Bradford bans ITV’s Yorkshire Ripper drama The Long Shadow


In order to avoid “perpetuating” the memory of the Yorkshire Ripper, the city where Britain’s most notorious serial killer lived has banned a TV show from filming in its public spaces.

The Long Shadow, a new ITV drama about Peter Sutcliffe’s murders, is not permitted to film in any public areas of Bradford, including parks and streets.

Patricia Atkinson, Yvonne Pearson, and Barbara Leach were three of the 13 women brutally murdered by Sutcliffe over the course of a six-year killing spree in the 1970s.

The evil murderer in the city also attacked two other women, but they escaped.

Emails reveal that Bradford’s top council members rejected the film’s request for filming rights.

The series’ production company, New Pictures, stated in one email that it “understands the subject remains highly sensitive, even now, especially for those who remember and endured the fear that Sutcliffe’s crimes rained over Yorkshire.”

However, the narrative we are sharing is one that has largely been ignored by earlier media reports—that is, the narrative of the victims themselves.

“The content of the series does not exploit the horrific nature of Sutcliffe’s crimes,” the creators claim.

The production company declared that it would collaborate with those most closely associated with the crimes, including Richard McCann, the son of the first victim of the Ripper, Wilma McCann.

Emails show that there had been plans to film the series in another region of the nation, but the families of the victims “thought it needed to be told in West Yorkshire,” according to the emails.

The emails provide insight into the council’s decision-making process despite having most of the senders and recipients’ names redacted.

I’m not keen on us participating in anything that perpetuates the memory of the man, so the answer’s no from me I’m afraid, read one email, which is believed to be from Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchcliffe.

The production company’s response to the council was an attempt to reassure them that the show would not “exploit or sensationalise the nature of his crimes.”

The statement added: “We fully appreciate the weight of responsibility when approaching a story as sensitive as this, especially when seeking to tell it in areas like Bradford, which are closest to and most affected by the tragic events. We also offer to work with charities and support groups in the area.”

Having said that, we pledge to create a series that is sincere, open, and made with compassion and integrity.

The final email, which was sent in response to the matter that New Pictures was pursuing, was signed “Susan,” and it reads: “I said no quite clearly I think?”

The ITV programme will detail the heinous murders and chronicle the massive search for Sutcliffe.

Mark Stobbart, Daniel Mays, Stephen Tompkinson, David Morrissey, and Katherine Kelly are just a few of the well-known actors who will appear in the series.

Barbara Leach was killed in 1979 in Bradford by Sutcliffe

Barbara Leach was killed in 1979 in Bradford by Sutcliffe

Patricia Atkinson was murdered in 1977 in Bradford by Sutcliffe

The former Corrie star was seen in July filming a spooky scene for the play while dressed as Emily Jackson, the Ripper’s second confirmed victim.

The Line of Duty actor Mark Stobbart, who will play the evil Peter Sutcliffe, was recently seen filming, and Daniel Mays, who will play Sydney, Emily’s husband, was also seen.

The residence that will serve as Sutcliffe’s home is located in Leeds’ Roundhay neighborhood, about 15 miles away from the actual house in Bradford.

Some of the series’ filming has taken place on privately owned property in Bradford, including the Bulmer & Lumb, off Halifax Road, which was used to represent Leeds’ Millgarth Police Station.

Wilma McCann, 28, was murdered in Leeds in October 1975 before Sutcliffe went on to murder 12 other women

Wilma McCann, 28, was murdered in Leeds in October 1975 before Sutcliffe went on to murder 12 other women

New Pictures said it would be working with Richard McCann (pictured), son of Wilma McCann, on the new production

Wilma McCann, a 28-year-old mother of four who had been stabbed 15 times and hit with a hammer, was the first victim of Sutcliffe’s murderous rampage in October 1975.

In the course of a lengthy investigation, he was interviewed nine times, but he managed to elude capture and continue killing.

