I'm watching the brilliant and spookily dark BBC police drama series Whitechapel. I've watched Series 1 on DVD and Series 2 on DVD and tonight I will watch the last episode of series 3 on DVD.
Whitechapel is, of course, the area of East London where Jack the Ripper committed his brutal and bloody murders of prostitutes in 1888. And Series 1 of this series sees Jack the Ripper return to Whitechapel. Or, at least, a Jack the Ripper copycat killer.
Series 1 - Jack the Ripper is back in Whitechapel (2008 )
Fast-tracker DI Joseph Chandler is posted to Whitechapel by Commander Anderson to lead the investigation into the murder of a woman. He is, at first, unpopular with the other men, including their former leader (now their second in command), the hard-bitten DS Ray Miles. However, the case does not turn out as straightforward as Chandler had hoped. The victim, Cathy Lane, is found by CSO Mary Bousfield, bleeding to death with her throat cut in the yard of a Board School, with the killer watching only a short distance away.
Not far from where her body lies firemen are tackling a huge blaze in a large empty building. When they start to investigate the case, Chandler and his team meet Ed Buchan, a Ripperologist who gives tourists guided tours around the area of Whitechapel where Jack the Ripper committed his deadly deeds. He has noticed some similarities between the murder of Cathy Lane and the first of Jack the Ripper's murders. He tells Chandler and Miles that Cathy's body was found in exactly the same spot as the first of the Ripper victims Mary Ann Nichols and, just as in the case of the discovery of Cathy's body, a large building was ablaze nearby the body of the first victim of Jack the Ripper in 1888. Cathy Lane's murder took place at the same time and on the same date as Mary Ann Nichol's murder by the mysterious Jack the Ripper in 1888. Not only that, but Cathy Lane was brutally torn asunder in exactly the same was as Jack the Ripper victim Mary Anne Nichols. The cops soon realise they have a Jack the Ripper copycat on their hands and use Buchan's expert knowledge of the Ripper Murders - such as the time, date and location their bodies were found in Whitechapel - to try to put a stop to the other murders of the new Jack the Ripper (Buchan rightly tells the cops that there were five canonical Ripper victims in total). Can the team stop the other murders taking place or are they unable to stop the new Jack the Ripper killing women in the same way and in the same locations and at the same time and date as the original Ripper did?
Series 2 - The Kray Twins are back in Whitechapel (2011)
Series 2 of Whitechapel sees yet another copycat of a famous Whitechapel murderer. Or, to be more precise, TWO copycats. This time Chandler, Miles (who is now a good friend of Chandler), Buchan and the rest of the team have a new set of Kray Twins on their hands, committing murders in Whitechapel just as the original Krays did in the 1960s! These gangsters terrorised Whitechapel and loved nothing more than to stab their victims in the face and then impale them to the floor through their necks; to riddle them with bullets then fish out the bullets from the corpse and dump it in the Thames; or to just impale someone's hand to a snooker table. And now they are back - or, at least their copycats are - and they are committing the same horrific crimes as the Krays did. Thankfully for the team, Ripperologist Buchan is also an expert on the Krays, and his knowledge of the murders committed by the Krays in the 1960s helps the team to work out who the next victims will be, where they will be killed, how they will be killed and when. Can they stop the copycat murders and capture the Krays Mark II?
Series 3 - An assortment of gruesome crimes which echo those of the past, and even the odd bit of supposed fairytale (2012)
Series 3 of Whitechapel again sees the team investigating crimes in Whitechapel which seem to echo those of the past - but this time not just crimes that happened in Whitechapel but crimes that also happened elsewhere. The team uses famous crimes of the past to help them solve their 21st Century equivalents in Whitechapel. This time Chandler and Miles have hired Buchan as the team's historical advisor, working amongst dusty old crime records in the police station's cellar. In one episode, a fox runs through the streets of Whitechapel carrying a human arm in its mouth. Soon other bodies parts - torsos, feet and other arms - start to appear, some washed up by the Thames. Thankfully Buchan notices their similarity to the Thames Torso Murders of 1887 to 1889 (the same time that Jack the Ripper killed his victims), and he uses his knowledge to help the team solve the crime. How will other famous crimes and murderers such as the Ratcliffe Highway Murders of 1811 (which happened in Wapping, just a stone's throw from Whitechapel), HH Holmes, the Zodiac Killer and even the Bogeyman (each of which has its own episode in the series) help to solve other similar murders committed in present day Whitechapel?
If you like crime dramas set in dark, ancient streets (such as Whitechapel) with killers standing in shadows with bloody knives, with an old-fashioned feel about everything (the makers of the series have deliberately given the cops and their police station an old-fashioned look even though it's set in the modern day), this is for you. If you want your crime dramas to feature a new Jack the Ripper, a new set of Kray Twins, a killer who seems to vanish at will into thin air and kills people in their homes when they turn out the lights and even a Bogeyman stalking the streets, this is for you.
This series also teaches you a bit of history. Thanks to Buchan's expert knowledge of past crimes, he is able to explain to his team (and therefore the viewer) about certain foul murders committed a long time ago. If you were never an expert on Jack the Ripper, the Krays or the Ratcliffe Highway Murders, you will be after watching Whitechapel.
