Gemma Jones and Steve Coogan in the film Reckoning Credits: Matt Squire
The main controversy in the life of the late Jimmy Savile was that that he was many things — a rapist, a sexual predator and an unrelenting villain — but lying was one of his most taming vices.
Indeed, he often took a certain perverse pleasure in reveling in the rumors surrounding his off-screen behavior, constantly joking, «My case will be heard on Tuesday,» and boasting about his unlikely reputation as a «woman's man.» «man», that antiquated phrase which in his case could not even come close to the depravity for which he was responsible.
The BBC's new Savile drama The Reckoning was met with a more muted response than its makers might have expected, with some critics even questioning whether it should have been made at all. One issue that many may have arises from the very beginning, when the on-screen credits contain the usual disclaimer: «Some names have been changed and some characters and scenes created for dramatic purposes.»
In the case of a man whose afterlife has been as dissected and scrutinized as Savile's, the invention appears to be little more than a hoax, except in obvious cases where it is necessary to preserve the anonymity of his victims. However, some of the drama's more incredible moments are, unfortunately, true in many cases. Here are 14 of the most astounding, judged for accuracy and veracity.
Savile's biographer first saw him in Jim Will Fix It as a child? And Savile called him «The Wordsmith»?
The main plot of Reckoning revolves around conversations between Savile and his biographer Dan Davies, whose forthcoming book In Plain Sight was one of the sources for the drama's screenwriter Neil MacKay.
Davies may be unhappy that one review had already described his portrayal of actor Mark Stanley as «weak», but he wrote in the Guardian that «[McKay] has strengthened the relationship aspects and changed some facts and timing in the name of coherent drama.» But I wrote this story in In Plain Sight.
Mark Stanley in the film «Reckoning» Photo: ITV
He actually first saw Savile on Jim Will Fix It at the age of nine and subsequently suggested that the experience gave him «an unwelcome awareness of the unvarnished reality of pre-recorded television and a strange ambivalence towards the show's presenter», which he described as «a bit threatening in his manners.» Yet Savile's contemptuous and obsequious description of Davis as a «wordsmith» is Mackay's invention, although it is entirely consistent with their uneasy, mutually antagonistic relationship.
Verdict: Mostly true
Did Savile beat up people who tried to sneak into the gigs he DJed at in Manchester in the sixties?
An early scene shows Savile in his DJing splendor before he is called into the back office where an intruder has been caught trying to enter the dance hall without paying. Savile first punishes him and then leaves him in the care of an associate, who brutally beats him. The story is a distillation of the anecdotes Savile told Davies and others in which he liked to present himself as a tough man in the Manchester entertainment scene of the fifties and early sixties. Yet Savile went further than the drama suggests, and Davies suggested that in at least one case the beating resulted in the death of a would-be dancer; a crime hidden by police accomplices. This may be true or just another dark exaggeration, but either way the moment remains frightening.
Verdict: true
Jimmy Savile in 1964. Photo: Getty Did Savile meet Elvis, the Beach Boys and other rock stars?
A prominent photograph in one scene shows Savile alongside Elvis, about whom he tells a series of self-aggrandizing anecdotes before attacking one of his victims. At first glance this doesn't sound true, given that Elvis never famously visited the UK and Savile was nothing more than a provincial resident of Little England. However, Savile claimed to have met the King of Pop in 1960, saying he traveled to Los Angeles to do so. As he told one interviewer: “I actually didn’t have a meeting or even an address when I arrived in Los Angeles with that framed CD under my arm. I just had a piece of paper with the phone number for Elvis Presley's office at Paramount Studios, so I dialed the number and someone answered. «I just flew back from England with Elvis's gold record.»
The record — for Presley's success with the single «It's Now Or Never» — was duly handed over, and photographs were taken of a maniacally grinning Savile and an understandably more subdued Elvis. It is possible that this entire story was fabricated and the photographs doctored, but if you take them on their own terms, they should be considered true. However, a verifiable fact is that the Beach Boys played a private concert at Leeds Hospital for nurses and patients on 8 June 1969 at Savile's invitation: the concert was recorded and later broadcast on Savile's fiefdom Top of the Pops.
Verdict: (probably) true
Did Savile have a quasi-adopted son whom he called «Jimmy's little helper» and who called him «father»?
