'The Long Shadow' - the making of a true crime drama
Screenwriter George Kay spent four years researching and writing about Peter Sutcliffe's crimes for 'The Long Shadow;' going back to primary sources, families of victims, survivors and detectives.
‘I've always been interested in crime and how it affects our society,’ says George Kay, the writer and Executive Producer of ITV’s The Long Shadow.
‘I was really ambitious and I wanted to try to do something on a bigger level. You often get three or four-part crime dramas on ITV, and I really wanted to put out something bigger that could be a societal piece.’
The Long Shadow is epic: seven episodes set over five years with a cast of more than 100 characters played by some of Britain’s finest actors.
It details ‘The Yorkshire Ripper’ attacks and the failing police enquiry. But unlike other dramas based on this investigation, it focuses on the legacy of the murders, the people left behind - not just the killings themselves.
George has had extraordinary successes with fictional television: Hijack on Apple TV and Netflix’s Lupin. He has written non-fiction before - ITV’s Litvinenko and used real crimes at the inspiration for Criminal UK.
For The Long Shadow, George spent four years researching and writing about Peter Sutcliffe’s crimes.
The series is broadcast on Mondays on ITV (UK) and is available in full on ITVX.
The Long Shadow trailer ©ITV
George said he felt a lot of documentaries tended to repeat what previous films have said over the years.
‘We were able to take a step back from the kind of stuff that had been done on the subject before and go back to the primary sources of local newspapers from the time to try to find people to talk to who were really there. To approach people who were in the police or worked as sex workers.
‘There were 13 murder victims. We spoke to some of their children. We tried to speak to survivors. We tried for over a year to get in touch with Marcella Claxton (a survivor.)’
Marcella engaged with The Long Shadow, speaking with producers Willow Grylls and Matt Sandford.
Even though the events of The Long Shadow are set four decades ago, George Kay and the production team were keen to ensure the production was not a history piece. As George was writing scenes set in 1980 featuring student ‘Reclaim the Streets’ marches, similar events were happening in London following the murder of Sarah Everard.
‘Suddenly the parallels were overwhelming,’ he said.
George Kay, writer and Executive Producer of The Long Shadow.
The Long Shadow features a big cast, with some of Britain’s best known actors in key roles: Toby Jones as Det Ch Supt Dennis Hoban, Katherine Kelly as Emily Jackson, Daniel Mays as her husband Sydney, and David Morrissey as Asst Ch Con George Oldfield.
Peter Sutcliffe barely features, but when he does he is played with a subtle menace by Mark Stobbart.
None of the attacks is shown on-screen, but one of the stand-out scenes features a police call handler played by Ruth Madeley. In an inventive sequence, the handler answers a call from survivor Marcella Claxton, and talks Sutcliffe’s victim through an emergency plan as the killer returns to find her. The scene features no violence or no imagery but the tension and fear is conveyed second-hand throughout this powerful three-minute scene.
‘This way you could experience it from the outside without hearing Marcella’s voice, without seeing the crime, without being disrespectful to what was going on, receiving the information as a member of the police might have done and dealing with it,’ said George.
The Long Shadow: Marcella Claxton call handler scene. ©ITV
In the full podcast interview, George Kay talks about how he engaged with victims’ families, in the sensitivities around dramatising murder and how chilling Mark Stobbart’s portrayal is of Peter Sutcliffe.
The Long Shadow is on ITV1 on Mondays throughout October - and on ITV1. It will be available on Sundance Now in November.