Whitechapel: The Ripper Returns (BBC/DVD/2011)
The Brits do murder ever so well. There must be something in the historical waters that breeds such delicious murder mysteries; the whys and wherefores of those who would (to quote Eliza Doolittle) “do ‘er in for a hat-pin, let alone an ‘at.” So, a television series’ debut season (2009) has finally made its DVD run: “Whitechapel: The Ripper Returns,” a three-parter, in which a series of grisly slash/kills take place in the same area of East London where the mysterious and never-apprehended killer of area-prostitutes was code-named “Jack The Ripper” for his professional dispatching of these unfortunates in the late-summer/early autumn of 1888.
The modern killer, whom we see in full about halfway through the two-and-a-quarter hour-long series, admires the faceless Jack’s work and attempts to horrifically duplicate it on contemporary London women, located in the Whitechapel area of London. The police force is then forced to completely examine how and where the original murders took place and try and head this new killer off before he finishes the five-female-run of his predecessor.
While the script of Ben Court and Caroline Ip explains as well it can about the similarities between the 120-year connection, and director S.J. Clarkson keeps up the pace, there are times when it bogs down in the middle with informational overload. But the actors certainly do a bang-up job of keeping us interested. Rupert Penry-Jones is the new detective-inspector in charge, with grizzled Phil Davis as a battle-hardened sergeant who doesn’t respect university-educated law enforcers, when old-style brute force will do as well. The two actors have a great deal of fun playing off each other. As does Steve Pemberton as a “Ripperologist,” a man whose intimate knowledge of the killing spree decades before help the police until he becomes a suspect in the new killings.
There is a fine bonus-feature, “Peeling Back the Layers,” a “making of” featurette. I always find these peeks into the film-making process fascinating, so be sure to view it afterwards if you share a need to know more about this particular creative process. And we may look forward to at least one more series out next year; the third year has yet to air in Britain.