Steve Coogan has revealed he requested a scene be removed from his new drama The Reckoning, which depicts the crimes of Jimmy Savile.
The four-part series mixes dramatised events with real-life testimonies from Savile’s victims, with Coogan taking on the lead role.
At a press event to promote the new show, the actor acknowledged the difficulty in “striking that balance” between “showing too much of Savile’s offences” and “sugar-coating them”, revealing there was one sequence in the original script set in a morgue which he was not willing to enact.
Per The Independent, Coogan said: “There was a certain shot they wanted to do that I didn’t want to do.
“It was just a detail that I was uncomfortable with, so I had a conversation with the director and we came to an agreement on what was the most appropriate way to depict it.”
The first part of The Reckoning will air on BBC One on Monday night, with all four episodes being made simultaneously available to stream on iPlayer.
Speaking to the BBC ahead of the show’s launch, Coogan said it was the involvement of Savile’s survivors that ultimately led to him taking part.
“It’s crucial that when making a drama like this you walk side-by-side with the people whose experiences you are depicting,” he said. “That’s the grown-up and responsible way to do this.
“Having the participation and endorsement of so many was absolutely crucial to the process, and everyone has made sure this was handled sensitively.
“That’s why it’s taken a long time for the series to get to screen – you can’t just chuck it out there, you’ve got to do it properly, and be fastidious and diligent. To not do that would be a dereliction of our duty.”
The Reckoning airs on Monday night at 9pm on BBC One.