The relationship between Savile and his chauffeur Ray Teret is presented as deeply sinister in The Reckoning, with Teret somewhere between Savile's assistant and his surrogate son. «Ugly Ray,» as he was known, was found guilty of various counts of rape and sexual abuse of underage girls in 2014, after being convicted on similar charges in 1999. The drama portrays Savile and Teret's close relationship accurately — they shared a flat and Teret was unkindly referred to as Savile's «shadow» — but the warped father-son dynamic is Mackay's invention.
Verdict: Half true
Did Savile’s mother – the “Duchess” – know he was evil? And was Savile's affection for her real?
In a powerful scene, Savile's mother Agnes goes to confession and ruefully reveals her contempt for Jimmy, saying: «A mother should love her child unconditionally, and I don't.» In fact, Savile honored her posthumous memory in the most disturbing way, keeping her clothes in immaculate condition for years and keeping her old room as a shrine to her, and he once commented in an interview that he spent hours, perhaps even days, alone with with her body after her death, saying: “One day I had to share her with other people. We had a great time. But when she died, she became all mine, for me.”
Jimmy Savile with his mother Agnes, also known as the Duchess, in 1965. Photo: Getty
This affection was not definitely returned. Although Mackay's invention of the confessional scene is pure fiction, Savile said of his mother in an interview with the Sunday People: «My mother could never be proud of [me]. If someone had asked, «Which Jimmy?» she would have replied, «I don't know what he's up to, but he's up to something.» Savile concluded that his mother was a keen judge of character, saying: «She never trusted me as she thought I would be kidnapped and end up in prison.» If only she were completely right.
Verdict: true, with some embellishment.
Did BBC bosses consider Savile a “terrible, terrible person”?
For a drama that airs on the BBC (albeit produced by ITV Studios), the corporation's presentation is unflattering, perhaps epitomized by that of Johnny Stewart, whom Savile calls «the choirmaster.» Stewart was an experienced television producer, a co-creator of Top of the Pops, and was portrayed as sexist from the start, asking for the camera to place a «chump» around Savile and commenting on the presenter's behavior: «We've all seen a bit of harmless flirting in the studio, but pop music is really about sex,” and even tried to cover for Savile during an investigation into wrongdoing at the BBC.
Michael Gibson as Bill Cotton and Barbara Wilshere as Anna Inston in Reckoning. Photo: BBC/ITV Studios
It's unclear whether any of this is true, and Stewart, who died in 2005, was not himself posthumously implicated in any scandal. However, the drama's portrayal of Anne Inston, then head of the gramophone department, is on more secure ground; she is shown saying of him: «I wouldn't touch him with a pole», reflecting Inston telling her boss Bill Cotton, head of light entertainment, that Savile was a «horrible, terrible man» in 1964, before «Pops» ever aired.
Savile's possible contempt for the BBC is clearly expressed when, making it clear that his services are no longer needed, he spits: «Fuck the BBC and fuck you.» Some might suggest that the entire series is an exercise in self-flagellation aimed at making amends decades later: screw the BBC, really.
Verdict: half true
Did Savile walk around Leeds General Hospital dressed as a jester?
Some of Reckoning's most disturbing scenes show how Savile was given unfettered access to often vulnerable patients at Leeds Hospital, whom he then attacked and molested, apparently at will. However, in one interesting moment, Savile is shown carrying out his evil acts while literally dressed as a court jester; the first photo from the shoot, which was subsequently leaked to the newspapers. This is pure invention on the part of the filmmakers, although it is consistent with Savile's subsequent relationships with the most powerful and influential people in Britain.
Verdict: False.
Was Savile a religious man?
Savile is shown in the confessional box in one scene in the film Reckoning, half-confessing his sins before being frightened by the prospect of answering to earthly law, and also in a more public mode when he presents various religious programs on both radio and television. television. Although it seems the darkest of ironies, Savile not only placed a strong emphasis on his devoted Catholicism throughout his career — including organizing Songs of Praise in 1969 and subsequently, much to the approval of integrity activist Mary Whitehouse — but also met Pope John Paul II in 1982, and was subsequently awarded the title of Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 1990. Although there was some speculation following posthumous revelations that he would be stripped of the title, it was not revoked because — as with a regular British knighthood — it dies with the recipient.
Verdict: true, alas
Steve Coogan in the movie «Reckoning» Author: Matt Squire Done is the 15-year-old girl with her after Savile molested her?
