DVD News

White Chapel: The Ripper Returns comes to DVD

By Patrick Luce Nov 7, 2011, 15:49 GMT

The streets of Whitechapel are awash with blood as Whitechapel: The Ripper Returns comes to DVD on November 15th from BBC Warner.

A murderer stalks the night, picking off vulnerable women and leaving them brutally butchered. But this is not the 19th Century; this is not Jack the Ripper; this is a copycat killer, and once again the police remain clueless.

This three-episode arc launched the series in the UK and premiered on BBC America's Dramaville in October. The series stars Rupert Penry-Jones (MI-5, Persuasion), BAFTA nominee, Phil Davis (Sherlock, Bleak House) and Steve Pemberton (The League of Gentlemen).

Ambitious Detective Inspector Joseph Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones), a novice in the business of murder but an expert in the politics of policing and three day training, is assigned an open-and-shut case: the killing of a woman in the East End of London. Get a quick result, he is told, and you will get the promotion you have been waiting for.

Unfortunately for him, things don't turn out to be so straight forward, and as the murder rate rises he learns to rely on Detective Sergeant Miles (Phil Davis), the archetypal cynical, seen-it-all detective, and ‘Ripperologist' Edward Buchan (Steve Pemberton), an expert in the myths and legends behind unexplained or violent deaths.

Chandler soon realizes this modern day killer is copying Jack the Ripper's infamous murders in the Whitechapel section of London, down to the very last detail. Will the unlikely team succeed where 120 years ago others failed? Will they solve the most famous unsolved murder case in history?

DVD special feature:

Peeling Back the Layers: A making of featurette