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Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story Review

Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story is a two-part Netflix docuseries released in 2022. It is such a disturbing, very well made documentary.

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“‘You really are missing something.

In fact, you’re missing everything“

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It looks at the life and career of the British television personality Jimmy Savile, his history of committing sexual abuse, and the scandal that occurred after his death in 2011, when numerous complaints were raised about his behavior. Now, this series is obviously very disturbing to watch. I had no prior knowledge about it and to me each new added fact made it increasingly creepy to the point that it was almost impossible to believe that it actually happened.

And this is where lies the true power of this series – it captures a very particular moment in time that will never happen again. It is a sobering thought to think that nowadays celebrities are being cancelled for the most minute of things while going back only a decade or so Savile could basically get away with admitting that he is a pedophile though very obvious, unambiguous jokes about his committed crimes.

Those moments in this docuseries were horrifying and by far the most effective. The creators very cleverly pinpointed the nation’s unwillingness to persecute this monster and the role of the police and how they refused to help was even more disturbing. They all failed these victims and the fact that this string of crimes continued to happen throughout half a century made it truly terrifying.

Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story focuses extensively on Savile himself and his rise to fame in the first episode while moving to the crimes and the victim’s confessions in the second one. This structure worked and it was very deftly handled. My issue with it lies in the second episode where only a couple of victims were heard, which was simply not enough.

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The story focuses way too much on Savile himself, making it very difficult to sit through. I wished to have seen more from the victims’ side of things. Still, the editing is excellent, both episodes are very well structured and the interviews that we got are strong. The smart editing that connected Savile’s scary words in his programs with the allegations themselves made for a particularly eerie watch.