Whitechapel is a British crime drama television series written by Ben Court and Caroline Ip and produced by Carnival Films which is a modern take on the detective genre combining the Victorian intrigue of the original case with the atmospheric backdrop of a contemporary East End of London.
The series premiered in the UK on ITV on 2 February, 2009.
Whitechapel premiered in South Africa on DStv's BBC Entertainment channel on Monday 22 June 2009, at 20h30. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 2 premiered on BBC Entertainment on Monday 12 September 2011, at 20h00. New episodes broadcast weekly. There are three episodes in the second season.
Episode Synopses
Season 1
Set against the contrasting facades of Whitechapel, London, a series of bloody, tragic and impossible crimes suggest someone is carrying out copycat Jack the Ripper murders 120 years after the killer first struck.
In a city under the constant surveillance of CCTV and safe in the knowledge that DNA evidence helps catch even the most dangerous criminal, this modern day Ripper still manages to recreate the slaughter with alarming accuracy while mirroring the red herrings and twisted idiosyncrasies connected to the original case.
The murders are investigated by three unlikely heroes: Joseph Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones), a fast-tracked, media savvy DI on his first big murder case; Ray Miles (Philip Davis), a front-line, hard-bitten DS, nearing retirement, now saddled with a boss who would rather talk about Emotional Intelligence than gut feeling; and Edward Buchan (Steve Pemberton), the expert on myths and legends behind unexplained or violent deaths: an eccentrically brilliant Ripperologist.
A modern police force is fighting an old adversary; an adversary who was never caught. Our heroes have a race against time to prevent further bloodshed.
Season 1 was produced by Marcus Wilson for Carnival Films. It was written by Ben Court and Caroline Ip and directed by SJ Clarkson. Sally Woodward Gentle is Executive Producer.
Season 2
Whitechapel, starring Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davis and Steve Pemberton is back with another dark instalment from writers, Ben Court and Caroline Ip.
Atmospheric and brooding, Whitechapel 2 draws on an iconic cult crime born out of London's East End.
After Jack the Ripper comes the gangster brutality of the Krays, and in Whitechapel 2 the paranoia of this era and the faded glamour of the former East End overlords characterise the drama.
It is as sharp, intense and as visually distinctive as Whitechapel 1 with the gangster culture the Krays never far away. Produced by Carnival Films, Whitechapel 2 broadcasts across three one-hour episodes.
The principal cast are joined by Peter Serafinowicz, who plays DCI Cazenove and Craig Parkinson, who plays twins, Jimmy and Johnny Kray.
Directed by David Evans and produced by Grainne Marmion, Whitechapel 2 was filmed at various locations around London including Whitechapel, Bethnal Green and the East End.
Penry-Jones, Davis and Pemberton return to their characters of Chandler, Miles and Buchan with pathos and black humour remaining key to the drama.
Copycat murders, maiming and torture trigger intense emotions and DI Chandler will be given an even greater run for his money than the first time round.
This time it is personal.
Seasons
Series exclusive to BBC Entertainment
Season 1 (3 episodes)
Premiere: 22 June 2009 | Finale: 24 June 2009 | Daily, 20h30
Season 2 (3 episodes)
Premiere: 12 September 2011 | Finale: 26 September 2011 | Mondays, 20h00