ITV announces new Peter Sutcliffe drama The Long Shadow with star-studded cast
ITV is set to screen a new Peter Sutcliffe drama, The Long Shadow, which features a host of famous faces.
The series depicts the desperate five-year hunt for the serial killer, known as the Yorkshire Ripper, who murdered 13 women and attempted to kill a further seven.
Directed by BAFTA-winning director Lewis Arnold, The Long Shadow stars The Detectorists' Toby Jones as DCS Dennis Hoban, who initially led the enquiry and The Walking Dead's David Morrissey as DCS George Oldfield, who famously took on the investigation. The drama also features EastEnders actress Jill Halfpenny, Coronation Street star Katherine Kelly and Emmerdale's Charley Webb.
Katherine Kelly stars in ITV's The Long Shadow (ITV)The seven-part series, which starts next month on ITV1 and ITVX next month, will focus on the lives of the victims who crossed Sutcliffe's path and those of the officers at the heart of the police investigation. With the victims, their families and the survivors at the heart of the series, The Long Shadow is said to bring a new perspective to the well-documented story.
Drawing upon hundreds of case files, interview transcripts and police reports, the series, written by award-winning screenwriter, George Kay, is also based on Wicked Beyond Belief, Michael Bilton’s critically acclaimed account of the case.
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Jill Halfpenny also stars in the drama (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Peter Sutcliffe was sentenced to 20 concurrent sentences of life imprisonment (REX/Shutterstock)Speaking about the The Long Shadow, which is filmed in Yorkshire and made by White House Farm's New Pictures, ITV's Head of Drama, Polly Hill said: “George’s scripts and Lewis’ direction together with this wonderful cast have produced a sensitive and brilliant drama that we are proud to have on ITV.”
Peter Sutcliffe was sentenced to 20 concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, which were converted to a whole life order in 2010. Two of his murders took place in Manchester while all the others were in West Yorkshire. Criminal psychologist Dr. David Holmes called the killer "extremely callous" and "sexually sadistic".
The search for Sutcliffe was one of the largest and most expensive manhunts in British history. West Yorkshire Police was criticised for not catching the murderer despite having interviewed him nine times in the course of their five-year investigation.
Owing to the huge interest in the case, the police handled a massive amount of information, some of it misleading, including hoax calls purporting to be from the "Ripper". Following Sutcliffe's conviction in 1981, the government ordered a review of the investigation, with the findings agreeing with the criticism of the force, which lead to changes to the way crimes were investigated.
Sutcliffe was transferred from prison to Broadmoor Hospital in March 1984 after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He died from diabetes-related complications in hospital, while in prison custody in 2020, aged 74.
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