The Ripper Speaks Joins Channel 5’s True-Crime Slate

Channel 5 is expanding its true-crime slate with the documentary feature The Ripper Speaks, produced by Content Kings and Green Rock.

The 90-minute title will draw on exclusive, never-before-heard audio recordings of Peter Sutcliffe, the so-called “Yorkshire Ripper,” including those between Sutcliffe and the woman he fell in love with. The calls were recorded from prison in the years before he died, providing new insights into his real motivations during his reign of misogynistic violence across Northern England from 1969 to his capture in 1981.

In The Ripper Speaks, investigative journalist and ex-detective Mark Williams-Thomas talks to Sutcliffe’s family members, ex-police officers, witnesses and doctors, and uses the tapes to explode the myths surrounding the Ripper.

Dan Louw, VP and commissioning editor at Channel 5, said: “This explorative film provides a view of Sutcliffe not as the mythical ‘Ripper’ who terrorized the country, but as he really was—a lonely, isolated, coward—more ‘normal’ than any of us would like to admit. It’s an important look at psychopathy and misogyny, and a chance to address issues that still exist today.”

Jonathan Levi, managing director of Content Kings and executive producer of the film, added: “Our focus at Content Kings is to make films and series that feel distinctive, with unique access at the heart of each. This film confidently delivers on that intent, and we are thrilled to have made it with Channel 5.”

Williams-Thomas said: “The story of The Yorkshire Ripper is very well-trodden, but now with unique access to Peter Sutcliffe, I have been able to ask him specific questions about his life and crimes so that we can finally get some answers for his many victims. This is a remarkable access film about the country’s most notorious serial killer.”