Series 4 of Whitechapel is coming soon.
Whitechapel is, of course, the area of East London where Jack the Ripper committed his brutal and bloody murders of prostitutes in 1888. And Series 1 of this series sees Jack the Ripper return to Whitechapel. Or, at least, a Jack the Ripper copycat killer.
Series 1 - Jack the Ripper is back in Whitechapel (2008 )
Fast-tracker DI Joseph Chandler is posted to Whitechapel by Commander Anderson to lead the investigation into the murder of a woman. He is, at first, unpopular with the other men, including their former leader (now their second in command), the hard-bitten DS Ray Miles. However, the case does not turn out as straightforward as Chandler had hoped. The victim, Cathy Lane, is found by CSO Mary Bousfield, bleeding to death with her throat cut in the yard of a Board School, with the killer watching only a short distance away.
Not far from where her body lies firemen are tackling a huge blaze in a large empty building. When they start to investigate the case, Chandler and his team meet Ed Buchan, a Ripperologist who gives tourists guided tours around the area of Whitechapel where Jack the Ripper committed his deadly deeds. He has noticed some similarities between the murder of Cathy Lane and the first of Jack the Ripper's murders. He tells Chandler and Miles that Cathy's body was found in exactly the same spot as the first of the Ripper victims Mary Ann Nichols and, just as in the case of the discovery of Cathy's body, a large building was ablaze nearby the body of the first victim of Jack the Ripper in 1888. Cathy Lane's murder took place at the same time and on the same date as Mary Ann Nichol's murder by the mysterious Jack the Ripper in 1888. Not only that, but Cathy Lane was brutally torn asunder in exactly the same was as Jack the Ripper victim Mary Anne Nichols. The cops soon realise they have a Jack the Ripper copycat on their hands and use Buchan's expert knowledge of the Ripper Murders - such as the time, date and location their bodies were found in Whitechapel - to try to put a stop to the other murders of the new Jack the Ripper (Buchan rightly tells the cops that there were five canonical Ripper victims in total). Can the team stop the other murders taking place or are they unable to stop the new Jack the Ripper killing women in the same way and in the same locations and at the same time and date as the original Ripper did?
Series 2 - The Kray Twins are back in Whitechapel (2011)
Series 2 of Whitechapel sees yet another copycat of a famous Whitechapel murderer. Or, to be more precise, TWO copycats. This time Chandler, Miles (who is now a good friend of Chandler), Buchan and the rest of the team have a new set of Kray Twins on their hands, committing murders in Whitechapel just as the original Krays did in the 1960s! These gangsters terrorised Whitechapel and loved nothing more than to stab their victims in the face and then impale them to the floor through their necks; to riddle them with bullets then fish out the bullets from the corpse and dump it in the Thames; or to just impale someone's hand to a snooker table. And now they are back - or, at least their copycats are - and they are committing the same horrific crimes as the Krays did. Thankfully for the team, Ripperologist Buchan is also an expert on the Krays, and his knowledge of the murders committed by the Krays in the 1960s helps the team to work out who the next victims will be, where they will be killed, how they will be killed and when. Can they stop the copycat murders and capture the Krays Mark II?
Series 3 - An assortment of gruesome crimes which echo those of the past, and even the odd bit of supposed fairytale (2012)
Series 3 of Whitechapel again sees the team investigating crimes in Whitechapel which seem to echo those of the past - but this time not just crimes that happened in Whitechapel but crimes that also happened elsewhere. The team uses famous crimes of the past to help them solve their 21st Century equivalents in Whitechapel. This time Chandler and Miles have hired Buchan as the team's historical advisor, working amongst dusty old crime records in the police station's cellar. In one episode, a fox runs through the streets of Whitechapel carrying a human arm in its mouth. Soon other bodies parts - torsos, feet and other arms - start to appear, some washed up by the Thames. Thankfully Buchan notices their similarity to the Thames Torso Murders of 1887 to 1889 (the same time that Jack the Ripper killed his victims), and he uses his knowledge to help the team solve the crime. How will other famous crimes and murderers such as the Ratcliffe Highway Murders of 1811 (which happened in Wapping, just a stone's throw from Whitechapel), HH Holmes, the Zodiac Killer and even the Bogeyman (each of which has its own episode in the series) help to solve other similar murders committed in present day Whitechapel?
If you like crime dramas set in dark, ancient streets (such as Whitechapel) with killers standing in shadows with bloody knives, with an old-fashioned feel about everything (the makers of the series have deliberately given the cops and their police station an old-fashioned look even though it's set in the modern day), this is for you. If you want your crime dramas to feature a new Jack the Ripper, a new set of Kray Twins, a killer who seems to vanish at will into thin air and kills people in their homes when they turn out the lights and even a Bogeyman stalking the streets, this is for you.
This series also teaches you a bit of history. Thanks to Buchan's expert knowledge of past crimes, he is able to explain to his team (and therefore the viewer) about certain foul murders committed a long time ago. If you were never an expert on Jack the Ripper, the Krays or the Ratcliffe Highway Murders, you will be after watching Whitechapel.
Series 4 of Whitechapel is coming soon.
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