Big money BBC drama paused amid fears of backlash
NERVOUS BBC bosses have pushed back the broadcast of a controversial Jimmy Savile drama amid fears of a backlash.
The Reckoning, starring comic Steve Coogan, 57, finished filming a year ago.
However, TV execs are putting off placing it in the schedules.
It was expected to air this spring — before King Charles’ coronation — but the timing was considered unfortunate as the show touches on paedophile Savile’s friendship with the monarch.
A TV insider said: “It’s been three years since the BBC announced it was making this drama . . . and there’s been a fierce response from victims.
“Most dramas don’t take this long to edit and air, but they don’t want to put a foot wrong.”
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Support group Survivors’ Network called the BBC’s decision to make the drama “deeply inappropriate and harmful”.
The Reckoning is particularly sensitive for the BBC as predator Savile, who died in 2011 aged 84,
A BBC spokesman said: “We are currently in post-production for transmission later this year.”
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