BBC’s The Reckoning re-enacts how disgraced DJ and TV star Jimmy Savile met with Elvis Presley.

Here we take a look in more detail at how Savile and Elvis Presley met and what was said about their meeting.

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Pictured Jimmy Savile and Elvis Presley
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Pictured Jimmy Savile and Elvis PresleyCredit: Times Newspapers Ltd

When did Jimmy Savile meet Elvis Presley?

In new BBC drama The Reckoning, there are re-enactments of some of Savile’s evil deeds shown in the show, as the producers work to expose how he was able to use celebrity connections to evade justice.

The show follows the life and crimes of radio and TV show host Jimmy Savile, who was exposed as a paedophile after his death.

During the first episode, Steve Coogan, who plays the evil star, can be seen discussing a photo of Savile alongside the late singer.

According to reports and as dramatised in the show, the disgraced DJ travelled to LA to meet with Elvis Presley in 1960 – and it was there he presented him with a Gold Disc for hit song It’s Now Or Never.

What did Jimmy Savile say about meeting Elvis?

According to reports, disgraced Savile recalled presenting the Gold Disc to Elvis while he was filming ‘Wild In The Country’ in Hollywood.

He was reported as having said: ”I actually didn’t have an appointment or even an address when I arrived in LA with that framed disc under my arm.

”I just had a scrap of paper with a phone number of the Elvis Presley office in Paramount Studios, so I dialled the number and someone answered. ‘I’ve just popped over from England with this Gold record for Elvis.”

In the BBC drama, Savile (played by Steve Coogan) refers to Elvis as a ”true gent” before recalling how the late singer danced around the studio.

Speaking about the role, Coogan told the BBC : “I’ve played a number of real people and in some ways I didn’t treat him any differently.

“I feel an overwhelming sense of revulsion about Jimmy Savile and the way he operated, but I put my personal revulsion to one side to play him convincingly because the risk with not doing that is him coming across as a sort of pantomime villain, which would lack credibility and therefore not do this justice.

“It had to be grounded and believable. In terms of performance, I like to take physical things – the way someone dresses, the way they talk, and the way they move – and assimilate all that to try and find who they are and use that as a way to get inside their skin.”

The King of Rock and Roll passed away in August 1977, aged just 42.

Savile died aged 84 in 2011 and was never prosecuted for any of his crimes.