The gritty true crime drama is coming to ITV1 and ITVX later this month.
We finally have our first proper look at upcoming ITV true crime drama The Long Shadow, in a brand new trailer for the series.
The new drama, which is set to air this month, boasts a star-studded cast including Toby Jones (Detectorists), David Morrissey (Sherwood) and Daniel Mays (Line of Duty), among many others.
The series comes from Hijack and Lupin screenwriter George Kay and is directed by Lewis Arnold (Des, Sherwood), so you know it’s going to be an enthralling and gripping watch.
The Long Shadow will explore the desperate five-year hunt for serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, commonly referred to as The Yorkshire Ripper.
In the new trailer for the series, we see detectives visit various crime scenes while also listening to women give their witness testimonies, referring to the suspect as having “dark coloured eyes”.
As the manhunt gets under way, another body of a 28-year-old woman is found in the Prince Philip Playing Fields and we soon see a crew of female police officers looking on at the crime scene.
Jill Halfpenny, who plays Doreen Hill in the series, is seen talking to press about needing to find the person who killed her daughter, while Jones’s DCS Dennis Hoban looks increasingly stressed as people’s lives continue to be impacted and the investigation continues.
Watch the trailer below.
The new drama is set to “sensitively focus on the lives of the victims” who crossed Sutcliffe’s path and also explore the stories of the officers at the heart of the police investigation. As per the synopsis: “With the victims, their families and the survivors at the heart of this series, The Long Shadow brings a new perspective to a well-documented story.”
It continues: “Meticulously researched and drawing upon the most extensive archive of the investigation, comprising of hundreds of case files, interview transcripts and police reports, the series is also based on Wicked Beyond Belief, Michael Bilton’s critically acclaimed account of the case, published by William Collins.”
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Jones will play the officer who initially led the enquiry, while Morrissey stars as DCS George Oldfield, who famously took on the investigation. Lee Ingleby is DCS Jim Hobson, while Katherine Kelly is Emily Jackson, Daniel Mays is her husband Sydney Jackson and Shaun Thomas is their son Neil Jackson.
The rest of the cast of the series includes Jasmine Lee-Jones as Marcella Claxton, Molly Wright as Donna Deangelo, Liz White as PS Meg Winterburn and Shaun Dooley as DCS Chris Gregg.
Alexa Davies, Chloe Harris, Stephen Tompkinson, Jack Deam, Michael McElhatton, Adam Long, Ruth Madeley, Dorothy Atkinson, Rob James-Collier, Charley Webb, Steven Waddington and Kris Hitchen also star in The Long Shadow.
The Long Shadow will air on ITV1 and ITVX in September 2023. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.
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