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You can\u2019t fault its stellar ensemble cast \u2013 everyone from Toby Jones and Lee Ingleby, Katherine Kelley and Jill Halfpenny to David Morrissey and Daniel Mays appears in The Long Shadow. Nor the integrity and meticulous care that have clearly gone into construction of ITV\u2019s new seven-part true crime drama. It\u2019s the nature of the real-life subject matter that has raised eyebrows.<\/p>\n
Examining as it does the lives and deaths of the victims of Peter Sutcliffe \u2013 not referred to as the \u201cYorkshire Ripper\u201d, say programme makers, because family members and survivors find the term \u201ctriggering\u201d \u2013 was always going to be fraught. Indeed, keeping the drama focused on the victims rather than Sutcliffe himself was the only way to justify telling this story in 2023, according to its writer George Kay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are many documentaries and books out there whose focus is more heavily on him,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut that wasn\u2019t what was interesting and relevant about retelling the events of this case now. Audiences want to be offered a new perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crucially, The Long Shadow doesn\u2019t try to reenact Sutcliffe\u2019s sickening crimes.<\/p>\n
READ MORE <\/strong> The Voice UK fans \u2018work out\u2019 axed Olly Murs’ replacement on ITV talent show<\/strong><\/p>\n Instead, it focuses on the police sexism and incompetence that allowed him to escape detection for so long, highlighting the anguish of the families affected.<\/p>\n \u201cGeorge\u2019s approach is really about bringing the victims into colour,\u201d says executive producer Willow Grylls. \u201cWe went to great lengths to reach out to some of the people affected by Sutcliffe\u2019s crimes. We needed to be sure the people who chose to collaborate were happy with the way they were being represented as well as double-checking we\u2019d got the details right.<\/p>\n \u201cTackling any dramatisation like this is a huge research undertaking. We strove to make every detail as authentic and true to real events as possible. Where appropriate, building relationships with victims\u2019 families was a hugely important part of that work.\u201d<\/p>\n Sutcliffe\u2019s first known victim was Wilma McCann, 28, killed on October 30, 1975. There would be another 12 confirmed killings before his arrest in January 1981.<\/p>\n The key challenge with any real-life story that deals with murder or crimes of a violent nature is trying to tell an authentic and truthful account of the events without it feeling grotesque or exploitative of the people you\u2019re portraying.<\/p>\n \u201cThis then carries through to all aspects of production, from costumes to acting, to the way we edit and score the show,\u201d says director Lewis Arnold. \u201cWe want those contributors, who have been on this journey with us, to be comfortable with how their loved ones have been portrayed \u2013 particularly in the case of the victims and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n Daniel Mays, who plays Sydney Jackson, husband of the serial killer\u2019s victim Emily Jackson, says: \u201cI was incredibly moved by the plight of the Jackson family. Because of their dire economic circumstances, Emily [Katherine Kelly] persuaded Sydney to let her go out and solicit for sex so they could get money they desperately needed to pay their bills.\u201d<\/p>\n She was to become Sutcliffe\u2019s second victim.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a helluva lot to play with there from a dramatic point of view,\u201d says Mays. \u201cIt\u2019s unimaginable the sorrow Sydney and Emily must have gone through.\u201d The Jacksons\u2019 eldest surviving son, Neil, was a teenager at the time of his mother\u2019s murder. Today he\u2019s a man in his 60s.<\/p>\n How must he feel about his family\u2019s tragic story being brought to the small screen like this all these years later?<\/p>\n \u201cI decided to find out,\u201d continues Mays. \u201cYou can do all the research and read all the books and watch all the documentaries. But I asked the producer to set up a meeting for me with Neil Jackson in a hotel in Leeds.<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n Don’t miss… <\/strong> \u201cI just didn\u2019t know what to expect. He was so incredibly generous and gracious with his time, though. I had such respect for him as a result of the hour he spent with me.\u201d<\/p>\n Says Katherine Kelly: \u201cI\u2019m wary of referring to the \u2018character\u2019 I played because Emily existed. The responsibility was not something I took lightly. I\u2019m aware of the fact that one day I may be confronted by her friends or family members and I\u2019d have to look them in the eye.\u201d<\/p>\n The parents of Jacqueline Hill believed the unknown murderer was from Sunderland because a man later identified as John Humble aka Wearside Jack \u2013 and subsequently jailed for eight years for perverting the course of justice \u2013 had been sending voice messages to the police purporting to be Sutcliffe.<\/p>\n As a result, they encouraged their daughter to apply to university in Leeds. It was to prove a fatal decision. \u201cWe went to see the Hill family who\u2019d never spoken to the press or any part of the media before. We wanted to gain their trust,\u201d says writer Kay.