Real footage from Jimmy Savile’s funeral is making people’s ‘skin crawl’

Footage from Jimmy Savile’s funeral is still making people’s ‘skin crawl’ all of these years on from his death.

Here's some footage from the event:

Savile has been right back in the news recently with the release of The Reckoning, which stars Steve Coogan as the predatory TV presenter and entertainer.

Made with significant input from some of Savile’s victims, the docudrama details a partially-fictionalised account of Savile’s life and campaign of abuse over decades.

He was never brought to justice during his life, which is a source of great anger and sadness for many.

BBC

This is made worse by the fact that – upon reassessment – Savile seemed to have been flaunting his crimes in the face of everyone and even attempting to push the boundaries of what he could get away with.

He eventually died at the age of 84 back in 2011, before any of his crimes properly came to light.

In The Reckoning, there’s some footage of Savile’s funeral in Leeds shown at the beginning, and – in hindsight – the star-studded affair attended by many people from the world of showbusiness takes on a sinister air.

Savile was buried in a golden coffin in Scarborough, and requested that he be buried at a 45 degree angle so that he could ‘see the sea’.

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Perhaps even more sinister is the request that concrete be poured around his grave, at the time it was cited that this was because of ‘security concerns’.

It’s just speculation, but there might have been something else at play there.

His gravestone was later removed and his plot remains unmarked to this day.

Nowadays, people watching his funeral at the start of The Reckoning know the truth of what he did, and know about the hundreds of adults and children he abused over decades.

“That footage of Jimmy Savile’s funeral in the first few minutes of #TheReckoning is skin-crawlingly awful knowing what we do now,” said one person.

BBC

After Savile’s death, thousands of people lined the streets of Leeds and Scarborough to pay respect to a man that they must have believed was simply an eccentric charity fundraiser and radio and TV broadcaster.

The truth only emerged later, and – for many – this new series will bring home the reality of what he was really like.

Despite his charitable efforts, and his public popularity, he was a dark and deeply twisted individual who was capable of the unthinkable.

The Reckoning is available to watch on BBC iPlayer now.