Jimmy Savile survivors break silence for helping Steve Coogan play their abuser in BBC drama ‘The Reckoning’: ‘His voice gave me quite a shock’

EXCLUSIVE: Sam Brown vividly remembers her emotional reaction to Steve Coogan. The BAFTA winner had just filmed a scene when he walked towards them across a Cheshire cemetery.

With dazzling white hair, make-up and a full costume, Coogan was the unmistakable spitting image of Jimmy Savile, the BBC presenter who repeatedly abused Brown when she was a child. Brown arrived at the meeting determined to face the ghost of her dead tormentor, but nothing could prepare her for the “mighty” shock that shot through her body as Coogan approached.

“As he walked towards me, I thought in my head: ‘No, go away. I kept thinking, “Get out.” Apparently it wasn’t in my head, I said all that [out loud] and didn’t know I said that shit. I was so shy,” she recalls.

Brown was one of many Savile survivors welcomed on set The exam, the four-part BBC series dramatizing the life of the pedophile who betrayed a nation. The visits were part of a careful strategy to win the trust of survivors so that their stories of unimaginable horrors could be brought to the screen responsibly.

The BBC’s duty of care weighs heavily after a 2016 investigation found Savile abused at least 72 people in connection with his work for the station. The prospect of wronging these survivors a second time is unthinkable for an organization that almost imploded when the extent of Savile’s atrocities became known in 2012.

The shadow that Savile casts on British history can hardly be overstated. During an illustrious 50-year career as a presenter, he amassed power and wealth and cultivated a benevolent, philanthropic image that brought him access to prime ministers and royalty. Only after his death was Savile exposed as a lying predator and the institutions that allowed him to exploit vulnerable children were brought to account.

Sources say the BBC’s extensive behind-the-scenes checks are one reason The exam two and a half years after it was first launched, it still hasn’t made it to the screen. The Sun and The Daily Mail are among those who have reported delays to the series, with some even speculating that it could be canceled altogether.

The BBC addressed the rumors this week and promised to broadcast them The exam in 2023. Sources say the company is working toward a summer premiere, though a definitive date has yet to be determined.

release The exam will be the ultimate test of whether the BBC has got it right about the Savile survivors. But until then, two victims have spoken for the first time about their experiences working with producer Jeff Pope and writer Neil McKay to dramatize their memories. The pair agreed to speak to Deadline without consulting the BBC.

A BBC spokesman said: “The team is working closely with many of the people whose lives were affected by Savile to ensure their stories are told and presented with sensitivity and respect.”

A chance to ‘hit another nail’ in Savile.

Brown says the BBC is right to face their story. “It was important for her to take personal responsibility and acceptance,” she says. Kevin Cook, who was abused by Savile for BBC reasons, was equally delighted. “If it nails him again then it’s bloody well done,” he says over the phone.

Not all of Savile’s victims share her views. early criticism The exam comes from survivors who predicted watching Coogan’s character would be like reliving their trauma. There are veteran British drama producers out there who will tell you they are stunned to see the BBC raking in the darkest hour of its history. The broadcaster stated that the retelling of the story was in the public interest.

Cook says a decade after Savile was exposed, he is still shocked by the revelations about the predator, having recently watched the Discovery+ documentary Jimmy Savile: The People Who Knew. “I thought how the hell I was a victim when all these things were known about Savile before I was abused,” he says in disbelief.

Piers Wenger, the BBC’s former controller of drama, and the man who commissioned it The examsaid the drama aims to answer a simple question: How did this happen?

Brown believes audiences will react differently if Savile targets children The exam because so many of his atrocities were told through the eyes of adults recounting historical experiences. “It’s going to be quite interesting,” she says, wondering if it might bring back memories for those who knew Savile during his reign of terror. “Check it out and you might just be that one person whose mind changes.”

Survivors felt supported by producers

Brown says she was molested by Savile in a chapel at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where the presenter is said to have claimed at least 60 victims over the course of two decades. Brown, 11 at the time of the initial attack, gave an eloquent and powerful account of her experiences over the past year in the Netflix documentary. Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story. She has nothing but praise for them horror story Filmmaker at 72 Films and she is just as enthusiastic about the ITV Studios team behind it The exam.

