''Whitechapel'' is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...

, produced by

Carnival Films Carnival Films is a British production company based in London, UK, founded in 1978. It has produced television series for all the major UK networks including the BBC, ITV (TV network), ITV, Channel 4, and Sky (United Kingdom), Sky, as well as ...

and distributed by BBC Worldwide, in which detectives in London's

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

district deal with murders which replicated historical crimes. The first series was broadcast in the UK on 2 February 2009 and depicted the search for a modern copycat killer replicating the murders of

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...

. A second series was commissioned by

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

in September 2009 with the focus on the Kray twins. The first episode of this second series was broadcast on 11 October 2010. A third series was commissioned by ITV in March 2011, which was extended to six episodes as three two-part stories. The first and second series were broadcast in the United States on six consecutive Wednesday evenings beginning 26 October 2011 on the

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is jointly owned by BBC Studios and AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary ser ...

cable network. The third was broadcast in the US starting on Wednesday 28 March 2012, also on BBC America. On 24 September 2012, ITV renewed ''Whitechapel'' for a fourth and final series consisting of six episodes. The first episode was broadcast on 4 September 2013. On 16 November 2013, lead actor

Rupert Penry-Jones Rupert William Penry-Jones (born 22 September 1970) is a British actor, known for his performances as Adam Carter in '' Spooks'', Clive Reader in ''Silk'', DI Joseph Chandler in ''Whitechapel'', and Mr Quinlan in the American horror series ''The ...

confirmed that ITV had decided not to recommission the show.

Main cast

as D.I. Joseph Chandler * Phil Davis as D.S. Ray Miles * Steve Pemberton as Edward Buchan *

Christopher Fulford Christopher Fulford (born 1955) is a British actor who is best known for his supporting roles in many British TV shows, one of the earliest being punk Alex in the short lived sitcom '' Sorry, I'm A Stranger Here Myself'' (1981–82). Career Ful ...

as D.C. Fitzgerald (Series 1) * Johnny Harris as D.C. Sanders (Series 1) *

Sam Stockman Sam Stockman (born 19 May 1982) is an English actor and musician, whose most notable acting role is as DC Emerson Kent on the UK crime drama ''Whitechapel'' from 2009 to 2013. Acting career Stockman began acting at the age of 10 in the indepen ...

as D.C. Emerson Kent *

George Rossi George Rossi (28 September 1961 – 5 January 2022) was a Scottish actor, best known for playing Duncan Lennox in ''The Bill'' from 1998 to 2003. Early life and education Rossi was born in Govan, Glasgow, on 28 September 1961. He was of Itali ...

as D.C. John McCormack (Series 1–2) *

Alex Jennings Alex Jennings (born 10 May 1957) is an English actor of the stage and screen, who worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. For his work on the London stage, Jennings received three Olivier Awards, winning for ...

as Commander Anderson (Series 1–2) *

Claire Rushbrook Claire Louise Rushbrook (born 25 August 1971) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Roxanne in '' Secrets & Lies.'' Early life Claire Louise Rushbrook was born on 25 August 1971 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. She attended Fearnh ...

as Dr Caroline Llewellyn * Ben Bishop as D.C. Finlay Mansell (Series 2–4) *

Hannah Walters Hannah Walters is an English actress and producer. Career Walters began her acting career in 2006, with a small role in ''The Thieving Headmistress''. She followed this with appearances as Trudy in the Shane Meadows film ''This Is England'' a ...

as D.C. Megan Riley (Series 3–4)

Connections to the Whitechapel murders case

The names of the some of the characters are drawn from real people associated with the

Whitechapel murders The Whitechapel murders were committed in or near the largely impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London between 3 April 1888 and 13 February 1891. At various points some or all of these eleven unsolved murders of women have ...

case committed by

. Joseph Chandler was a Police Inspector who was the first officer to arrive at the scene of the death of

Annie Chapman Annie Chapman (born Eliza Ann Smith; 25 September 1840 – 8 September 1888) was the second Jack the Ripper#Canonical five, canonical victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper, who killed and mutilation, mutilated a min ...

. Edward Buchan was a contemporary suspect for the murders who committed suicide on the day of

Mary Jane Kelly Mary Jane Kelly ( – 9 November 1888), also known as Marie Jeanette Kelly, Fair Emma, Ginger, Dark Mary and Black Mary, is widely believed to have been the final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper, who murdered ...

's funeral. Mary Bousfield was Martha Tabram's landlady. John McCormack was the lover of suspected ripper victim Alice McKenzie. A Dr Llewellyn was called to the scene of the murder of

Mary Ann Nichols Mary Ann Nichols, known as Polly Nichols (née Walker; 26 August 184531 August 1888), was the first canonical victim of the unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, who is believed to have murdered and mutilated at least five women i ...

. The Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and head of the Criminal Investigation Department at the time of the murders was named Robert Anderson, he was the highest ranking officer to work on the cases. John Fitzgerald confessed to murder of

which was later proved untrue.

