WHITECHAPEL Series 3

Davis, Penry-Jones and Pemberton

WHITECHAPEL Series 3. 2012.

The third season of the British crime drama which has cops in Whitechapel solving unusual and gruesome cases consists of six episodes and three separate storylines.  Ripperologist Edward Buchan (Steve Pemberton) gets a job at the police station when Deputy Inspector Joe Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones) hires him as researcher over the objections of grizzled, pit bull-like Deputy Sergeant Ray Miles (Philip Davis). The first case has to do with multiple murders in homes and businesses where the sole survivor is always a self-absorbed female. The second story has to do with the murder and dismemberment of several women, which may be tied in to a very strange lady who lives in a cluttered, ramshackle house with her husband's preserved body in it. In the third story a "Bogey man" terrorizes the neighborhood and may be an escaped madman who has the only copy of the silent Lon Chaney film London After Midnight*. Miles keeps trying to match Chandler up with women, but it never works out. The performances are excellent, including Hannah Walters as DC Riley. The stories are quite interesting, but this business of a black cop being superstitious and so terrified of a suspect that he lets him out of jail smacks of Stepin Fetchit and is ridiculous. You can read about season one here, and season two here. *[I believe the script refers to this lost silent movie as London After Dark for some reason.]

Verdict: One hopes there will be future seasons of this show/mini-series -- perhaps with some positive black and gay characters. ***. 

WHITECHAPEL Series 2

The dour if appealing cast of Whitechapel

WHITECHAPEL Series Two. 2010. British mini-series in three segments.

The first Whitechapel series [or season], also known as The Ripper Returns, was popular enough with British audiences for the cast to return in a second, and then a third, series of episodes about cops in the Whitechapel district of London solving particularly difficult and bizarre crimes. In this a series of especially vicious attacks and murders remind crime historian Buchan (Steve Pemberton) -- the "ripperologist" from the first series -- of the Krays, the two real-life brothers who savagely ran a crime empire decades before. Deputy Investigator Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones) thinks Buchan may be on to something while gruff Deputy Sergeant Miles (Phil Davis) warns Chandler not to assume they've got another case with ties to the past. Then they discover that there are two living twin brothers whose mother claims are the sons of one of the Kray men, whose sperm was made available to her when the Kray in question told her he wanted heirs. They hold the Whitechapel underworld in its grip, even try to kill cops, but are they really related to the Krays? The series holds the attention and is quite well-acted by all, including newcomer Sam Stockman as young Kent, with exemplary work from Davis, Pemberton, and the very appealing and baby-faced Penry-Jones. However, the writers often confuse neurotic tendencies with characterization, there's a little too much intrigue in the department, and the show is arresting without being entirely convincing.

Verdict: Never quite believable but entertaining in spite of it. **1/2.

WHITECHAPEL: THE RIPPER RETURNS

Davis, Penry-Jones and Pemberton

WHITECHAPEL: THE RIPPER RETURNS (2009). Director: S. J. Clarkson.

"He's like a wife who wants to change all your bad habits."

Whitechapel is a British television series, with each of three seasons consisting of three or four episodes. The premise has modern-day London police officers investigating crimes that have ties to the past. The first season focused on a series of murders in Whitechapel in which the unknown killer is recreating the ghastly crimes of Jack the Ripper. Heading the investigation is the comparatively young and inexperienced DI [Deputy Investigator] David Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones), who gets the men under his command to clean up their act and clothing [making them stupidly assume that he must be gay], and his chief assistant is grizzled Deputy Sergeant Ray Miles (Philip Davis). Both helping and hindering the investigation is one Edward Buchan (Steve Pemberton), a "ripperologist" who first comes to the police with his theory that recent murders are copycat crimes of the original Ripper. Chandler has quite a time convincing his superiors -- let alone his men -- that a new Jack the Ripper is at work in Whitechapel, but before long there's plenty of horrific evidence that his theory is correct. [Hint: don't watch this while you're eating.] Each episode of The Ripper Returns is only 45 minutes long making the full mini-series only two hours and a quarter, so it can be watched on DVD in one sitting. While the story lacks that certain gritty veracity and takes certain liberties, the series is entertaining, creepy, and has good performances, with Penry-Jones making an appealing and attractive protagonist.

Verdict: Watch out for that Ripper! ***.