Hit-and-miss ITV drama Whitechapel is to return next year with a third outing. Regular cast members Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davis and Steve Pemberton will reprise their roles, investigating crime in the East End.
With the first series tackling a Ripper copycat and the far-fetched sequel depositing a fresh pair of Kray twins on the streets of E1, it's interesting to speculate which East End legends might be resurrected for this third outing. A modern take on the Ratcliff Highway murders? A star turn by Spring-Heeled Jack? A reborn Elephant Man demanding 21st Century human rights? There's no shortage of inspiration from the district's history.
The teasing press release suggests three stories, each of two episodes.
Whitechapel viewers will be taken back over three hundred years as the present day investigations preoccupying Chandler and his team begin to echo crimes from the city’s darkest recesses. Murder in the tunnels under Whitechapel, body-snatching, poisoning and grisly discoveries are amongst the tales to be told as the East End again provides fertile ground.
The first two series both had moments of brilliance but were often let down by flabby scripting and implausible plot points. With luck, the two-episode-per-story format should offer something sharper.
