Review

(Please be advised that this is an adult audio drama.)

There’s a new, brutal murderer terrorising the public in contemporary Whitechapel. But this time, it’s a woman… Jackie the Ripper. Her male victims are found with their genitals removed and replaced in unusual and anatomically incorrect locations. A curfew is introduced for men in central London, and men’s groups are not happy.

Well meaning but hapless Scotland Yard detective, Frederick Abberline,* has been seconded to the City of London police to head up an investigative unit. But with dubious colleagues, inquisitive journalists and his grief at his father’s death, this isn’t going to be the easiest case to crack…

*

Huh. No Jack the Ripper fiction for me ever, and now two in three weeks. (The other one was The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson).

This is an earlier immersive audio comedy-drama by the makers of Sherlock & Co., and the protagonist (Abberline) is voiced by the same actor (Paul Waggott) as Dr Watson, and the character is pretty similar too. Actually a lot of the voice cast overlaps with Sherlock, which makes for an interesting listening experience.

I enjoyed the comedy and the mystery, although I felt that Sherlock & Co. was better: funnier and with better plots (helped, no doubt, by Conan Doyle). But Jackie the Ripper is still quite fun, and if you like audio dramas, I recommend it. It is, however, adult fare, mostly due to violence, squishy sound effects & swearing. (Note: I’m pretty wimpy about violence, and I was fine with it.)

It’s available for free via podcast apps.

> Click here for content warnings – spoilers, enter at own risk!

Violent audio scenes with squishy sound effects; graphic descriptions of death and mutilation with sexual connotations; knife violence; preserved body parts; reported past cruelty to animals; perilous situations; mild sexual references; corruption; grief at death of parents; reported death from lung cancer; parent with dementia; reported long ago suicide; hospital scenes, plenty of swears, though mostly in a comic sort of way.

* Edited to add: I’ve just found out that Frederick Abberline was the chief detective on the original Jack the Ripper case. Nice one!

*

Emery, J. (Writer), & Jarrell, A. (Director). (2021–2022). Jackie the Ripper [Audio drama]. Stak. https://stak.london/shows/jackie-the-ripper/

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• Images are used on this blog post under the “Fair dealing for criticism or review” provision of the Commonwealth Copyright Act, 1968.
• Screenshot of podcast episode on my phone.
• Mobile phone border and background from Canva.