During his lifetime, Savile was well known in the United Kingdom for his eccentric image and charitable work. After his death, hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse made against him were investigated, leading the police to conclude that he had been a predatory sex offender and possibly one of Britain's most prolific.  There had been allegations during his lifetime, but they were dismissed and accusers were ignored or disbelieved.

In October 2012, an ITV documentary examined claims of sexual abuse by Savile.  This led to extensive media coverage and a substantial and rapidly growing body of witness statements and sexual abuse claims, including accusations against public bodies for covering up or failure of duty. Scotland Yard launched Operation Yewtree, a criminal investigation into allegations of child sex abuse by Savile spanning six decades, describing him as a "predatory sex offender", and later stated that they were pursuing more than 400 lines of inquiry based on the testimony of 300 potential victims via 14 police forces.  The scandal had resulted in inquiries or reviews at the BBC, within the NHS, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the Department of Health.  In June 2014, investigations into Savile's activities at 28 NHS hospitals, including Leeds General Infirmary and Broadmoor psychiatric hospital, concluded that he had sexually assaulted staff and patients aged between 5 and 75 over several decades.  As a result of the scandal, some of the honours that Savile was awarded during his career were posthumously revoked and his television appearances, such as episodes of Top of the Pops that he presented, are no longer repeated.

In April 2022, Netflix released a two-part documentary, Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story, commissioned from 72 Films. It covered the life and career of Savile, his history of committing sexual abuse, and the scandal that occurred after his death in 2011, when numerous complaints were raised about his behaviour.

In October 2020 the BBC announced a television mini-series with the working title The Reckoning, intended to recount Savile's rise to fame and the sexual abuse scandal that emerged after his death. The drama was originally planned to appear in the BBC's autumn 2022 schedule, but after a delay for re-editing, it was broadcast in October 2023. A source said, "The four-part drama is being edited in such a meticulous and careful way, so as not to create more pain and suffering for Savile's victims."  It was based in part on the book In Plain Sight: the Life and Lies of Jimmy Savile by Dan Davies.

Writer Neil McKay and producer Jeff Pope had previously worked together on dramatizations on the murders of Fred West, the disappearance of Shannon Matthews and the murders of Stephen Port.  In September 2021 Steve Coogan was cast as Savile; he said he did not take the decision lightly, and that it was a "horrific story which – however harrowing – needs to be told".