There is this thing going around on TikTok where women say that they feel safer in the woods with a bear. After watching this British true crime drama series on AMC+ about the Yorkshire Ripper…would I also pick the bear?
The Long Shadow
The Long Shadow is a seven-part British true drama series about a serial killer, Peter Sutcliffe, who terrorized and murdered thirteen women between 1969 to 1980, until his capture. The count may be higher, but so far, we know of seven failed attempts. The drama, which sticks closely to real events, was written by Michael Bilton & George Kay and directed by Lewis Arnold and stars David Morrissey, Toby Jones, Mark Stobbart, Michael McElhatton, Liz White, Jill Halfpenny, and Katherine Kelly.
We, as the viewers, are given the chance to learn about the victims as the search goes on for the Ripper, the name given by the West Yorkshire police led by the main investigator, ACC George Oldfield (David Morrissey). The story begins with the murder of Wilma McCann (Gemma Laurie), and because she is a prostitute, the police and the press focus on that fact only, which in the long haul, was making women who had somehow survived the brutal hammer and knife attack afraid to openly talk to the police or press because they knew that the public would automatically assume that they were also prostitutes.
One of the surviving victims of the Ripper’s (Mark Stobbart) hammer and knife attack, Marcella (Jasmine Lee-Jones) not only miscarries the child she was carrying but is unable to work because of a serious head injury. But she is unable to get compensation because the government, like the police, believe that the Ripper is only going after prostitutes. Get it? Their thinking was that she got what she asked for.
Conclusion and Spoilers
You need to watch The Long Shadow, which is on AMC+ and Amazon. This is one of the best crime drama series that I have watched in a long time. This killer was able to brutally murder women because the police did not respect the prostitutes or listen to the surviving victims. The investigation was a total shit show because the authorities in charge of the case were only concentrating on a misleading letter and tape that was sent to them.
The series concentrates on the victims. Yes, some of the victims were prostitutes, but we get to know these women and see how their deaths took a toll on their families. Even prostitutes have families that love them dearly. In the end we see that it was the careful gathering of information by the female police officers that helped seal the case against Sutcliffe.
Let’s get back to that bear in the woods. There is a reason that women are willing to suffer a bear attack instead of bumping into a strange man in the woods…the police will believe the bear attack was not provoked by the way a woman dressed. Maybe, who knows for sure. I have a feeling that the police would most likely assume that the female hiker had somehow provoked the bear.
The Long Shadow is based on a true story, and I found myself being very upset and angry with the officers’ lack of compassion not only for the prostitutes, but also for their arrogance with the surviving victims. They just assumed that the Ripper was targeting prostitutes…and ignored the clues.
I am hoping things will change, but I don’t have high hopes, especially since it took a hotel video to prove that a famous man is quite possibly a serial abuser. But in this world, the wealthy and famous can get away with murder.
As a mother and grandmother, my advice…always pick the bear!
