The Complete and Essential Jack the Ripper by Paul Begg, John Bennett Page B

in-jokes presented themselves and allowing the less informed viewer the dignity of not having to be spoonfed hackneyed iconography and spurious claims of a solution to the original murders in order to ensure they enjoyed the offering. In the words of Andrew Billen in
The Times
following the airing of episode two of the first series, ‘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.’ 25
    In response, BBC TV’s
Ripper Street
again approaches the crimes from an original perspective. Despite the rather odd title, the series is set in April 1889, the year after the original murders are deemed to have ended. When more women are murdered on the streets of Whitechapel, the police begin to wonder if the killer has returned. The plot centres on the characters of Inspector Edmund Reid (Matthew McFadyen) and his sidekick Sergeant Bennett Drake (Jerome Flynn), each episode presenting them with a stand-alone crime to test their powers of investigation. A gritty production which also deals with heavier themes such as bare-knuckle boxing, early pornography and prostitution, the series features cameos from other real characters in addition to Reid, such as George Lusk and Commissioner James Monro. Like
Whitechapel
before it, it was a slow burner, with critics warming to it as characters were allowed to develop. In the
Guardian
Sam Wollaston was guarded in his opinion of yet another Ripper-based offering, saying, ‘It would be easy to be negative about
Ripper Street
. Do we really need more on a story that’s been not just done to death, but then carved up, and had its insides torn out?’ but concluded his review stating, ‘the script is real, alive and human. It’s beautifully performed, and beautiful to look at – stylish, and stylised. The bare-knuckle fight scenes are brutal and memorable. It’s proper, character-based crime drama, gripping, and yes – I’m afraid – ripping as well.’ 26 What Wollaston nearly failed to recognize was that
Ripper Street
, and
Whitechapel
before it, may well have instigated a new era of fictional interpretations of the Jack the Ripper story: smaller productions with tangential stories which television is perfect to project, bereft of the trappings of Hollywood gimmickry, the writing focusing on real characters rather than stereotypes and jaded interpretations of Ripper mythologies that, in termsof drama, passed their shelf-life decades ago. It remains to be seen if this stays the case as more series of both productions are commissioned.
    As true crime stories go, no other offers such a blank canvas of creativity for the entertainment world as Jack the Ripper, even though, in the words of Denis Miekle, ‘the screen image of Jack the Ripper has undergone no great revision in the 75 years between Hitchcock’s “The Lodger” and the Hughes Brothers’ “From Hell” ’. 27 As well as the rich stream of film and television, every year amateur theatre companies perform their own interpretations of the story, some using drama, others using song. Musical interpretations are popular, with some performed on stage, or professionally recorded for distribution like any other release. Artists create vivid renderings of the victims, street scenes and, of course, Jack himself, using traditional methods, computer-generated imagery, installations or conceptual art. The moving picture may have the most influence and exposure, generating new impressions and reinforcing established ones, but one thing is certain: it is a subject that will continue to inspire indefinitely. In the same way that the mystery attracts theorists attempting to put a name to the killer, so it attracts those who wish to interpret the story in their own creative way, unencumbered by facts and figures, limits of conjecture or the burden of proof.
    But it is a theme that is not for