The Ripper

Documentary about the Yorkshire ripper, a serial killer that had the entire United Kingdom in its grip for several years. Lately there are a lot of shows about famous serial killers, it's just something people like to watch, and I get that as you just want to try to understand what is going on in a mind of a sick person. This one is divided in four episodes, maybe a tiny bit too long but still interesting to watch. Again you can't help it to be a bit disappointed by the investigation, the police forces are again not completely faultless even though not as failing as with Dahmer, Gacy, the Night Stalker or the Golden State killer but still the ripper should have been arrested much sooner. The episodes are basically interviews of investigators, victims that were lucky to got away, reporters, and the public opinion. Everyone adds to the story, everyone has their opinion, good or bad. I won't say it was the best series about the Yorkshire ripper but it was certainly interesting to watch.

The Ripper (2020) is a 4-part Netflix docuseries that I recently wrapped up. The storyline follows the infamous Yorkshire Ripper's killing spree in the late 70s/early 80s that plagued England and went unsolved for 5 years as the killing spree reached the 20s and the authorities could seemingly do nothing about it.

This series was cocreated by Jesse Vile (Gypsy's Revenge) and Ellena Wood (First Cut). This series does a great job of depicting this era in England and the perception of women in society. There's also a strong message on how men controlled access to certain roles and positions at the time and how that narrow mindness impacted the case, the search and the events. The meticulous details of the events and how the killer covered his tracks was smart. It was also interesting how details were right in front of the police and audience and you completely miss it until the reveal at the end, even with subtle hints throughout the series.

Overall, this is a very smart docuseries with a fascinating killer but even more fascinating circumstances around the investigation and era. I would score this series an 8/10 and strongly recommend it.

A concise and well put together documentary. The doc style lent it self well to this story with very good use of archival footage. The people interviewed were relevant to the cases and added good insight into the police work and political climate.

Very informative and detailed show with Netflix's typical high standard but it does get derailed by a diatribe in episode 3 that took away from the following of the criminal case

New 4 part documentary on Netflix which has frustratingly accurate footage of the police's disregard for the victims. It was their arrogance which blinkered their investigation for far too long before he was finally caught. Not by the extent of their police work, but by officers arresting him for a completely unrelated offence, which the bigwigs happily took the praise for. Although I've seen something very similar before, it's still a very worthy watch.