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Jack the Ripper is a six-part BBC police procedural made in 1973, in which the case of the Jack the Ripper murders is reopened and analysed by Detective Chief Superintendents Barlow and Watt (Stratford Johns and Frank Windsor, respectively). These characters were hugely popular with UK TV viewers at the time from their appearances on the long-running police series Z-Cars and its sequels Softly, Softly and Barlow at Large. The programme was presented partly as a discussion between the two principals in the present day, interspersed with dramatised-documentary scenes set in the 19th century. The series discusses suspects and conspiracies, but concludes there is insufficient evidence to determine who was Jack the Ripper. The experiment was seen to be a success, and the formula was repeated in 1976 with Second Verdict, in which Barlow and Watt cast their gaze over miscarriages of justice and unsolved mysteries from the past.
| Jack the Ripper | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Troy Kennedy Martin Elwyn Jones |
| Written by | Elwyn Jones John Lloyd |
| Starring | Stratford Johns Frank Windsor |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 13 July – 17 August 1973 |
Cast
edit- Stratford Johns as DCS Charlie Barlow
- Frank Windsor as DCS John Watt
- Gordon Christie as Inspector Abberline
- Hugo De Vernier as Albert Cadoche
- Christopher Fenwick as John Richardson
- Chris Gannon as Timothy Donovan
- Gabrielle Hamilton as Mrs. Richardson
- Basil Henson as Sir Charles Warren
- Julie May as Mrs Fiddymont
- Geoffrey Rose as Dr. Bagster Phillips
- Rosalind Ross as Elizabeth Long
- Hilary Sesta as Catherine Eddowes
- Peter Spraggon as Sergeant Thicke
- Varley Thomas as Emily Holland
- Kenneth Thornett as PC Neil
- Gabor Vernon as Louis Diemschütz
- Wendy Williams as Mrs Barnett
- Geoffrey Lumsden as editor of the Daily Telegraph
Episodes
edit| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The First Two"[1] | Leonard Lewis | Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd | 13 July 1973 |
| 2 | "Double Event"[2] | Gilchrist Calder | Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd | 20 July 1973 |
| 3 | "Butchery"[3] | David Wickes | Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd | 27 July 1973 |
| 4 | "Panic"[4] | Leonard Lewis | Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd | 3 August 1973 |
| 5 | "Suspects"[5] | Gilchrist Calder | Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd | 10 August 1973 |
| 6 | "The Highest in the Land?"[6] | David Wickes | Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd | 17 August 1973 |
Release
editJack the Ripper was made available for syndication. It was first distributed by 20th Century-Fox Television, in cooperation with Metromedia.[7]
When televised in the United States, it featured Sebastian Cabot as host-narrator, and was broadcast variably using the title The Whitechapel Murders or the original Jack the Ripper.[8][9]
The series was also adapted into a book titled The Ripper File authored by series script writers Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd.[10] The 1979 film Murder by Decree, starring Christopher Plummer as Sherlock Holmes investigating the Whitechapel murders, was based on The Ripper File.[11]
References
edit- ^ "Television". The Guardian. London. 13 July 1973. p. 2. Retrieved 30 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Television". The Guardian. London. 20 July 1973. p. 2. Retrieved 30 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Television". The Guardian. London. 27 July 1973. p. 2. Retrieved 30 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Television". The Guardian. London. 3 August 1973. p. 2. Retrieved 30 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Television". The Guardian. London. 10 August 1973. p. 2. Retrieved 30 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Television". The Guardian. London. 17 August 1973. p. 2. Retrieved 30 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Century Theatre (print ad)" (PDF). Broadcasting. 21 May 1973. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ Newton, Dwight (7 October 1973). "Video with Dwight Newton: The week's new shows - it's a crime". Sunday Scene. The San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle. p. 16. Retrieved 30 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Bailey, Marilyn (10 March 1974). "Jack the Ripper is back". TV Week. Minneapolis Tribune. pp. 6–7. Retrieved 30 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jones, Elwyn; Lloyd, John. The Ripper File: The documentary investigation by Detective Chief Superintendents Charles Barlow and John Watt. Arthur Barker. ISBN 0213165368. LCCN 75328051. OCLC 1464278.
- ^ Bob Clark (director) (1979). Murder by Decree (Motion picture). London: AVCO Embassy Pictures. OCLC 472353182.
Based on 'The Ripper File' by John Lloyd and Elwyn Jones