In 1971, Claire McAlpine, then 15, committed suicide by overdose, leaving behind a diary stating that she had sex with two DJs and that whether it was consensual or no, it was still statutory rape. because of her age. Although the violence is described in harrowing and horrifying detail in The Reckoning, leaving no doubt about the portrayal of the perpetrator, it remains unclear whether Savile was one of these men. He was, of course, questioned by police around the time of her death, but said: “I looked at Claire's photograph very carefully. I can't remember ever seeing this girl in my life. They say she came from Watford. I don't know anyone who lives in Watford.»
It's entirely possible that the abuser could have been any of several Radio 1 DJs, including none other than Saint John Peel, the man whose notorious Schoolgirl of the Year competition is mentioned in the show; Peele did himself a small favor in the 1980s when he told his teenage fans in an interview: “All they wanted from me was to sexually assault them, which of course I was happy to do.”
Verdict: impossible to confirm or deny
Was Peter Jaconelli a rapist? And did he ask Savile to put in a good word when he was accused of sexual assault?
Scarborough mayor and ice cream shop owner Peter Jaconelli is introduced in «The Reckoning» as a close friend of Savile, with both fully aware of each other's actions, forming a later scene in which Jaconelli, facing criminal charges, begs for help. Savile's help only to be rejected is all the more telling. In fact, Jaconelli largely escaped detection and prosecution during his lifetime, although he is believed to have been charged with indecent assault in 1972, although the case did not go to trial. This makes the scenes between them fiction rather than fact.
However, one strange detail that could have been left out of the episode because it seemed too far-fetched was that the Police believed Jaconelli and Savile were having a sexual relationship. Given Savile's apparently omnivorous tendencies, a politician selling 21-stone ice cream doesn't seem too far-fetched.
Verdict: Partly true
Were Savile and Margaret Thatcher friends?
Savile's relationship with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher forms one of the central storylines of the third episode. Although it portrays some events in an exaggerated or inaccurate manner (Savile may have claimed to have spent Christmas with Thatcher and her family at Chequers, but no evidence exists of this, although he did attend the Prime Minister's official residence for New Year's parties), in essence, it is a fair representation of their relationship, which is supposed to have been based on mutual necessity.
Jimmy Savile and Margaret Thatcher in 1980 Photo: Alamy
Thatcher saw Savile as an energetic, if unorthodox, champion of charity, and he wanted a knighthood as a reward for his ostentatious and self-promotional efforts, which he duly received in 1990, when Thatcher was removed from office. One reservation shown in the drama involved Cabinet Secretary Robert Armstrong attempting to block Savile's knighthood on the grounds of his bad character or, as he put it, «his strange and complicated» life. He managed to delay the award, but not prevent it.
Verdict: Mostly true
Did Jimmy Savile publish a book advising children how to avoid perverts?
Reckoning isn't a show full of laughs, but one moment of dark, dark humor comes when Savile holds the book to which he gave his name, called Benjamin Rabbit and Stranger Danger, warning children about the dangers of dealing with strangers. Unfortunately, it does exist and includes an introduction by Savile in which he writes: “Will you remember that a stranger is a danger when you are alone? Will you remember the stories from your book? I hope so because I like you and want you to be safe and happy. Best wishes from your friend Jimmy Savile.»
Verdict: true
#JimmySavile Benjamin Rabbit and Stranger Danger
https://t.co/3WqnTdmMIU pic.twitter.com/exI2T79jwx
— JustCat (@Cat_Again1) May 5, 2022 Did Savile commit necrophilia?
Perhaps the darkest story surrounding Savile is that he used his privileged position in various hospitals to enter their morgues and sexually abuse corpses. There were rumors about it during his lifetime, not least because the DJ said in a 1990 interview — without prompting: “Some people, realizing the fact that Jim likes to look after corpses, say: “Yeah, Jim is a necrophiliac! » necrophiliac.» There is a scene in the final episode, presented in opaque but chilling detail, which suggests that Savile's interest in the dead is every bit as good as anything else he has done in his life; No wonder, as one character said, Leeds United fans chanted: «Jimmy Savile will fuck you in the morgue.»
Jimmy Savile at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, 1981. Photo: Pennsylvania
Verdict: Unprovable, but probably true
Savile died with his fingers crossed?
This seems like a detail the screenwriter would have revealed — a dead, unrepentant Savile, with his fingers crossed in death. But according to Davis's biography, when Savile's body was discovered by his block's caretaker, they were indeed tightly entwined, and, grimly, there was a smile on Savile's face, too. As he said at one point during «Reckoning,» «If I had my time, I wouldn't do anything differently.»
Verdict: true
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