For all its faults, this is likely to remain the definitive "straight" account on the screen of the notorious Jack the Ripper murders. It's a handsome production (the era has been reconstructed with loving care, the production design is majestic), but a little flat; while it avoids overt sensationalism, it's also a bit short on atmosphere and (for a 190-minute running time) suspense. It's structured like a (speculative) whodunit, and it will keep you guessing right to the end. Michael Caine heads a fine, mostly British cast (I even saw Hugh - Hastings - Fraser in there!). **1/2 out of 4.

Simply the best world-wide TV production ever. It's a SHAME there's no french version of this gem available on DVD. Why should I write ten lines of text about it, just get it and see by yourself : a splendid time is guaranteed for all ! I'd like to tell the IMDb crew that it's not easy for non-English speaking people to write 10-line commentaries, so they should be allowed to mail shorter texts ! Some might call it R.E.S.P.E.C.T. ! But I want to post this one, so I'll do what I am asked to : what do U think 'bout the following words : cats, dogs, chairs, beds, beards, heads, ears, legs, feet, arms, stomach, torso, music, book, trees, birds, walls, paper, pencil, cars, roads ... well, the ten lines are done, I think I can quit now.

This is my favourite of the Ripper movies,although i don't believe all the facts are right.This film gives us its own solution,as we all know Jack the Ripper was never caught,so to give us a theory at the end made this mini series more worth watching,just to see what they would come up with.All the theories presented in this drama are all legendary old ones,that have long been eliminated,for instance the Duke of Clarence theory,well really his name just went well with the legend but thats about all,its been proved that he was never in the country on any of the murder dates.The same goes for all the other supposed suspects in this film.The best theory for me is the one of the Montague John Druit,whose body was found floating in the Thames shortly after the last murder,he was a failed medical student,its the only one of the original theories that still carries any weight,and yet it isn't mentioned in the film.Recently Ripperologists done a search on all the mental hospitals in the country,to see if any patients were admitted in late 1889.There were two, one was a very old infirm man who it couldn't have been,the other was a young pole who we now believe was either Aarron Kosminski or Nathan Kasminski,both of these men had gone missing during the late 1880s,which ever man it was the hospital decided to register him as David Cohen he apparently was very violent and had to be restrained .The polices chief witness,who has never been identified,pointed him out as the man he had seen running away at the scene of one of the murders.So what is now known is that David Cohen was definitely Liz Strides killer,the other murders are still a mystery.The chief witness would not give evidence in court against a fellow Jew,which could have brought about bad Anti semitic feelings from the public.So it ended that the police were satisfied that they believed their killer was incarcerated in a mental hospital and out of harms way.David Cohen is now believed to have been a paranoid schizophrenic,and wouldn't have been able to stand trial any way. This is one of the most up to date stories on Jack the Ripper and to me makes a lot of sense,its often been quoted that the police didn't appear to be searching for any one in late 1889-1890,they had become a lot more relaxed and more confident on their beat. It was always obvious that there was a big cover up from the authorities,but not the cover up people thought it was.They decided to hush this all up,for the right reasons, i think they made the right decision.We will never be really sure who killed all the other women,and if their deaths were in any way connected with David Cohen,it will remain a mystery.Back to the film i thought it was really well acted,especially from Micheal Cain,Lewis Collins and Ray Mackanally,who i believe was his last film before his sudden death.If you don't know much about the theories on Jack the Ripper this isn't a bad film to start off on as it has all the usual suspects that for years crop up with the now infamous legend.

This is easily my favourite Jack the Ripper film. I was disappointed with the ending which I guessed near to the start of the film as I have read the Stephen Knight book. The Richard Mansfield bits were good but unnecessary. This version is far from perfect but is certainly does it's best to be accurate. It gets the locations right, the order of the crimes correct and uses real Police Officers to investigate. I found all the acting to be good. Whatever happened to Lewis Collins ? I agree with others that the prostitutes, apart from Mary Kelly were too good looking for the times. When I read the Stephen Knight book, it certainly appeared plausible but now I haven't a clue who the actual ripper was.