Louis Theroux returns to BBC Two tonight (October 2) with his new documentary, Louis Theroux: Savile.
Louis Theroux / Credit: BBC
Taking a look back at his own work and his film released in 2000, When Louis Met Jimmy, Theroux looks at how he may have missed the warning signs from Savile all those years ago.
Chatting to The Guardian about the original documentary, Theroux explained: "I was sort of relieved when I went and watched it again, within the space of weeks after Mark Williams-Thomas's programme came out. And it's not the cuddly portrait of an eccentric."
He added: "But then as much as I'd like to think that I got Jimmy Savile right, I didn't imagine him to be capable of those crimes. And what I've had to get my head around is the fact that I grew to like him. I kept friendly relations with him for a few years after making the programme."
Theroux also spoke about tonight's new documentary, and explained how he had to analyse Savile's manipulative behaviour, saying: "I've had to revisit that and think about that. Who was he? How much of the person that I thought I knew was real? And you have to re-evaluate and unpick a lot of memories and think about that. I mean, I knew I never quite got his number. I knew there was an aspect of his life to do with his sexual interests that remained opaque to me."
See Louis Theroux: Savile tonight (October 2) at 9pm on BBC Two.
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