lack thereof) of the BBC’s controversial posthumous biopic of the disgraced media personality Jimmy Saville is likely to be determined by whether you interpret it as an act of genuine atonement on the broadcaster’s part or a cynical act of voyeurism.

Based loosely on Dan Davies’ book In Plain Sight: the Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile, this mini-series covers the full spectrum of Saville’s ugly life, beginning with his rise to fame in the early 1960s and culminating in his belated passing in 2011. It is co-written by Davies and Neil McKay (Four Lives) and sees Steve Coogan take on the unenviable assignment of portraying the notorious sex abuser.

Coogan, who previously voiced Saville for Spitting Image, is suitably discomforting in the lead role, and is aided by a stellar supporting cast. Nonetheless, The Reckoning is a pervasively grim experience from beginning to end that feels like a misguided attempt by the BBC to pardon their old guard’s cover-up of the unspeakable crimes Saville committed on their watch. My heart sank thinking about how the former DJ’s victims must feel about the prospect of his heinous actions being reenacted as extensively as they are here.

That’s not to say that there isn’t merit in reexamining how such a renown figure could accumulate enough clout to get away with such brazen depravity. After all, as put by one of Saville’s unfortunate victims in the series’ final episode, it is paramount that this never be allowed to happen again. It’s just highly questionable whether such a deeply unpleasant dramatisation is the right way to go about it.

Therein lies the issue with our collective fascination with the true crime genre. What serves as a passing distraction for viewers can be needlessly traumatic for those that have sadly been affected by the subject in question. With that in mind, shows like The Reckoning need to do better.