Sutcliffe murdered 12 more innocent women over the course of the subsequent five years before being caught by Sheffield police for using fake licence plates.

He was found guilty in 1981, spent three decades at the maximum-security mental health facility Broadmoor Hospital, and was transferred to HMP Frankland in 2016.

Sutcliffe, who was blind and dependent on a wheelchair at the end of his life, passed away at HMP Frankland in November 2020 from a combination of Covid-19 and heart disease.

West Yorkshire Police issued an apology on the day of his passing for the “language, tone, and terminology” used in the 1970s to describe some of the killer’s victims.

For a statement, Bradford Council has been contacted.

The Yorkshire Ripper’s five-year terror campaign sparked the biggest manhunt the nation has ever seen, but police failed to catch the sadistic killer on numerous occasions.

Sutcliffe’s first reported victim was a Bradford prostitute who he hit over the head with a stone in a sock in 1969. The woman wanted nothing more to do with the incident, so police found him the following day and told him he was “very lucky.”

In Keighley that evening of July 5, 1975, Sutcliffe assaulted Anna Roglsky. He attacked her while she was on her own, stabbing her in the stomach with a knife and using a ball-peen hammer to knock her out.

He left without killing her after being startled by a neighbor. Following a neurological operation, Rogulskyj lived.

Sutcliffe assaulted Olive Smelt in Halifax on the evening of August 15. Later, he slashed her lower back with a knife after striking her with a hammer from behind.

Once more, he was stopped, leaving his victim alive but seriously hurt.

Twelve days later, in Silsden, he attacked Tracy Browne, a 14-year-old. She received five blows to the head from him as he struck her from behind.

When he noticed the lights of a passing car, he fled, leaving his victim in need of brain surgery. Sutcliffe admitted to committing this crime in 1992, but he was never found guilty.

Following three non-fatal attacks on women earlier in the year, on October 30, 1975, he beat 28-year-old sex worker Wilma McCann to death to start his killing spree.

Sutcliffe killed Emily Jackson, a part-time sex worker, on January 20, 1976. As she offered to help, he picked her up and pretended his car wouldn’t start before hitting her twice with a hammer.

Then, after dragging her body into a yard, he brutally stabbed her with a screwdriver 52 times in the neck, breasts, lower abdomen, and back. In Leeds, her body was discovered on Manor Street.

He attacked Marcella Claxton, 20, on May 9 in Leeds’ Roundhay Park. Sutcliffe had offered to give her a ride as she left a party, and she had accepted the offer.

He hit her with a hammer from behind as soon as she exited the vehicle to go to the bathroom.

Despite losing her unborn child at four months pregnant and needing multiple brain operations, she managed to survive and testified against Sutcliffe at his trial.

Sutcliffe's detached house in Garden Lane, Bradford. The ITV production will use a home in Roundhay, Leeds to double-up as the Ripper's home

Sutcliffe's detached house in Garden Lane, Bradford. The ITV production will use a home in Roundhay, Leeds to double-up as the Ripper's home

He struck again nine months later, killing Irene Richardson, age 28, on February 5, 1977.

Sutcliffe picked up another prostitute, and when they stopped in Leeds’ Roundhay Park so she could use the restroom, he attacked her.

The murderer struck the victim three times in the head with a hammer as she knelt down. He then tore open her blouse and jacket, starting to stab and slash the victim with his Stanley knife.

Two months later, on April 23, 1977, Sutcliffe killed 32-year-old prostitute Patricia Atkinson in his hometown of Bradford; she was his first victim.

He picked her up and carried her to a flat in Oak Avenue where he grabbed a hammer and struck the back of her head four times with great force.

Before covering her body with bed linen and walking away, he also used a knife to stab her six times in the stomach and once or twice in the back.

Sutcliffe committed the murder on June 26th, which would lead to widespread interest in his crimes. Jayne MacDonald, a 16-year-old shop assistant, was the first victim who wasn’t a prostitute.