“Neil [McKay] was so supportive,” she explains. “We helped write this story. The communication was constant, it’s a very open forum between the whole crew. That’s just how I do it now. I couldn’t have asked for anything better with Neil.”

A specialist in bringing true crime stories to screens, McKay won a BAFTA in 2006 for his ITV limited series See No Evil: The Murders of the Moorswhich tells of the murder of five children by Myra Hindley and Ian Brady in the 1960s.

Brown says she was paid to tell her story, with ITV Studios covering her expenses and her family’s loss of income from the time she spent with the producers. A consultant was also present throughout the process, which Brown described as a “really good” experience.

Cook also spoke of feeling supported. “They were really nice people. I did 30 or 40 interviews [over the years]but they were the only ones who fed and watered me,” he says.

However, Cook seemed unsure if his story would make it into the final version. “You know more than I do,” he says after Deadline explains his memories are likely to appear. Pope shared a scene with some industry peers The exam which bears striking similarities to Cook’s experience, suggesting that she will be included in the series. BBC insiders insist the drama remains in post-production and is yet to be completed.

A source describes the scene to Deadline and says it takes place on the set of Jim will fix it, the fertility show that Savile presented on the BBC for 20 seasons. Coogan’s Savile trades a giant Jim will fix it Medal to a group of Boy Scouts, but as the show comes to an end, he isolates a boy on set and asks if he wants his own medal. The camera follows them as they make their way through the BBC’s corridors to a dressing room and fades to black. “It’s very hard to see,” says our source.

Cook was one of the first male victims to speak out publicly and has since told his story on numerous occasions. “Jimmy came up to me and asked if I wanted my own badge,” he told ITVs This morning in 2012. “We walked off the stage and I remember walking down a maze of corridors… and then we came to a door and walked into a room… he pulled back a chair, asked me to sit, and then he started abusing.”

Coogan turns into the “creepy” Savile

A second person who saw footage from the series was upset about the man who played Savile. “Coogan’s performance is exceptional. He seems to be turning into him,” says the source.

This explains Brown’s involuntary physical reaction when he saw Coogan on set. She remembers him filming a scene that took her back to her childhood because his performance was so surprisingly “on point.”

“Oh dear God, [he was] creepy, weird, horrible, disgusting,” she explains. “The voice was what shocked me quite a bit, I have to be honest, and I’m not really scared anymore because I try my best not to. But it was difficult.”

When Coogan finished his scene and walked over to Brown, he dropped the Savile voice and repeatedly reminded her that he was an actor in costume. Brown was supported by her husband and members of the crew, who told her she was under no pressure to meet Coogan. McKay previously said survivors were taken on set at their request and adequate protection was provided.

Brown says she wanted to see Coogan because it would give the experience of watching The exam Easier. She took the opportunity to ask him why he agreed to play Savile and said his answer was the deciding factor in the producers being allowed to use her story.

“He said it took him six months to make his decision and talked back and forth with friends. He said everyone had strong opinions about whether they should do it,” Brown recalled. “He responded in a way that made me feel comfortable because I wanted to know it all, otherwise I would have just said, ‘Then it’s not for me, get my part’.”

Cook has yet to visit the set or meet Coogan, but says he is happy when Savile is portrayed as the demon he was. Cook believes the Alan Partridge actor will open himself up to “negative publicity” if the drama does not turn out as the BBC hopes.

Coogan has been contacted for comment. He told BBC Radio 5 Live last year that it was important to keep Savile fresh in viewers’ minds so that history does not repeat itself. He said The exam a “tightrope walk” but will ultimately “justify” itself through McKay’s sensitive treatment of his subject. Brown and Cook suggest that their experiences are proof of this.

But as respectfully as the BBC tells the survivors’ stories, The exam probably not a comfortable moment for the station. As one person who has seen part of the drama surmises, “It tells the story well, responsibly and honestly. Although of course the BBC will always be at fault.