Sam Brown, who was assaulted by Jimmy Savile when she was 11 years old, went on GMB on Monday to discuss her story on the set of The Reckoning, which stars Steve Coogan.
In the four-part BBC drama, Coogan, 57, plays disgraced entertainer Jimmy Savile, who died at the age of 84 in 2011.
Brown, 56, was abused by Savile in Stoke Mandeville Hospital and worked as an advisor on the documentary, so he was there during filming.
This Thursday, she described how she felt the first time she saw Coogan costumed as Savile approaching her.
In an interview with Susanna Reid, Brown recounted what Coogan said to her as she began to worry.
Asked by Reid, 52, ‘how she felt when she first saw Steve dressed up as this horrific individual’, Brown replied: ‘It was a graveyard scene. He began to walk up to us, and inside of my head [I] was screaming, “Just give me a minute”.’
Brown added: ‘I [thought] I was doing all of this in my head, not realising it was coming out of my mouth.’
Coogan then said to Brown: ‘I’m in dress, I’m in character, I’m not him. Remember I’m acting.’
Savile notoriously died before his numerous offences as a child sex abuser and sex offender were revealed.
Following Savile’s death, more than 450 complaints were filed with the police.
Given the severity of Savile’s crimes, The Reckoning has already sparked considerable outrage, prompting the BBC to state that it is being treated with extraordinary caution.
Coogan has also defended the drama, claiming that the makers and broadcasters made the “correct choice.”
‘It is controversial and I understand that,’ Coogan told Radio Times.
‘The BBC are damned if they do and damned if they don’t, and I believe the correct choice is to be damned if they do. Broadly, it’s better to talk about something than not.
‘The team had the right attitude and it was done with the cooperation of survivors. I think when it’s broadcast, it will vindicate itself.’
The Reckoning airs on October 9 at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
