I was not overly impressed by last week's opening instalment of ITV's Ripper rip-off drama Whitechapel, as this mini review shows, but found just enough in the Jack the Ripper redux storyline to stick with it for another week.
And I am so glad I did. Episode two of this drama really took off. Just about everything about it was a dramatic improvement over the stuttering first episode. From the opening scene where Rupert Penry-Jones's green DI Joe Chandlor is suddenly presented with the dark flip side of political patronage in the police force that has allowed his rapid ascent through the ranks, Whitechapel moves with pace and menace.
The Ripper theme - a killer is replicating the 1888 murders down to every last possible detail 120 years on - really comes into its own as the police full understand what is happening. And the threat of the next murder hangs over them like the sword of Damocles. Despite the fact that every detail is known to them of the murder bar identity of the 2008 victim, they wilt under the harsh, unforgiving glare of the media spotlight.
And as the night of the murder arrives, the action and tension reach fever pitch.
One element that still did not seem right was Penry-Jones. Although his interaction with his team moved on considerably from the cliché-ridden mess of last week, Penry-Jones himself still did not look either comfortable or right in the role of slef-doubting copper. Perhaps I am still too attuned to the certainty and confidence of Adam Carter, but I just couldn't quite adjust to Penry-Jones in this role.
Nonetheless, suddenly this has turned into a terrific drama and I am looking forward to the finale next Monday.
(For those who have missed it, the first two episodes are available on the imaginatively named ITVPlayer)