Early one morning in Leeds, Sutcliffe saw her and pursued her into an adventure playground, where he struck her on the back of the head with a hammer.

She was stabbed numerous times in the chest and back after he pulled her, face down, into the play areas.

Sutcliffe killed his first victim in Manchester, a 20-year-old prostitute named Jean Jordan, on October 1, 1977, as his crimes quickly increased.

In the allotments next to Southern Cemetery, he beat her 11 times with a hammer before dumping her body and throwing her bag, which contained a brand-new £5 note he had given her, into the nearby bushes.

When Peter Sutcliffe was questioned, he gave an alibi that he was at a party, marking the first in a string of missed opportunities by police to apprehend him. Police discovered the bag and tracked the serial number on the note back to the payroll of Yorkshire hauliers T and W H Clark, who employed Sutcliffe.

The murder of 21-year-old prostitute Yvonne Pearson took place on January 21, 1978. In Bradford, where his father worked at Drummond’s mill, Sutcliffe took her to a piece of waste land.

He used a hammer to repeatedly strike her there. Before kicking her in the head and landing on her chest, he pulled her body behind an old sofa and shoved horsehair down her throat.

In 1978, Sutcliffe was slated to murder three women. He killed 18-year-old teenage prostitute Helen Rytka ten days after killing Yvonne.

She was still alive when he picked up a knife and repeatedly stabbed her after repeatedly beating her with a hammer.

Vera Millward, 40, was slain in Manchester on May 16. Upon arriving at Manchester Royal Infirmary, he struck her with a hammer. He killed her with a hammer and then stabbed her with a knife by a fence.

Josephine Whitaker, 19, was killed in 1979. Sutcliffe approached her in Savile Park, Halifax. After hearing voices, he attacked her with a hammer from behind and again as she lay on the ground.

Her chest, stomach, and leg were stabbed 21 times with a screwdriver. Her ear-to-ear skull broke.

Barbara Leach, 20, was killed in 1979. He saw her in Bradford and opened the car door as she approached. He beat her with a hammer and dragged her into a backyard before stabbing her with a screwdriver.

While awaiting prosecution for drunk driving, he committed two additional killings.

He killed Marguerite Wells, 47, in 1980. He struck her with a hammer in Leeds, saying “filthy prostitute.” He put rope around her neck and brought her into a garden, where he strangled her and stripped her of her clothes except her tights. Before fleeing, he covered the body with grass and leaves.

Jacqueline Hill, 20, was the Ripper’s final victim on November 17, 1980. Jacqueline Hill, a Leeds University English student, took the bus home after applying to volunteer with the probation department.

Sutcliffe followed her and hit her as she passed an opening. Her body was found 100 yards from home. She had four skull fractures, slashes, a left breast stab wound, and a right eye stab wound.

Sutcliffe eluded detection for years due to police missed opportunities. He confessed in 1981 when a police check found stolen number plates on his automobile.

As he matched many of the recognised physical traits, he was questioned about the Yorkshire Ripper.

The next day, police returned to Broomhill, Sheffield, and found a knife, hammer, and rope. Sutcliffe hid another knife in the police station toilet cistern.

On January 4, 1981, after two days of questioning, he confessed to being the Yorkshire Ripper. He then claimed God instructed him to kill the women and called them ‘filth’

Sutcliffe denied the murders despite his 24-hour confession. Seven attempted murder charges were dropped.

In May 1981, he was sentenced to 20 life terms at the Old Bailey, with a 30-year minimum.

After being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, he was transferred from Parkhurst prison to Broadmoor hospital in 1984.

A confidential assessment found that Sutcliffe probably committed more than the 13 killings and 7 attempted murders for which he was convicted.

He was questioned in prison about 16 unsolved crimes, but no charges were filed.

74-year-old Covid died in prison in 2020.


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