<\/p>\n Poignantly, as he was writing the episode that dealt with Jackie\u2019s murder, Sarah Everard was abducted and killed by serving police officer, Wayne Couzens.<\/p>\n \u201cIt brought home very forcefully to me that, in many ways, the world hasn\u2019t moved on and particularly in relation to how some men treat women,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n Jill Halfpenny, who plays Jackie Hill\u2019s mother, Doreen, says: \u201cThe story so far has been so much focused on the police, on what the killer did and how he did it, and on the fact that for a long time it was a wild goose chase. My character alludes to that at the end. She says, \u2018Why are you calling him The Ripper? That\u2019s not his name.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know his name. Use his name because The Ripper is trying to make something so disgusting and so upsetting into something weirdly exciting. But it\u2019s not.\u2019 These people are real. These people went through this.\u201d Marcella Claxton survived a hammer attack by Sutcliffe \u2013 who died aged 74 in November 2020 after nearly three decades caged in Broadmoor. But she was scarcely listened to by the police because, it seems, they paid little regard to a black prostitute.<\/p>\n And yet, the photo-fit picture she helped the police construct was so chillingly accurate that, had it been widely circulated, it might well have identified Sutcliffe and prevented the subsequent ten or so murders he carried out in his five-year reign of terror.<\/p>\n She has recently spoken of her despair that she was not taken seriously. \u201cI hope Marcella feels that we\u2019ve done justice to her story,\u201d says Jasmine Lee-Jones, who plays her on-screen.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing that this job taught me was that every time I wanted to ask whether I was doing a good job or not, I\u2019d just say to myself, \u2018It\u2019s not about you. It\u2019s about whether you\u2019re telling the truth or not because this actually happened to someone.\u2019 So, I hope I\u2019ve gone some way towards embodying the truth that she experienced.\u201d<\/p>\n Toby Jones is DCS Dennis Hoban, the first detective assigned to the case. \u201cIn previous iterations, the story of Peter Sutcliffe has been troubling because often the drama is weighted in terms of the murderer rather than the victims,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so this is a very interesting reassessment of history from their point of view. I also thought it would be interesting for the viewer if they could shed their preconceptions about what they were going to see and re-experience the way the case grew and changed shape and became like this enormous cloud that engulfed the country.\u201d<\/p>\n But, for all that, The Long Shadow wasn\u2019t commissioned in the first place for the social good. The goal is good ratings. So, a tension inevitably exists between producing a piece of compelling TV drama while trying to tell a story as serious as this one.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, there was inevitably a responsibility about telling a commercial cop story while simultaneously according the real-life participants the justice they deserve,\u201d says Kay.<\/p>\n \u201cUltimately, I think we executed it with integrity, with empathy and with the right attitude. I was determined it shouldn\u2019t be exploitative in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n The makers of another drama, The Reckoning, which will finally air on BBC One in the autumn, presumably feel the same. Steve Coogan stars as Jimmy Savile in the story of the late DJ\u2019s sordid secret life.<\/p>\n When it was revealed he was playing the disgraced paedophile, Coogan said: \u201cTo play Jimmy Savile was not a decision I took lightly. Neil McKay has written an intelligent script tackling sensitively an horrific story which \u2013 however harrowing \u2013 needs to be told.\u201d<\/p>\n The BBC has previously said the production worked closely with people whose lives were affected by Savile to ensure their stories were told with \u201csensitivity and respect\u201d. It also insisted that the drama would \u201cdraw on extensive and wide-ranging research sources\u201d.Yet the lingering doubts remain.<\/p>\n Both The Long Shadow and The Reckoning bring to the nation\u2019s sitting rooms the lives of those women and children, living and dead, whose lives were and, in some cases, still are devastated by the actions of two evil men.<\/p>\n And, whichever way you slice it, these stories will be presented as drama or, to put it another way, entertainment. Both series are undeniably put together with integrity and the highest possible production values.<\/p>\n But that begs the bigger question: unlike Broadchurch, say, or Happy Valley, the unspeakable acts of Peter Sutcliffe and Jimmy Savile were carried out by real people on real victims. So, does that make them suitable small-screen fare for dramatisation by our public broadcasters? While The Long Shadow is a well-told tale, there are those who have their misgivings.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/20\/590x\/secondary\/4976014.jpg?r=1695581487136\")
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