A clip has resurfaced showing Steve Coogan meeting Jimmy Savile for the first time – check it out below.
Coogan plays the disgraced presenter in BBC series The Reckoning, which follows Savile’s upbringing, career and history of sexual abuse over decades.
Following the show’s release last week, footage of Coogan meeting Savile from 1988 on The James Whale Radio Show was unearthed from the archives on Talk TV.
In the clip, Coogan does an impression of Savile opposite him. “That was turning the clock back to when I was first on the radio, my first week in showbiz with a very young Cliff Richard,” Savile replies. “That’s what I sounded like then.”
The footage has since been shared online by Talk TV’s Chuck Thomas. Check it out below.
If you missed it…
Here is long lost footage of Steve Coogan meeting Jimmy Savile on James Whale in 1988.
During his first ever TV appearance, Coogan impersonates Savile, the man who 35 years later, he would be playing as a monster.@THEJamesWhale @virtualash #TheReckoning pic.twitter.com/M4Uhl4wWVc
— Chuck Thomas (@chuckthomasuk) October 16, 2023
Coogan has defended the decision to make The Reckoning on multiple occasions, believing the BBC made the “correct choice” in covering Savile’s crimes.
“It is controversial and I understand that,” Coogan said. “The BBC are damned if they do and damned if they don’t, and I believe the correct choice is to be damned if they do.
“Broadly, it’s better to talk about something than not. The team had the right attitude and it was done with the cooperation with survivors. I think when it’s broadcast, it will vindicate itself.”
Coogan has been widely praised for his “chilling” portrayal of Savile, but the drama itself has divided critics.
The Reckoning is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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