The Long Shadow

I lived in Shipley, Bradford during this, because I worked as an engineer and I banked in Shipley I was interviewed by the police during this investigation. I knew Peter Sutcliffe's brother Carl, I knew his Employer Willy Clarke. I don't know whether I ever met Peter Sutcliffe because he looked like 100's of guys back in the 70's. This series is very complimentary on the level of gross ineptitude and incompetence by the West Yorkshire police at this time. They were literally beyond useless during the whole of this investigation. This series highlights the plight of the victims which is an interesting perspective never really touched on before. It also highlights the level of prejudice and misogyny in police ranks waged against women of what was seen to be low moral character. The Yorkshire Ripper was more prolific than the Whitechapel murders in 1889, he was caught by mere chance by vigilant police officers in Sheffield , if this hadn't have happened, he might never have been caught.

Unusual, I guess, to see a seven-part TV mini-series but that was the slightly unusual format for this latest dramatisation of the infamous Yorkshire Ripper murders of the late 70's and early 80's committed by the evil Peter Sutcliffe.

This time, the point of view is switched to mainly focus on those of the victims and their families and to a lesser extent, those also of the police Investigators and their families. None of the murders are re-enacted and Sutcliffe himself doesn't actually appear at all until midway through the second last episode.

This approach for me worked, with the viewer sharing the increasing dread of the local female population of the killer's locale as he brutally slaughtered 13 women and injured 7 others (with rumours of more in the background) in the county over a five year period before a routine car number-plate check and the quick-thinking of an on-duty cop to return to the scene of the apprehension found Sutcliffe's "tools" and nailed him as the perpetrator.

The production did a good job of recreating the era with accurate depictions of the interiors of police stations, social clubs and various people's houses, as well as the cars and fashions of the day. It also didn't shy away from exposing some of the cheap and lazy prevailing attitudes of the day which certainly seemed to colour the outlook of the police who initially seemed to disparage the plights of the growing numbers of victims because they were mostly female prostitutes.

The usually sad circumstances which forced these women to take to the streets strongly colour the early episodes with a different reason shown for every one of them. We see one survivor of a Sutcliffe attack refuse to go public in case she's identified by family, friends and colleagues as a potential prostitute, again reflecting the low perception of the women who have turned to the streets only out of dire financial need, selling themselves for as little as £5 a time.

But if these women are at last shown with overdue retrospective sympathy and understanding, the same can't be said of the pursuing police. Confused, lazy, presumptive, disorganised and often prejudicial, their years and years of failure are artfully signposted on-screen by discreetly placed time markers. Their antiquated index-card system is exposed as being wholly inadequate to cope with the threat of a serial-killer, as we learn that Sutcliffe'was interviewed several times during the investigation with his recorded links to the murders buried away in mounds of paper-work. And that's before the police made probably their biggest mistake of the whole case, being led completely astray by a callous hoaxer with a Wearside accent who wasted who knows how much time and resources in his pursuit, but who in a postscript we gratifyingly learn was eventually tracked down and convicted for wasting police time.

The ensemble acting throughout was of a high standard with the actor portraying Sutcliffe himself bearing an uncanny resemblance to the real thing and convincing the viewer of the ordinary, everyday anonymity which worked in his favour for so long.

Unsensational, realistic and compelling but above all humanely told, this did feel like the definitive dramatisation of the horrific crimes of one of Britain's worst-ever serial-killers.

As a former police officer who was working at the time the Yorkshire Ripper was committing his horrendous crimes my husband and I were left feeling so angry at the way some West Yorkshire police dealt with the women who were his victims. Particularly Marcella. I don't believe we dealt with victims in such a way in Hampshire. Although it was a totally different time there was no excuse. This drama pulls no punches in showing just how ignorant these male officers were. The arrogance of senior officers in their single minded pursuit of Wearside Jack. Thank goodness we now have computerised systems that would deal with a complicated case more efficiently. A shocking drama that shows multiple sides of this awful crime spree.

The real life story of one of Britain's most notorious killers, Peter Sutcliffe, who evaded capture for many years, taunting The Detectives on the case.

I was worried by two things, one, that at seven episodes long, that it would lag, and feel too padded, and secondly, that they'd add in current attitudes and mindsets into occurrences from the 1970's, a very different time.

Episode one apart, I think they got the tone and attitudes spot on, we see the sexism and racism. It's a very good adaptation, it feels like a fairly authentic telling of the story, I didn't think they'd sensationalised it, or overdone it, the right mix of drama and story.

It gets better as it progresses, I didn't particularly care for episode one, but it definitely ends better than it started. It highlights the real failings with the investigation.

I like that it focuses more so on the investigation itself, rather than Sutcliffe himself, we actually see surprisingly very little of him.

Production values are terrific, they got the details spot on, it looks and feels very authentic, great fashions, sets and cars, the team nailed it.

It boasts a great cast, British talent galore, the likes of Toby Jones, David Morrissey, Liz White and Mark Jordon, they're all on point.

I still can't believe he got away with this for so many years.

8/10.

This program is very well made, honest, heartbreaking & very important. I saw I review moaning about why itvx are making so many crime shows. I don't think this is the place for that discussion as this is meant to review a particular program. But saying that, I would like to say that I felt this program wasn't shallow or following the true crime popularity. I believe this was incredibly respectful & highlighted the catastrophic mistakes made when misogyny is rife, when victims aren't seen as a human being. This is a message about terrible mistakes made that if learnt from, can stop something like this happening again. Help the process for survivors. Help to make change. TV used in this way is incredibly powerful. Itvx did a wonderful job making this. The acting is incredible, the writing important & tone perfect.