Susan, Darien, Samantha Brown and Kevin Cook all feature to tell their story in their own words.
Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual abuse that some readers may find distressing.
The BBC’s latest true crime drama The Reckoning revisits the decades of sexual abuse carried out by disgraced TV presenter and DJ Jimmy Savile and the culture that enabled it.
Testimonies from Savile’s real-life victims are brought to life in the drama, with Steve Coogan portraying Savile in re-enactments to showcase how the public figure abused women, teenagers and children, and also how he manipulated the nation.
Each episode features four of the real-life survivors, Darien, Susan, Samantha Brown and Kevin Cook, who bravely recount their experience of assault at his hands during their childhood and teenage years.
Writer Neil McKay and executive producer Jeff Pope also worked with several other survivors to make sure that every story was told sensitively in the show.
After Savile’s death in 2011, hundreds of other victims came forward to report that he had molested, raped or abused them, in some cases during the filming of his TV show Jim’ll Fix It, during the 1970s and ’80s.
The number of allegations made to the police totalled more than 450.
Pope explained: “We always knew that we wanted to give some real context to the drama and we had always planned to have on-screen moments with victims and survivors.
“We kept working our way through the research until we felt we had a cross section that would best represent the huge number of other people out there who Savile abused.”
Susan
Susan, who doesn’t give her surname, was an optician in Leeds when she met Savile in 1972.
At the time, the 21-year-old was “creeped” out by the BBC presenter, who was in his mid-forties. He had come to her place of work for an eye test and she recalled being uncomfortable when alone with him in the basement.
Afterwards, he asked if Susan could carry out a home visit to fix his glasses. He asked for her specifically, describing her as “the one with the big knockers and short skirt”.
She stated that when she entered his house, he closed the door behind her, locked it and sexually assaulted her. Susan then went back to work and told some of her colleagues about what had happened, some of whom “laughed about it”. Though Susan told friends, she didn’t reveal what took place to her parents. She also didn’t report it to the police at the time for fear of not being believed.
Susan is one of the few victims who saw Savile again several years later, by chance, in a park in Leeds. The survivor went up to him to ask if he remembered her and he said he’d never seen her before.
After reports of Savile’s abuse began to emerge following his death, Susan got in touch with the West Yorkshire Police to share her own story.
Now, the mother-of-three is retired and previously appeared in a Louis Theroux documentary back in 2016 to recount her traumatic experience. After watching that interview, McKay approached her more than six years ago to discuss her involvement in The Reckoning.
In the series, Susan said that she was “pleased” when she heard that Savile had died, but also angry as he had gotten away with his crimes without punishment.
Kevin Cook
Kevin, 56, was nine years old when he was invited onto Jim’ll Fix It in 1977 as part of his cub scout group.
On This Morning, Kevin described the experience as initially the “best day ever”, with the children encouraged to have fun and throw eggs at each other.
“It was a great memory to start off with,” he added.
His group were told they’d receive one Jim’ll Fix It badge that would be presented to them all collectively, which left the youngsters somewhat disappointed as “everyone wanted the badge”.
But after filming, Savile approached Kevin and asked if he would like his own – he later used the phrase “would you like to earn your badge” when he was led into a dingy, dark dressing room.
Kevin suspects that Savile singled him out after his mother gave him a tie to give to him as a present.
During the sexual assault, Kevin claimed that a second man entered the room (whose identity has not yet been confirmed) and physically hit Kevin. Savile then issued a brief threat before behaving as “though nothing had happened”.
For decades, Kevin kept his attack a secret. It was only in 2012 when he heard of another boy who had been abused by Savile that he opened up to his wife about the incident and phoned the police.
Since then, Kevin has spoken about sexual assault in documentaries, press interviews and an episode of Panorama. In 2016 he also gave pivotal evidence to Dame Janet Smith’s independent investigation into the culture at the BBC.
On The Reckoning specifically, Kevin has admitted that this project has been more challenging than the many previous occasions he’s opened up about the assault due to seeing Savile brought back to life.
“It’s totally different,” he said on This Morning as he reflected on the dramatisation. “I’ve not had these feelings before… I mean my wife’s been brilliant, really supportive, but this is something totally new even for me.”
Samantha Brown
Mum-of-four Samantha Brown was 11-years-old when she was assaulted by Savile at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
Every week, Sam had to retrieve the collection plate from the presbytery, which was where the predator took advantage of her. While the church was full, with Sam’s mother present for the service, Samantha said that Savile sexually abused her, then put four of his fingers down her throat to silence her.
She recalls that he even left the door slightly ajar, as though it gave him a thrill that he could get caught.
“I’d be in there for about five minutes to one side of the door and he’d put his fingers in my mouth and I’d be praying for the priest to stop talking so I could go outside with the plate,” she told The Sun.
“It was such a busy chapel. Every pew would be full and people were there on their hospital beds. I wanted someone to see, I wanted someone to see me. But they never did.”
The 56-year-old said it was a “cathartic” experience contributing to The Reckoning and watching a re-enactment of her own assault.
“I was dreading it and the funny thing was, when we watched it, it was really hard to believe it was me. But I felt so sorry for that little girl. My heart broke for that little girl,” she added.
“But I had a week and finally I accepted the fact that she was me and I was her.”
Alongside The Reckoning, Samantha previously discussed the abuse she suffered in Netflix documentary Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story.
Darien
When she was 13 or 14, Darien had two horrific encounters with Savile at the start of his career when he was based at a dance hall in Leeds, long before he became a national figure.
Pope and McKay wanted to make sure that they interviewed survivors from different areas of Savile’s life and career, with the dance hall scene a key part of that.
Ahead of the series release, Pope said about the survivors: “They’re very different people, from different walks of life and different parts of the country, so they all had different experiences to share and that shows the large scale of Savile’s abuse.”
In the drama, Darien spoke candidly about Savile’s technique of hiding in plain sight to distract from his heinous crimes, and the culture that facilitated his double life.
Darien said: “I found the BBC and other institutions extraordinary, actually talking about the man we all knew, they wanted to make him into a saint.
“I think it was known that there were accusations against Jimmy Savile… don’t let this ever happen again. Don’t. Please.”
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, visit the NHS website or Victim Support for information and support.
Read more:
- What Jimmy Savile’s victims hope viewers take away from The Reckoning
- The Reckoning boss says series ‘isn’t the BBC marking its own homework’
- Jimmy Savile’s relationship with his mother Agnes, explained
The Reckoning is available to stream in full on BBC iPlayer now. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.
Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10, PLUS a £10 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.