Long Shadow's all-star cast and their characters in Yorkshire Ripper ITV drama

25 September 2023 , 11:51

828 0

Katherine Kelly and Daniel Mays portray Emily and Sydney Jackson (Image: ITV)

Tonight, ITV will air its harrowing new drama depicting the impact Peter Sutcliffe’s abhorrent crimes had on the families of his victims and across Yorkshire.

The monster, who brutally murdered at least 13 women and attempted to kill seven more in the 70s, escaped justice before his eventual capture in 1981. Now, ITV's new seven-part drama The Long Shadow retells the horrors he inflicted and what it did to the loved ones of those whose lives he mercilessly took.

Bosses worked hard to make sure the cast would do their stories justice. Featuring the likes of Toby Jones, David Morrissey, Katherine Kelly, Daniel Mays and Jill Halfpenny, viewers tonight will get to see the first of the haunting episodes. Writer George Kay intentionally omitted Sutcliffe's grim moniker 'The Yorkshire Ripper' from the title of the drama because it "felt disrespectful in many ways".

Long Shadow's all-star cast and their characters in Yorkshire Ripper ITV drama dqxikeidqkikdinv

Kris Hitchen, Toby Jones, David Morrissey, Lee Ingleby and Stephen Tomkinson star in the drama (©Justin Slee 2022)

The series is based on Wicked Beyond Belief, Michael Bilton’s critically-acclaimed account of the shocking period, published by William Collins. Jasmine Lee-Jones, who plays Marcella Claxton, one of the serial killer's survivors, said: “The gift of playing a real person is that you can’t make it about you or bring ego or vanity into it."

The actress went on: "So, with the research that I’d done and using my imagination I had to just focus on the circumstances. If I was focusing on her, or her family, watching the show, I just had to try come back to honouring the truth. As I think that’s what’s she’d want.”

Corrie's Sue Cleaver says I'm A Celebrity stint helped her to push boundaries

Katherine Kelly, who we see play Emily Jackson, spoke about being a part of such a high profile series of crimes. She said: “It is none of my business what people think. There’s nothing I can do about what an audience takes from a show. All I can do is believe in the team. I’ve worked with George (writer George Kay), we made Criminal together, he writes with integrity. I knew this script would be that and more.

Long Shadow's all-star cast and their characters in Yorkshire Ripper ITV drama

Daniel Mays says he had to properly prepare to play Sydney Jackson (©Justin Slee 2022)

“The same with Lewis (director Lewis Arnold), I believe in that and the four years of research done and that's where my trust lies. I know that is all we can do. I feel that it has been made with nuisance and authenticity. That's where the job ends for me. It is for the public to decide how they receive this show. I do trust in this team and I do feel privileged to be a part of it.”

Line of Duty actor Daniel Mays, who plays Sydney in ITV's drama, reached out to Sydney and Emily Jackson's son Neil ahead of playing the role. Opening up about their meeting, Daniel explained the effect their meeting had on him. "I did go and meet Neil Jackson, that was the one thing – you can do all the research and watch the documentaries and read all the books and everything," he explained.

"But I did the same thing when I played the detective in Des - I went out and met Peter's widow and his son. I went and met the producer to go and set it up and I jumped on the train and went up and it suddenly hit me before I want into this meeting in this hotel, like 'F***ing hell, what am I actually going to say?"