Men Yelling.
After spending February discussing Olympic Crimes, Jenn and I are in the thick of classic true crime stories with one of the OGs: Jack the Ripper! We began with a primer courtesy of the documentary To Kill and Kill Again, followed by an early Alfred Hitchcock silent black and white beauty, The Lodger (listen).
Now we’re tackling a two-episode miniseries from 1988. Directed by David Wickes (who co-wrote the teleplay with Derek Marlowe), the series follows Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline (Michael Caine) of Scotland Yard as he investigates the murder of sex workers in Whitechapel.
Accompanied by his trustworthy partner, Sergeant Godley (Lewis Collins), the pair investigate no shortage of suspects, including:
- Richard Mansfield (Armand Assante), an American Stage actor who is performing in a fantastic-looking stage production of Jekyll and Hyde
- Coroner Dr. Llewellyn (Michael Hughes)
- Sir William Gull (Ray McAnally), physician to Queen Victoria
- Dr. Acland (Richard Morant), Sir William’s son-in-law
- Robert James Lees (Ken Bones), Queen Victoria’s psychic medium, who has visions of the killer; and
- Coach driver/low-class doctor John Netley (George Sweeney)
But as the killer grows more brazen, the question becomes: will Abberline identify the murderer before more women are killed?
In episode two, Michael Caine wraps up the case after a gruesome package that is sent to the media contains a pivotal clue that allows our fearless detectives to identify the Ripper from a bevy of suspects.
But will the world learn the identity of the notorious killer or will the truth stay buried for 100 years?
Want even more Murder Made Fiction? Be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where Jenn and I have 137 hours of content including episode by episode coverage of S01 of AMC’s The Terror.
