Steve Coogan portrayal in BBC drama Saville

Steve Coogan will play Jimmy Savile in the upcoming BBC drama but still issues around the topic surface

The Reckoning stars Alan Partridge Coogan as the disgraced DJ, who died in 2011 aged 84 before his prolific crimes as a child sex abuser and sex offender came to light.

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Steve Coogan’s acting skills as Jimmy Savile has left one of his victim’s in ‘proper shock’.

BBC’s controversial Jimmy Savile drama starring Steve Coogan as the prolific paedophile is pushed back until 2024 due to ‘sensitivities’.

More than 450 horrifying allegations were brought forward to the police following his death.

The BBC are now set to air the four-part series, despite receiving widespread backlash for dramatising his horrific crimes and has been accused of ‘hypocrisy’ considering Savile’s past with the broadcaster.

One of Savile’s victims, Sam Brown, was amongst those invited to the set of The Reckoning, where she saw Coogan shoot one scene.

‘Oh my god, [he was] creepy, weird, awful, disgusting,’ she said.

‘The voice was the thing that gave me a proper shock, I’ve got to be honest, and I don’t get shocked by much anymore because I try my hardest not to. But that was difficult,’ she added.

Steve Coogan plays Jimmy Savile in the BBC drama The Reckoning. He has said playing the prolific abuser “was not a decision I took lightly”.

This comes after Coogan said he believes the controversial drama is ‘walking a tight rope’, but insisted the series will ‘vindicate’ itself. He said: ‘The writing of it has required a lot of skill.’

‘It’s walking a tightrope. But I think it will vindicate itself when it comes out. I’ve seen a bit and I think it’s good.’

He continued: ‘It’s a mistake to think that the best way to deal with something is to not talk about it.’

The makers of the programme were ‘working closely with many people whose lives were impacted by Savile to ensure their stories are told with sensitivity and respect’, the BBC said in a casting announcement last year.

Coogan recently hit back at the ‘antagonism’ towards his starring role and stated that the series could ‘prevent’ history repeating itself.

‘If you sweep it under the carpet and just don’t talk about it anymore, then those people are destined to come back,’ he said.

The Reckoning will launch on BBC One later this year