Watch The First Trailer For Netflix's Chilling Jimmy Savile Documentary

Trigger warning: This article contains references to sexual assault and harassment, as do many of its outbound links.

Featuring chilling archive footage and personal testimonies, Netflix’s upcoming documentary Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story will offer a disturbing new insight into the harrowing crimes of the disgraced television presenter. “He was a national treasure,” wrote the streaming platform, sharing a first look at the forthcoming two-part film. “After his death, he was exposed as a sexual predator, with over 450 sickening allegations of abuse.” The Netflix documentary arrives ahead of the BBC drama The Reckoning, which stars Steve Coogan as Savile.

The paedophile used his celebrity status and establishment connections to conceal his wide-spread abuse, and never faced consequences for his horrifying actions. Following an investigation following his death, police concluded that Savile had been one of the UK’s most prolific sex offenders in history. Here’s everything to know about Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story thus far.

Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story Premise

During his lifetime, television presenter and radio DJ Jimmy Savile was a national celebrity, and was awarded a knighthood for his philanthropy work after raising an estimated £40million for charity. A year after his death in 2011, an investigative documentary by ITV called Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy alleged that Savile was a sexual predator who used his position of power to abuse children during visits to hospitals and schools, and while presenting Jim'll Fix It at the BBC’s studios. The film led to an increasing number of witness statements and survivors coming forward to testify, and a joint report by the NSPCC and the Metropolitan police later recorded 214 criminal offences by Savile spanning from 1955 to 2009.

Despite multiple allegations during Savile’s lifetime, the disgraced presenter never faced any consequences for his actions, and Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story examines how he used his celebrity status and high-profile contacts to conceal his crimes for decades.

Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story Trailer

On Mar. 22, the streaming platform shared the first trailer, featuring archive footage of Savile alongside a number of establishment figures such as former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Prince Charles, and Princess Diana. The clips are accompanied by old recordings of Savile that take on a disturbing tone: “They can’t catch me out,” he boasts in one clip, “I’ve got eyes all over the head”.

Understandably, many viewers found the trailer upsetting, and some questioned the need to reexamine the truly horrifying abuse case in the first place. “No amount of documentaries, programs, [or] dramas, will give his victims justice,” wrote one commenter. “So, enough time has passed to start making money off Savile?” another wrote. “They are all at it to get in before the BBC.”

Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story Release Date

The new two-part documentary arrives on Netflix on Apr. 6 2022.