‘Silent Witness’ star investigates Jack the Ripper in new BBC documentary

The BBC has announced a new documentary about the most infamous serial killer of all time, Jack the Ripper.

The one-hour film’s Cold Case investigation will be led by Britain’s top criminologist Professor David Wilson and Silent Witness star Emilia Fox.

Fox has led the cast of the UK’s long-running crime drama since 2004.

Jack the Ripper began his reign of terror in the East End of London in 1888. Between August and November five horrifically violent murders took place in Whitechapel. There was a huge manhunt, but the Ripper was never caught.

Since then there has been endless speculation about who the Ripper was, what motivated his crimes, and how the killer escaped justice.

The legend of Jack the Ripper has inspired many period drama movies and TV series, most recently the BBC’s Ripper Street and ITV’s Whitechapel.

In Jack the Ripper: The Case Reopened, Emilia Fox and Professor David Wilson will look at the Ripper’s modus operandi using modern technology such as a digital autopsy table, and recreating the murder sites to help understand the extraordinary risks that the Ripper took to kill his victims.

Using the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System (HOLMES), a bespoke computer system used by the police to help detect patterns in criminal activity, and evidence uncovered within the investigation, results strongly indicate that Martha Tabram is in fact the first Ripper victim.

Convinced that Martha Tabram was the Ripper’s first victim, Emilia and David ask a geographical profiling expert to take a fresh look at the pattern of Ripper murder sites, which takes the investigation into a completely different direction identifying the most likely suspect.

The official synopsis teases: “The debate about Jack the Ripper’s true identity is already over 130 years old and is sure to continue – but this documentary casts new light onto the case and is as definitive as could be in naming the killer.”

Jack the Ripper: The Case Reopened will air in the UK at 9pm on Thursday 4th April on BBC One.

A broadcaster in the USA has not yet been announced.

Ripper Street is available on DVD on Amazon.