Series overview

Episode list

Series 1 (2009)

Guest starring; *Paul Hickey as David Cohen, a doctor at the local hospital. *Sally Leonard as Frances Coles, one of the intended murder victims. *Simon Tcherniak as George Phillips, Frances' boyfriend. *

Branko Tomović Branko Tomović ( sr, italic=yes, Бранко Томовић; born June 17, 1980) is a German-Serbian actor and filmmaker. Career He was born in Münster, Germany, though his actual origin is from the Carpathians in Serbia. His parents emigra ...

as Antoni Pricha, one of the main suspects in the new Jack the Ripper case. *

Sophie Stanton Sophie Stanton (born 1971 in London, England) is an English actress, director and playwright. She is best known for her role as DCI Jill Marsden in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in which she has appeared on and off since 2001. Career Eas ...

as Mary Bousefield, a police officer and victim of the new Ripper. *Jane Riley as Sarah Smith, a key witness in the enquiry. *Ben Loyd-Holmes as Private John Leary, the first suspect in the Ripper case. Series one and two were broadcast as a single six-episode season on

, and were subsequently released on DVD as such. For the

DVD release, the two stories were given individual titles, with series one being entitled: ''The Walk of Terror'' (Parts 1–3) respectively.

Series 2 (2010)

Guest starring; *

Peter Serafinowicz Peter Szymon Serafinowicz ( ; born 10 July 1972) is an English actor, comedian, director and screenwriter, best known for his roles as the title character in the 2016 live-action series of '' The Tick'', Pete in ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004) an ...

as DCI Cazenove, the corrupt Head of the Organised Crime Division. *

Craig Parkinson Craig Parkinson (born 11 March 1976) is an English actor and podcaster. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Shaun in the E4 series '' Misfits'', twins Jimmy and Johnny Kray in the ITV series ''Whitechapel'', and DI Matthew "Dot" Cottan ...

as Jimmy and Johnny Kray, the heirs to the legacy of the original Kray twins. *Chrissie Cotterill as Angie Brooks, mother of the Kray twins. * Andrew Tiernan as Steven Dukes, a local gangster who helped the Krays rise to power. Series one and two were broadcast as a single six-episode season on

, and were subsequently released on DVD as such. For the

DVD release, the two stories was given individual titles, with series two being entitled: ''The Legend Rising'' (Parts 1–3) respectively.

Series 3 (2012)

''Whitechapel'' was commissioned for a third series in March 2011, but unlike the previous two series, which were each based on a single event, the new series was split into three separate two-part stories, which each focused on a different case. For the

DVD releases, the three stories were given individual titles: ''The Murder in Darkness'', ''The Hunger for Mercy'' and ''The Sins of Betrayal'' respectively.

Series 4 (2013)

''Whitechapel'' was commissioned for a fourth series in October 2012, and follows the same format as the third series, featuring three individual cases. For the

DVD releases, the last three stories were given the titles ''The Real Enemy'', ''The Force of Injustice'' and ''To This End'', respectively.

Production

The first series was written by Ben Court and Caroline Ip. ITV Director of Drama Laura Mackie said "''Whitechapel'' is a very modern take on the detective genre which combines the Victorian intrigue of the original case with the atmospheric backdrop of a contemporary

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

. This is not simply about bloodthirstily recreating the

Ripper Ripper or The Ripper may refer to: People * Ripper (surname) * Paul Burchill, ring name "The Ripper", a professional wrestler based on Jack the Ripper * Kirk Hammett, nicknamed "The Ripper", the lead guitarist in the heavy metal band Metallica ...

murders, but rather focusing on the three main characters at the heart of the story and the black humour that binds the team together."

Reception

''Whitechapel'' debuted on 2 February 2009 at 9pm with 8.13 million viewers on the overnight ratings. Series one received positive reviews, and holds a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

score of 75 out of 100, indicating "generally favourable" reviews. A review in the ''

Leicester Mercury The ''Leicester Mercury'' is a British regional newspaper for the city of Leicester and the neighbouring counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The paper began in the 19th century as the ''Leicester Daily Mercury'' and later changed to its pre ...

'' said that it was "''

Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...

'', without the time-travel" adding "what Whitechapel lacked in originality, it more than made up for with atmosphere and enthusiasm." After Episode 2 was broadcast on 9 February, Andrew Billen in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' said that he had warmed to it more and more, adding, "slowly, the show is making Ripperologists of us all, as Jack's 'canonical' murders are separated from the ones he actually committed. It is all in the worst possible taste and bloody good fun." However, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' was less impressed, writing "The premise was feeble, the script imbecilic, the acting on autopilot, the direction lacking in any glimmer of tension." Series two received favourable reviews, and holds a

score of 69 out of 100, indicating "generally favourable" reviews.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitechapel (Tv Series) 2009 British television series debuts 2013 British television series endings 2000s British police procedural television series 2010s British police procedural television series British detective television series British thriller television series English-language television shows ITV television dramas Television shows set in London Television series about Jack the Ripper Whitechapel