Comedian and impressionist Alistair McGowan it to play Jimmy Savile in a new play which explores the disgraced DJ's crimes.

An Audience with Jimmy Savile is written by writer/reporter Jonathan Maitland and will run at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park from June 10 - July 11. 

According to a report in the Guardian the play will draw on interview transcripts, statements from witnesses and official documents to look at Savile’s story: “It is semi-reportage. Almost everything Savile says in the play he said in interviews or I’m satisfied he would have said it like that,” said Maitland.

McGowan has recently juggled straight acting and comedy and this part may well draw on his long-standing skills as an impressionist. “To have someone who is a fine actor but can also do the entertaining bit is great,” Maitland told the Guardian. “But obviously the play is very much about the dark, nasty side. Alistair is terrific at that.”