Steve Coogan on playing disgraced star Jimmy Savile in new BBC drama

Steve Coogan has said he hopes factual drama The Reckoning, about disgraced presenter Jimmy Savile, will help to avoid history repeating itself.

Coogan, who is famed for playing comedy character Alan Partridge, portrays serial sex offender Savile in the upcoming BBC show. The presenter died in October 2011 aged 84 having never been brought to justice for his abhorrent crimes.

Actor Coogan, 57, said he hopes viewers of four-part series are reminded to “listen to victims and survivors” and to take such matters "seriously." The Reckoning, will track Savile’s rise to becoming one of the biggest stars in television and will also focus on his years of sexual abuse and the impact he had on his victims – four of whom have waived their anonymity and feature in the series.

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Reflecting on what he hopes people take away from the series, he said: “The point that I hope people will take away is that they learn to listen to victims and survivors, and learn to take these things seriously.

“If you treat people with respect and we act together then you can avoid something like this from happening in the future.”

He noted that the series reflects how those who knew about Savile or were targeted by him often had “ostensibly low status who couldn’t change things”. “The people who could have made things better were people in positions of power, and they are more culpable than the people who did not wield that power”, he added.

Coogan said he hopes the BBC series, which launches on October 9, also highlights that there are also “lots of decent people in this world who want to do the right thing”, adding: “It’s about being vigilant but not