The Long Shadow

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The Long Shadow

Series Overview

The Long Shadow, written by award-winning screenwriter, George Kay (Hijack, Criminal: UK) and directed by BAFTA-winning director Lewis Arnold (Sherwood, Time, Des)  is the definitive depiction of the desperate five-year hunt for serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, sensitively focussing on the lives of the victims who crossed his path and those of the officers at the heart of the police investigation. With the victims, their families and the survivors at the heart of this series, The Long Shadow brings a new perspective to a well-documented story.

Meticulously researched and drawing upon the most extensive archive of the investigation, comprising of hundreds of case files, interview transcripts and police reports, the series is also based on Wicked Beyond Belief, Michael Bilton’s critically acclaimed account of the case, published by William Collins.

Award-winning actor Toby Jones will play DCS Dennis Hoban, who initially led the enquiry, with David Morrissey taking the role of DCS George Oldfield, who famously took on the investigation. Lee Ingleby is DCS Jim Hobson, whilst Katherine Kelly plays Emily Jackson with Daniel Mays as her husband, Sydney Jackson and Shaun Thomas as their son, Neil Jackson. 

Jill Halfpenny plays Doreen Hill, with Daisy Waterstone as her daughter, Jacqueline Hill.  Jasmine Lee-Jones plays Marcella Claxton, Molly Wright as Donna Deangelo, Liz White as PS Meg Winterburn and Shaun Dooley as DCS Chris Gregg.  

The cast also includes Alexa Davies, Chloe Harris, Stephen Tompkinson, Jack Deam, Michael McElhatton, Adam Long, Ruth Madeley, Dorothy Atkinson, Rob James-Collier, Charley Webb, Steven Waddington and Kris Hitchen.

One murder has the power to cast a long shadow and this case plunged a whole society into darkness. For every victim, there were friends and loved ones. For every police officer, there was the burden of failure - of near misses and guilt – and the knowledge that as they failed to find their man, more women continued to suffer. The impact on the lives of those who live on after the death of their loved one remains to this day. Those who cannot escape what happened, who must sit with their incomprehensible trauma for decades after, enduring their own life sentences.
 

Episode 2

The Jackson family receives the devastating news that Emily has been murdered. Neil accompanies his father to the mortuary, where he is faced with the terrible duty of identifying his mother. Sydney breaks down under questioning by Dennis Hoban and DCS Jim Hobson, realising that he too is now a suspect. He admits he knew what his wife was doing and is soon exonerated. Time passes and across the city, a young woman called Marcella Claxton is attacked and left for dead. She describes her attacker in detail, but her testimony is ultimately disregarded. At Millgarth Police Station – the centre of the investigation – various men are interviewed in relation to Emily’s murder, having been seen driving through the red-light district. The investigation expands, but Hoban continues to be thwarted. When a third body is found – that of Irene Richardson – it dawns on the detectives that there might be a multiple murderer at large. Over a year in and bereft of serious leads, Dennis Hoban finds himself side-lined from the investigation.