The Reckoning is as serious as drama gets. It examines the culture that allowed Jimmy Saville to get away with so much depravity - depressing, but relevant.
An un-sceptical public believed the guy they saw on television was great. Ambitious careerists turned a blind eye, if they had eyes - as ratings rocketed, so did their careers. Countless vulnerable victims knew nobody would want to believe them.
Saville wasn't a one off. Other powerful predators have been exposed since. Same story, different predator. The Reckoning is universal.
Saville dodged justice the hard way in 2011 and ITV broadcast an expose the following year. Why the BBC waited until a decade had passed to make this drama is anyone's guess.
Steve Coogan really does a polished job of portraying a tedious character. His Saville is irksome. You want to punch him in the face.
If The Reckoning was fiction, nobody would believe it or want to watch it. A fictional Jimmy Saville would have been an implausible predator - getting away with so much witnessed by so many. Maybe that implausibility is partly what gave him opportunities? Truth is stranger and nastier than fiction.
The take away from all of this is don't believe what's on TV. Don't believe anyone's charisma.
An un-sceptical public believed the guy they saw on television was great. Ambitious careerists turned a blind eye, if they had eyes - as ratings rocketed, so did their careers. Countless vulnerable victims knew nobody would want to believe them.
Saville wasn't a one off. Other powerful predators have been exposed since. Same story, different predator. The Reckoning is universal.
Saville dodged justice the hard way in 2011 and ITV broadcast an expose the following year. Why the BBC waited until a decade had passed to make this drama is anyone's guess.
Steve Coogan really does a polished job of portraying a tedious character. His Saville is irksome. You want to punch him in the face.
If The Reckoning was fiction, nobody would believe it or want to watch it. A fictional Jimmy Saville would have been an implausible predator - getting away with so much witnessed by so many. Maybe that implausibility is partly what gave him opportunities? Truth is stranger and nastier than fiction.
The take away from all of this is don't believe what's on TV. Don't believe anyone's charisma.