The Reckoning continues on BBC One this week, and actor Michael Jibson continues to portray BBC boss Bill Cotton – but did you know Fearne Cotton is related to the TV producer?
Bill Cotton played a huge part in elevating Jimmy Savile’s career. As seen in the TV dramatisation, Bill was a television producer and executive who was integral to Savile’s progression within the BBC.
And The Reckoning isn’t afraid to highlight the failure of the Beeb to act on complaints against Savile. Of course, we now know that the host of Jim’ll Fix It used his fame to prey on vulnerable young people. The paedophile raped, assaulted and abused young men and women, and often children.
Most of his crimes only came to light after he died in 2011, at the age of 84. And many have accused those at the top of the BBC of turning a blind eye.
So who was Bill Cotton, and how is he related to Fearne Cotton? Here’s everything you need to know…
Who was Bill Cotton?
Bill Cotton was the BBC’s head of light entertainment from 1970 to 1977, before becoming controller of BBC One until 1981. The television producer and executive was integral to Jimmy Savile’s progression at the BBC.
In 1962, Bill Cotton was working as assistant head of light entertainment. And, eight years later, the BBC promoted him to head of the department.
During that time, the BBC introduced a number of new variety shows, including Top of the Pops which Jimmy Savile presented. Bill was also involved in launching The Generation Game, The Two Ronnies and The Morecambe and Wise Show.
He was also instrumental in helping the careers of Cilla Black and Val Doonican. The executive also worked with disgraced presenter Rolf Harris.
As dramatised in The Reckoning, Bill Cotton was made aware of allegations against Jimmy Savile. These included rumours that Jimmy Savile had raped a teenage girl. Tragically, the young girl later took her own life.
Despite these worrying rumours, Bill Cotton continued to employ Jimmy Savile and even promoted him. Jimmy was at the helm of television shows in which he mainly mixed with young people.
Bill Cotton received a BAFTA Fellowship Award in 1998, and was made a Sir in 2001. He died in 2008, three years before Jimmy Savile.
Did Bill Cotton know Jimmy Savile was a paedophile?
There is no proof that Bill Cotton knew Jimmy Savile was a sexual deviant.
Speaking ahead of the series launch, producer Jeff Pope said: “I think Bill was hoodwinked by Jimmy Savile, like thousands of others.
“We contacted Bill Cotton’s relatives about the drama and did not hear back. But we have not gone beyond anything established by Dame Janet Smith’s independent review of the BBC’s handling of Savile.”
Dame Janet Smith’s independent review totalled more than 700 pages. It found that Jimmy Savile had sexually abused 72 people and had raped eight people, including an eight-year-old, at “virtually every one of the BBC premises at which he worked”.
The report highlighted five individuals who “could have done something about Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall” but did not act. These included Jimmy Savile’s Radio 1 producer Ted Beston, and Canon Colin Semper, a producer in the religious broadcasting department. Also, former Controller of Radio 1 and Radio 2 Douglas Muggeridge, Regional Television Manager for the BBC Raymond Coley, and BBC executive Tom German.
Former news presenter and entertainer Stuart Hall also worked for the BBC, and was later convicted of sex offences. The It’s a Knockout presenter was convicted of multiple sexual offences against children. He is currently out of jail and 93 years old.
Who plays Bill in The Reckoning?
Actor Michael Jibson portrays Bill Cotton in The Reckoning. He’s perhaps best known for playing Matthew Evansford in The Essex Serpent.
He also played Tecwen Whittock in Quiz, Steve Hewlett in The Crown, and Stuart Reeves in the Keeley Hawes drama Honour. Michael starred as DC Paul Slaymaker in Four Lives, a gritty drama by the same makers of The Reckoning.
In 2022, he played Sheridan Smith’s onscreen husband in No Return.
Michael Jibson has also had roles in films such as Cemetery Junction, Les Misérables, Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, 1917 and Last Night in Soho.
Is Bill Cotton related to Fearne Cotton?
Television presenter and radio personality Fearne Cotton, now 42, is related to Bill Cotton – well there is a clue in the name…
She is related to the former BBC executive Bill Cotton on her paternal side. Bill was Fearne’s grandfather’s cousin. He was the son of the band leader, Billy Cotton, a one time big TV and Radio entertainer in the 1950s and 1960s.
So Bill’s dad Billy Cotton was Fearne’s great-granduncle, and Sir Bill Cotton was her first cousin, twice removed. However, Bill Cotton Jr retired more than a decade before Fearne Cotton got any sort of job at the Beeb. He left in 1988, and Fearne became a Top of the Pops presenter in in 2002.
Of course, her fans will know that Fearne began her career in the late 1990s in British children’s television. By 2007, she had joined BBC Radio 1 to co-present the chart show and then went on to become a household name with her own morning show on Radio 1. She was a team captain on Celebrity Juice, and remains friends with her opponent Holly Willoughby.
These days, she divides her time between writing books and family life with her two children in South West London. Fearne is married to Jesse Wood, the son of the Rolling Stone’s Ronnie Wood, though she always uses her maiden name professionally.
Read more: The Reckoning on BBC One: Where is Jimmy Savile’s ‘adopted son’ Ray Teret now?
The Reckoning is currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer. Episode 3 airs on Monday, October 16 2023, at 9pm.
Did you know Fearne Cotton was related to Bill Cotton? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.