Ripper Street And Jack The Ripper

There have been many film adaptations of Jack the Ripper; most of them geared towards entertainment purposes, and none really revealing the true identity of the Ripper with irrefutable evidence. Understandably, entertainment is what films focus on. However, just recently a new television series has been making waves, not just in the UK, but all around the world.

The show is called Ripper Street, and it depicts life in Whitechapel during the Ripper era. Making a television series on the Ripper is no doubt a bold move. What little we do know about the Ripper murders is already common knowledge to most, especially locals. This makes it difficult to bring something new to the screen. Very few movies have gotten it right in the past, and yet here we have an entire TV series franchise based on the Ripper, currently in its second season and going strong.

Ripper Street offers a truly unique approach to its audience that is both entertaining and authentic, according to Ripperologists and TV critics. This has made the made the show immensely successful.

What Makes Ripper Street Different?

Contrary to other films and TV series that tend to focus on the Ripper himself, Ripper Street approaches the subject from a completely different point of view. It focuses more on the after-effects of the Ripper saga, which accurately reflect some of the sentiments shared by people living in Whitechapel at the time.

Those who have watched a few episodes will agree. They are vastly entertaining; spot on as far as historical events and landmarks go, but more importantly, they touch on a very accurate side-effect of the Ripper saga that has Ripperologists singing its praises. They  talk about Jack the Ripper’s ‘wannabes’. Most of their episodes feature crimes that seem like the Ripper’s work, only to discover otherwise.

During the late 1800s, when the Ripper murders were becoming uncomfortably common news, there were rumors of other individuals following in the Ripper’s footsteps and taking up his work. This made the detective work extremely tedious, misleading and difficult.

The Ripper letters are a perfect example. They were originally thought to have been written by the Ripper, but later turned out to be a complete hoax. All this did nothing towards capturing the real killer and made criminal detection work that much more difficult.

Jack The Ripper Tours Today

The Ripper Tours of today offer a factual account of the life of Jack the Ripper; his victims, how he may have stalked them and the few locations where he committed those heinous crimes. The fact that the Ripper was never caught, even after all these years, has resulted in so many films and TV adaptations.

There certainly is no shortage of conspiracy theories surrounding the Ripper, and some films have been based on them completely. The fact of the matter is that even after 125 years, the identity of the Ripper remains as elusive as it was back in the late 1800s.

If you enjoy the Ripper Street series, be sure to sign up for a Jack the Ripper tour to experience first-hand the Whitechapel of 1800s.