Major spoilers. Again, I'd just be regurgitating my first review to go into the concluding part 3 with that much depth. Suffice to say, I thought this wrapped things up well enough, but it was still a mildly disappointing end. The identity of the Ripper wasn't totally obvious -- although I did guess it when the killer appeared early on, as he was one of the few recurring characters, and it was unlikely nu-Jack would be a stranger...A few things just irritated me about part 3, really -- like seeing the cops, two days away from the final murder of a Ripper copycat, take time-off to celebrate Miles' (Phil Davies) birthday and play a board game together! I know you need time off from work to maintain perspective sometimes, but is that really likely? Or how about Chandler searching a block of flats by himself, with no back-up or help? Only to find The Ripper and get pushed down some stairs!
And, as with the previous two episodes, I just didn't feel that London was in the panicked grip of terror over these murders -- no matter how many BBC newsreaders the production paid to read their script with the necessary gravitas. There would actually be worldwide interest in a Jack The Ripper copycat killer, but the only sign of that we got was a larger, blood-thirstier Ripper tour turnout.
Nor did I buy how quickly the cops managed to find an address for the final victim. They ultimately succeeded in preventing the final murder by the skin of their teeth, with more luck than judgement. And even then, the killer escaped and evaded justice by drowning himself in the Thames. Part of me had hoped for a tense interview room sequence between Ripper and police, but that was denied because Whitechapel was focused on replicating the 1888 case in modern times as closely as possible. And they never did find Jack, did they.
But I really liked the scenes inside nu-Jack's lair (forgiving the "newspaper clippings as wallpaper" cliché), and a scene when nu-Jack peeled off a fake beard and eyebrows in his victim's bathroom, before snapping on some latex gloves, was suitably chilling.
Ultimately, Whitechapel has been a notable success for ITV -- and not only in terms of ratings, where it retained 7 million viewers over three weeks. It may have slowly wilted after a spirited start, but it held my interest over three hours -- and that's no mean feat for a new British drama these days. It wasn't anywhere near as gruesome, gripping, complex and insightful as a Ripper copycat story should have been -- but it was still good fun, as the TV equivalent of an airport novel.
Will we see the mismatched Chandler and Miles in another adventure soon? Perhaps with Buchan back as their gifted armchair sleuth? This three-parter painted him as a Ripper enthusiast only, but I'm sure the character could be evolved to make him an expert in various fictional cases. Surely he wrote other books? Or, he will now that his Ripper thirst has been quenched. Maybe Chandler and Miles could find themselves tracking another copycat killer who bases his crimes on another famous case, or the killer in a novel? Chances are ITV will want to jump on this unexpected hit and spawn another mini-series, too. Would you be up for that?
16 February 2009
ITV1, 9pm
Writers: Ben Court & Caroline Ip
Director: S.J Clarkson
Cast: Rupert Penry-Jones (DI Joseph Chandler), Phil Davis (DS Ray Miles), Steve Pemberton (Edward Buchan), Johnny Harris (DC Sanders), Sam Stockman (DC Kent), George Rossi (DC McCormack), Paul Hickey (Dr Cohen), Alex Jennings (Cdr Anderson), Constantine Gregory (Mr Maduro), Sally Leonard (Frances Cole), Simon Tcherniak (Dr Phillips), Branko Tomovic (Antoni Pricha), Tameka Empson (Mrs Buki), Carrie Grace (Newsreader), Nick Fletcher (Heckler) & Daniel Caren (Journalist)
