Sur la piste de l'éventreur du Yorkshire

New 4 part documentary on Netflix which has frustratingly accurate footage of the police's disregard for the victims. It was their arrogance which blinkered their investigation for far too long before he was finally caught. Not by the extent of their police work, but by officers arresting him for a completely unrelated offence, which the bigwigs happily took the praise for. Although I've seen something very similar before, it's still a very worthy watch.

The Ripper (2020) is a 4-part Netflix docuseries that I recently wrapped up. The storyline follows the infamous Yorkshire Ripper's killing spree in the late 70s/early 80s that plagued England and went unsolved for 5 years as the killing spree reached the 20s and the authorities could seemingly do nothing about it.

This series was cocreated by Jesse Vile (Gypsy's Revenge) and Ellena Wood (First Cut). This series does a great job of depicting this era in England and the perception of women in society. There's also a strong message on how men controlled access to certain roles and positions at the time and how that narrow mindness impacted the case, the search and the events. The meticulous details of the events and how the killer covered his tracks was smart. It was also interesting how details were right in front of the police and audience and you completely miss it until the reveal at the end, even with subtle hints throughout the series.

Overall, this is a very smart docuseries with a fascinating killer but even more fascinating circumstances around the investigation and era. I would score this series an 8/10 and strongly recommend it.

Overall a good documentary series but it gets hijacked towards the end by a couple of contributors peddling their political agendas. Yes the police made horrible blunders and judgements but the idea it was all some male conspiracy is over the top. The contributions by the people at the centre of the story - the victims' families, the survivors and the police officers are fascinating and often heartbreaking. The emphasis on the women who died rather than the murderer is welcome too.

A lot of reviewers have noted there was too much reference to the feminist movement during this series. To my mind, this was an integral part of the programme. I didn't see this as male bashing, but more about the incompetence of the police at the time, their use of derogative language to describe the victims, while highlighting their preconcieved notions about the women from the outset of the murders. These dated and, frankly, mysoginist views hampered the investigation. Well worth the watch.

The series is much more than the story of a serial killer, is the story of police patriarchal mentality, is about blaming victims, and evaluating the value of lives according to what a person does for a living. They didn't take him seriously until an "innocent" young woman became the victim of this serial killer. It's about prejudice and a case that changed mentalities inside the police but also among the general population. I saw this series as a society overlook at that time. They were looking after something they created in their mind because they couldn't see much more nor were they interested in understanding, a non-existent entity. Unfortunately is not the last case treated like this by police all over the world, but clearly his acts were horrific to say at least. Is not a masterpiece, but it says a lot about the entire social-economical status of the period. It creates a pretty good image. I believe the critics of this series are undeserving.