7.848 minSeason 1 • Episode 7
LatestAfter a chance arrest, the killer is finally caught and the failures of the investigation are laid bare in the wake of the trial.
Dramatizing one of the most infamously notorious and shocking serial killer cases in the world, the hunt for Peter Sutcliffe, commonly dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper, between October 1975 and January 1981, South Yorkshire police undertook the biggest manhunt in British criminal history. The search for Sutcliffe lasted five years, involved over a thousand officers and changed the way the British police worked forever.
Acting
Lee Ingleby's crumbling DCS Hobson is quietly devastating.
Production
Period detail so authentic you can smell the cigarette smoke.
Writing
George Kay refuses to make cops the heroes.
Creator
George Kay
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real 'Wearside Jack' tape sent police on a wild goose chase to Sunderland; the hoaxer wasn't caught until 2005.
The case directly led to revolutionary changes in UK policing—female officers in murder squads and computerized record-keeping.
GB
