What is it that compels TV executives to throw money at companies who want to investigate the murders perpetrated by Jack the Ripper? Sure, they were never solved, nor was the killer's true identity ever established... Indeed, the name comes from a letter received by the police at the time, which they concluded was actually a fake, and not from the killer at all.
But considering how many times documentaries and dramatisations have already been made, why carry on? Why make another? What possible reason can they have?
Well, if you're Channel 5, it's all about the CSI-style piecing together of evidence almost 120 years old.
Except, even that isn't new. I remember a similar thing happening maybe 20 years ago, presented by Paul Ross (making it a Crime Monthly special). It posited that there had been several suspects, and vowed to reveal the killer's true identity, just as this new Channel 5 show does. One of the suspects was a member of the Royal Family and, for much of the show, he seemed to be the favoured suspect.
Then, the incredible happened...
Out of thin air, a new suspect emerged: a Polish immigrant butcher.
He fitted the scant description and, aside from coming up in various police reports, was basically unknown, whereas the other suspects had some kind of reputation (or were royalty). Reportedly, he ended up in an asylum (which might explain why the killings stopped)... but how he ended his days was not fully established. Some say he hanged himself, some say he lived out his remaining days in his cell.
Still, this unknown immigrant was the stooge they eventually pinned the crime on... Following, as it happens, the lead set by The Secret Indentity of Jack the Ripper, presented by Sir Peter Ustinov, two years before.
I strongly suspect that this new show will do much the same, and 'finally' establish the same identity...
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