Debuting on Friday 13 July 1973, this six-part BBC documentary investigation into the facts of the notorious Whitechapel Murders of 1888 reunited Detective Chief Superintendent Barlow (Stratford Johns) and Detective Chief Superintendent Watt (Frank Windsor), former long-term partners in Z Cars, Softly, Softly, and Softly Softly : Task Force.
Barlow and Watt, as TV detectives of the present day, sifted through evidence from the 19th century – including contemporary documents, newspapers, and newly discovered material – with the events re-enacted in cutaway scenes.
The series – written by Elwyn Jones and John Lloyd, produced and directed by Leonard Lewis, and made in the BBC’s Glasgow studios – received a mixed reception and was criticised for being over-long.
Still, there was a follow-up in 1976, Second Verdict, which featured similar re-investigations into cases like the Lindbergh baby, the Reichstag fire, Lizzie Borden, and the Princes in the Tower.
An odd and jarring mixture of drama and documentary, this never really excited much interest, and only one series was made.
DCS Charlie Barlow
Stratford Johns DCS John Watt
Frank Windsor
Episodes
The First Two | Double Event | Butchery | Panic | Suspects | The Highest in the Land?
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Barlow and Watt, as TV detectives of the present day, sifted through evidence from the 19th century – including contemporary documents, newspapers, and newly discovered material – with the events re-enacted in cutaway scenes.
