Jack the Ripper:Tabloid Killer:Revealed

[Suzi]

Have posted my reply on New Book thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Grrrrr focus chaps!!! Oops shall we keep it there- else will get confused!! x

[Jeff Leahy]

I afraid I haven’t bothered to read what is being said yet..

This was after all the biggest anti-climax in history, featuring people (apart from Don or Stewart) who no nothing about the case. It said nothing new. And ended on a scurrilous conclusion that Best forged the Dear Boss letter at the instruction of O’Conner…

It gave no facts, and didn’t even bother to deny a real serial killer; known as Jack The Ripper, was at work…it dithered about with McKenzie creating his own front page using images from the wrong murder.

Anyone worth listening to was edited out to a couple of seconds…

It’s claim simply that Best wrote the ‘dear boss’ there is no evidence against any Jewish, Gent or Doctor suspect….but no explanation why they believed this..

To be honest I think that Vic Reeves recent documentary with a psychic conclusion compared favorably

Pirate

[Suzi]

Just posted on New Book thread Jeff- think it's safer to keep it there!

[Red Zeppelin]

What left me gobsmacked was Kelvin McKenzie being aghast about journalists making up accusations and allegations with no evidence to support them.

He should know all about that after his Hillsborough nonsense.

Still, the programme did make sense to me and the handwriting comparisons to Best were interesting at least.

[Mike Covell]

Claim from former Editor
This program will solve the 120 year old mystery

Fact
The program proposed a suspect for writing the letter

Claim from former Editor
The Star was giving too much coverage to just another murder.

Fact
This wasn't just another murder!

Claim from former Editor
People remember the murders because of the name Jack the Ripper

Fact
People remember murders becuase people are murdered!

Claim from former graphologist
The N looks the same as a the M

Fact
She should really go to speck savers, the N had flourishes at the begining and end of the letter, nothing like the M and since when has the letter M looked like an N

Claim from former Graphologist
The T's are identical

Fact
No they were not!

Claim from former Graphologist
It is obvious the letter writer was getting orders from his superior TP Conner

Fact
I didn't think the "art" of Graphology could enable the reader to make claims based on conjecture!

The whole "Lets create a modern newspaper cover" waste of time and proved nothing!

The only saving grace of the show was seeing Messrs. Evans and Rumbelow, who were severley underused.

[Scotland Yard]

At the risk of being provocative, I disagree with many of the negative comments above. Certainly the programme had its shortcomings but I thought it was well-made and being so dismissive of it on the grounds that, for eg, not everyone interviewed was a ripper expert in the eyes of many here is unwarranted. To me, it smacks of the kind of proprietorial elitism that I'm beginning to suspect is as much a part of modern 'Ripperology' as the vicious catfights that seem to occur whenever someone turns up some fresh piece of material.

Despite the misleading -and ironic - banner headline title, the programme had much to recommend it and any primetime TV show that challenges the still-lingering, still highly-inaccurate stereotype of who Jack was can only be a good thing.

Mike,

I'm not sure I'm in agreement with your statement that people remember murders simply because people are murdered. In the case of the Ripper, I felt the programme was correct in its conclusion that it was the 'branding' and marketing of the case that has allowed it to enter cultural consciousness in the way that it has. You could argue that these were no ordinary murders but without the culprit's demonic 'Jack the Ripper' identity, the theatrical 'flair' lent him by the contemporary press and its shameless indulgance of the public's own morbid fascination with his deeds, the case would not easily have grown to such legendary stature.

A few points I'd like to make on the analyses of Best's handwriting in comparsion to the letter:

Most ripper experts agree that the Dear Boss letter is almost certainly a hoax and (despite the broad theorizing and conjecture on the part of the graphologist) I can see exactly why she's impressed by the similarity between Best's penmanship with that on the letter. You are right in saying the numerous match's she pointed to were not exact as she said but a) no one repeats a handwritten letter stroke exactly, b) if not exact, they were extremely close, c) the writer -whether the ripper or otherwise - was undoubtedly attempting to alter their standard hand anyway and d) I got the impression she was talking as much about the exactitude in size and proportion of the letters as to the similarity in style.

Of course, its possible she disingenuously altered the size of the writing on the transparent sheet she was using, I don't know. However, it seems to me that having a tantalisingly plausible finger point accusingly at Best and then finding that his handwriting, far from putting him out of the picture (as in the case of Maybrick and the horrendous diary hoax) actually fits very neatly and closely into a 'more than possible' category, is very intiguing.

Pirate Jack,

You say that McKenzie created his own front page using images from the wrong murder. He did not. Inititally, his graphic designer used a picture illustrating the Berner St killing, but McKenzie quickly corrected him and it was replaced with one that was accurate to the Kelly murder.

[Matty]

I haven't seen the programme but a trailer was shown on Channel 5 last night

You were in it! Must have been archive footage or something.

[Bob Hinton]

Reply to Scotland Yard. I think what people are annoyed about is that there are so many avenues to get the correct information we are frustrated why TV companies still insist on using inaccurate or misleading information.

As for the handwriting comparison it would have been relevant if the woman actually had some expertise in matching handwriting!

[TheWickerMan]

So, was this a 6-hour epic or just an hour one-off?

[Mike Covell]

Just a one off, the next episode in the series is devoted to the Turin Shroud. Some say that it's an image of Jack the Ripper, I am undecided!

[Jeff Leahy]

Reply to Scotland Yard. I think what people are annoyed about is that there are so many avenues to get the correct information we are frustrated why TV companies still insist on using inaccurate or misleading information.

As for the handwriting comparison it would have been relevant if the woman actually had some expertise in matching handwriting!

Yes Ok. Credit where its due. I agree totally with Bob.

Its not so much what you did get. Its what you could and should have had.

We should all demand more. And actually there are people in the TV industry that want more also. Its up to you guys to demand it speak out.

Pirate

[George Hutchinson]

My feeling is they work to their own agenda, Jeff. One of the shows I did, I had a long chat with the director about certain errors that were always made in programmes and he took note of all the pitfalls. You guessed it, when the programme came out, all the errors were still there.

PHILIP

[alucard]

Despite it being hack job with a grating voice over by the ever talentless Michelle Collins, the notion of Fred Best and T.P O'connor being the Dear Boss authors was very interesting and quite persuasive. That said I honestly think that scumbag Kelvin Mckenzie is truly an aberration of human kind and it was sickening to see him strutting around like he personally solved the case.