Disturbing Jimmy Savile hospital scene leaves BBC viewers sickened

Viewers of The Reckoning have been particularly disturbed by one scene in particular in the chilling show about Jimmy Savile.

Steve Coogan has received plenty of praise for his performance as Savile, with viewers saying he has been 'skin-crawlingly creepy' in the BBC drama which also features survivors of Savile's abuse.

Viewers have taken to social media to discuss The Reckoning and several have discussed how a disturbing scene set in a hospital particularly affected them.

"The scene in the hospital is the absolute worst," one viewer wrote on X, and given the 'horrifying' nature of the series that's saying something.

While there was much praise for Coogan's performance, people described the scene where Savile is dressed as a clown and visiting a young girl in hospital as 'hard to watch'.

BBC

In the scene, Savile sits on the girl's hospital bed and tells her he's lost one of his juggling balls before asking her to help him find it and telling her to check his pockets.

He then takes the young girl's hand and places it on his genitals before she jumps out of bed and rushes to the bathroom.

Savile then tells hospital staff that he was trying to cheer her up, leaving viewers disgusted by what they had seen.

When the truth about Savile, who died in 2011, was made public, there were accounts of him preying on people in hospitals and being given access to patients.

Another one of these scenes in the BBC drama is something Coogan found 'really disturbing' to film and he asked for it to be changed, with the actor saying there was 'a certain shot they wanted to do that I didn’t want to do' set in a morgue.

BBC

MyLondon reviewer Angie Quinn said there were 'so many uncomfortable scenes' in The Reckoning, but mentioned the chilling hospital scene in particular.

She noted how when the girl tells an adult what has been done to her and is told 'he's only being Jimmy', these were 'words many victims would horrifyingly be familiar with'.

The Reckoning also features survivors of Savile's abuse giving their accounts, though one of them spoke out about how distressing it was to see Coogan in costume.

Sam Brown was attacked by Savile at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and said she remembered screaming 'just give me a minute' when Coogan walked up to her in costume.

She didn't realise she was saying it out loud at first instead of just in her head and Coogan reassured her it wasn't real, saying: "Sam I’m in dress, I’m in character, I'm not him, remember, I'm acting."

The Reckoning is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer