In Public with Savile

I wrote ‘Jimmy Savile: Abuse and a Question of Trust’ when the scandal about him began to break, and it was published by the BJP in August 2014 (vol. 30, issue 3). I had initially intended to write a piece of journalism for the popular press. I felt strongly that a piece about abuse should be widely available, but I failed in this, as many journalists in almost every newspaper had something to say about Savile. Ann Scott, with her customary enthusiasm and open-mindedness, encouraged me to write a long piece, which, if it passed muster with reviewers, she would publish in the journal.

In June this year Jonathan Maitland, a writer and broadcaster, contacted me and told me that he had written a play about Savile and had used my paper widely. He invited me to the play and to participate in two Question and Answer (Q&A) sessions, one after a matinee performance and one after an evening performance. There would be a panel discussion, which would be opened to the audience for questions.

Maitland's play, ‘An Audience with Jimmy Savile’ opened at the Park Theatre in North London in June 2015, and was a critical success. It opened to excellent reviews and the run was extended. In my discussions with Maitland he told me that he had consulted NAPAC (National Association for People Abused in Childhood) and that he had instigated a discussion about the subject of doing a play about Savile on Twitter. He told me some of the proceeds of the play were going to NAPAC and that he had talked to several victims of abuse meted out by Savile; all this heartened me.

The play was powerful, and straightforward dramatically; it ran for 85 minutes with no interval. A decision was made not to show any publicity shots of Alistair McGowan as Savile on the basis that his image was so convincing that it might distress victims. McGowan's portrayal of Savile was breath-taking.

The critique by some that the portrayal of Savile was too much of an impersonation misses the point. I had watched so much of the