Today the 31st August 2018 marks two things.
One is my friend Jane's birthday, so Happy Birthday Jane!
And it's 130 years since the first canonical victim of The Whitechapel Murderer otherwise known as Jack The Ripper was found.
And a terrible legend was born.
In Episode 25 of Round The Archives (which was released earlier this week) we take a look at the 1973 'Jack The Ripper' series starring Stratford Johns and Frank Windsor as Detective Chief Superindents Barlow and Watt.
In a early attempt at docu-drama they re-investigate the murders to try and find out who the killer may have been, with the aid of reconstructions featuring many familiar faces.
Jack The Ripper is a subject that we'll be covering over several episodes of 'Round The Archives'. We will take a look at the 1988 ITV drama featuring Michael Caine and Lewis Collins for Episode 26.
We'll also be looking at the existing footage from the aborted Barry Foster version of the same series.
And then in future episodes we'll be looking at other examples of television dramas using the Jack The Ripper legend. Such as 'Whitechapel', 'Star Trek: The Original Series' and 'Goodnight Sweetheart'. Also its influence on 'The Phanton Raspberry Blower of Old London Town' sketches for 'The Two Ronnies' and the earlier episode that was part of 'Six Dates With Barker' done four years earlier.
I will admit to getting a bit overexcited buying and reading books on Jack The Ripper. Though I haven't even scratched the surface as there are many books written on the subject all with different ideas as to who the killer was, though of course we will never know that for certain. One book I am looking forward to reading which has just arrived is 'The Ripper File' written by Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd. the scriptwriters of the Barlow and Watt series.
One feature of the case that facinated us was the fact that the detective in charge, Frederick George Abberline was not a Cockney as portrayed by Michael Caine, but was in fact born in Blanford in Dorset, which is not too far away from where we live. Something we discuss in detail in our recent video entitled 'Jack The Accent Ripper' which can be found here.
We also plan with Warren to visit Abberline's grave to pay our respects as he is buried in nearby Bournemouth.
This will be the last time I blog about Jack The Ripper as I think I've probably talked enough about the subject and I don't want to bore you. Hopefully you will enjoy our articles and if not then there's plenty more to enjoy on the podcast Episodes.
But of course If we've got you interested in the subject then enjoy reading about it and watching the many dramas and documentaries that feature the subject.
PS: A slight correction to Episode 25 of 'Round The Archives' (which you can listen to here) where we claimed that 1973 was 75 years after 1888, merely proving that we can't do sums, as in reality it was 85 years!
(Written by Lisa Parker)
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