BBC confirms drama series on Jimmy Savile's life

The BBC has confirmed plans for a new drama that will follow the life of disgraced presenter Jimmy Savile.

The mini-series, provisionally titled The Reckoning, will follow his ascent into stardom as one of Britain's biggest TV personalities to the decline of his career and the sexual abuse scandal that followed his death.

Producer Jeff Pope said: "I think this is a story that has to be told.

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"We must understand why a man like Jimmy Savile seemed to remain immune for so long to proper scrutiny and criminal investigation."

The programme's cast has not yet been announced.

Watch: BBC missed chances to stop sexual predator Jimmy Savile report

Savile was exposed as a serial child sex abuser in 2012, one year after his death in October 2011.

ITV documentary The Other Side of Jimmy Savile attracted national attention as it investigated claims of abuse made against the entertainer.

Police investigations into his abuse recorded 214 criminal offences committed by Savile between 1955 and 2009, including 34 rapes and 126 indecent assaults.

Savile was well known for hosting BBC shows Top of the Pops and Jim’ll Fix It.

Inquiries found he had used his celebrity as well as his involvement in charities, hospitals and prisons to abuse hundreds of people, mostly young girls.

Controller of BBC Drama Piers Wenger stated the BBC would be working with abuse survivors.

He said: “The story of Jimmy Savile is one of the most emotive and troubling of our times. We do not intend to sensationalise these crimes but to give voice to his victims.

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"We will work with survivors to ensure their stories are told with sensitivity and respect and to examine the institutions which Jimmy Savile was associated with and the circumstances in which these crimes took place.

"Drama has the ability to tackle sensitive real life subjects and consider the impact of a crime on its survivors and what lessons can be learnt to stop this ever happening again."

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