Most crime dramas feature a heroic poilcmean, or more rarely, policewoman. But 'The Long Shadow', telling the true story of the investigation into the crimes of the so-called Yorkshire Ripper, one of Britain's most infamous murderers, has no such heroes. Instead, it's a grim tale of a terrible series of killings that took a very long time to bring to a halt. The programme exposes the far from laudible attitudes of many in the police, but it's not absolutely clear that these were why the Ripper was not caught: those involved made bad calls in hindsight, and naturally sought to protect their own positions, but sometimes people simply get it wrong, and the terrible consequences of doing so do not prevent this from happening. The Ripper himself remains a mystery, a deeply disturbed man who was sadly able to do much evil before finally being caught. Viewed as drama, the absence of clear narrative is a problem: there isn't really seven episodes-worth of plot here, just seven epoisodes of pain.
Review of The Long Shadow
