I was abused by Jimmy Savile – seeing Steve Coogan transform into him was so disgusting my entire body jolted
A VICTIM of Jimmy Savile’s horrific abuse has revealed how they felt when they first saw Steve Coogan’s transformation.
Steve, 57, will portray the predator in BBC drama The Reckoning.
While The Sun exclusively revealed last week that the drama has been paused amid fears of a backlash – despite completing filming a year ago – Savile’s real life victims have now spoken out about the experience of watching it be made.
The Reckoning is particularly sensitive for the BBC as predator Savile, who died in 2011 aged 84, used the Corporation’s studios as a hunting ground.
Steve was pictured on a number of occasions during filming fully transformed into the predator, complete with white hair and tracksuits.
Sam Brown was just 11 when she was abused by Savile at a chapel at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where the presenter is thought to have preyed on at least 60 victims over the course of two decades.
She told Deadline about the moment she was invited to set by show bosses and first saw Steve in character as her abuser.
She said: “As he was walking towards me, in my head I was thinking, ‘No, go away.’ I kept thinking, ‘Go away.’
“Seemingly this wasn’t kept in my head. I was saying all of this [out loud] and didn’t realize I was bloody saying it. I was so embarrassed.”
Explaining how the moment gave her a “powerful jolt” through her body, she added: “Oh my god, [he was] creepy, weird, awful, disgusting.
“The voice was the thing that gave me a proper shock, I’ve got to be honest, and I don’t get shocked by much anymore because I try my hardest not to. But that was difficult.”
However, Sam was full of praise for the show’s writers and production team, saying: “Neil [McKay] has been so supportive. We’ve been part of writing this story.
“Communication has been constant, it’s a very open forum between the whole crew. That’s the only way I will do these things now. With Neil, I could not have asked for any better.”
She added that a counsellor was always on hand throughout the process, which she said was a “really good” experience.
A BBC spokesman told The Sun last month regarding the drama’s transmission: “We are currently in post-production for transmission later this year.”