This post contains spoilers for The Long Shadow episode 3.
DCS Jim Hobson decides to send one of his female officers undercover, yet his lacklustre approach to the investigation soon leads to him being replaced by DCS George Oldfield. Meanwhile, the killer claims his first victim outside Leeds and murders a woman who wasn't a sex worker for the first time.
Here's our recap of what happened in The Long Shadow episode 3...
'Leeds is waiting...'
It’s spring 1977 and DCS Jim Hobson is giving a press conference in his office, warning the killer he will be caught and apprehended, because Leeds is ready and waiting. However in truth he’s no closer to catching Peter Sutcliffe than he was nearly two years ago when he killed Wilma McCann.
The tyre tracks left at the scene of Irene Richardson’s body form the primary line of enquiry for DCS Hobson and he orders DC Nunn to check all the tyres individually if necessary. It’s an enormous and hopeless task, yet better than Hobson’s other tactic, which involves one of his men eventually stumbling upon the killer... "It’s the law of averages," he says. This lack of vision is especially infuriating as he has a vivid image of Peter Sutcliffe IN HIS DESK DRAW.
Meanwhile, DI Les Hanley discusses how it would be better if they could be with the sex workers themselves during the night, to have someone “in their shoes”. DC Nunn jokes, but Hanley has clearly given Hobson an idea.
Hanley rounds up the handful of women who work for the police force and begins the process of selecting which of them will be risking their lives for the investigation. He and Hobson eventually choose WPC Jill Adams, for reasons best known to themselves.
The two detectives then take Jill — who’s been with the police for just six months — into an office and ask her to stand up and remove her jacket, so they can “get a better look at her”. It’s toe-curling stuff, but they've clearly decided she’ll be the perfect bait in their trap.
DC Nunn and DI Hanley take WPC Adams to the corner she’ll be working and talk her through her task, while explaining how they’ll be at the other end of the radio if anything goes wrong. Jill tells PS Bob Blake about the operation and he’s not best pleased about her dressing up as a hooker, however she seems happy to have been selected.
The night of the operation begins and DI Hanley and DC Nunn tell WPC Adams to use the radio to subtly update them on anything unusual and to tell any punter who tries to pick her up that she’s waiting for mates.
Jill plucks out her courage and steps out of the car and onto the street and within minutes is called a ‘slut’ by a man who unsuccessfully tries to pick her up. The WPC begins relaying information about the cars who’ve been curb crawling, before a man approaches her and begins following her down the street. She radios DI Hanley and DC Nunn frantically calling for help, but there’s no sign of them and when she eventually reaches their car, they tell her she must have been using the radio wrong. Such a sensitive pair.
Back at the station, PS Bob Blake comes to check on WPC Adams — with whom he’s clearly involved — and comforts her, before asking if she can bring her undercover outfit home with them. She’s repulsed by the suggestion.
'She was our friend...'
Donna D’Angelo prepares for a night out in Bradford, while her young son sleeps in bed. At the pub she meets her friends, fellow sex workers Georgie Showalter and Patricia Atkinson, where Georgie suggests they all move to London as women like them can earn £30 a time, making far more money than they could in Yorkshire.
After a quick drink they head to the street corner, where Donna is quickly picked up by a man in his car and driven off to a quiet spot. He tells her he doesn’t want sex, just a “suck” and Donna agrees, but after the act is completed, her client begins talking about his regret at what they've just done.
He tells Donna he has three kids and that “he hates himself”, before berating her for being a sex worker and saying he only pulled over because she was “showing herself off” and starts throwing insults. He tries to make her get out of the car, but she demands to be returned to the street where her friends are waiting for her.
As Donna arrives back, her friend Patricia warns her to forget about going to London, before getting into the car of a client. It’s the last time anyone will ever see her alive.
DCS John Domaille enters the Bradford flat of Patricia Atkinson, where she was murdered by Peter Sutcliffe, to find Professor David Gee already there, analysing the scene. Professor Gee explains how he murder was committed, before suggesting DCS Domaille should get in touch with DCS Hobson in Leeds about the case. His suggestion is initially rebuffed, but he goes on to infer there are multiple similarities between this killing and the murders of the other three women.
Georgie then pays Donna a visit with news of Patricia’s death and the pair head to her flat to see if it’s true. The police officer on duty at the crime scene immediately begins shouting at the pair, in an especially heartless manner. He’S oNLy DoiNG hIs jOb etc
Georgie and Donna watch the news report on their friend’s death and hear of how the police have Patrica’s "blue diary" with a list of names in it, before asking those who are in it to come forward. Georgie says Patricia never had a blue diary, meaning the police are trying to trick Patricia's clients into come forward. Georgie and Donna don’t have high hopes for their plan, yet their discussion is cut short when Donna’s partner comes in and pours them both a whisky.
It’s clear his appearance has put both women on edge and when he leaves Georgie reveals she’s going to London, as it’s no longer safe for women like them in Yorkshire. She begs Donna to come with her and says they can even bring her son. Georgie fears her friend will be killed if she stays, but Donna says she’ll only go with men she knows from now on and they resolve to meet on the corner tomorrow night. Donna’s partner then comes in with her coat, forcing her to go out on the street the same day as her friend’s death.
Donna goes out again the following night and is surprised to find Georgie isn’t in their usual spot, so calls her from a phone box to ask why she hasn’t come out as she agreed to.
Donna is eventually picked up by a man in his car, who says they’ve met before and asks if he can pay her next time. She refuses and as she tries to get out of the car he begins punching her, leaving her with blood all over her face. He then sexually assaults her. Once he’s gone, she begins walking home, only to be arrested by two police officers on suspicion of soliciting.
As they question her, Donna tells them she was hit by a man after he tried to steal her purse, but they’re unconvinced and pressure her into confessing to being a sex worker and are delighted when she tells them the whole traumatic story. They seem utterly unconcerned with finding the man who broke her nose and sexually assaulted her and tell her it’s her fault she was attacked.
A few weeks later Georgie calls Donna from London, tells her how well things are going and that she’s given up sex work. Georgie then hints that she might drive back to Yorkshire to visit her old friend in her new car. Donna lies to her pal that she's also given up street-walking, yet after their conversation she heads out to her usual spot.
'As if those girls had a choice...'
It’s a year after Marcella Claxton was attacked and left for dead by Sutcliffe and she’s visiting the doctor to have her wounds checked. The doctor suggests that Marcella could be in a position to claim victim compensation and offers to help her fill in the forms.
Some time later she is visited by her friend Calvin Thompson who opens a letter she has received from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board, advising her she will receive no money. This is due to a consultation with the police in which they labelled her a liar and a sex worker, invalidating any claim and saying she invited the attack upon herself.
'A normal lass who's done nothing wrong...'
DCS Hobson briefs Chief Constable Gregory and the rest of Yorkshire’s senior detectives on his leads, yet they seem utterly unimpressed by his excitement over the tyre tracks left at the scene of Irene Richardson’s murder.
DCS George Oldfield is especially cynical of the plan to check all the car tyres in Leeds and points out some of the enormous issues with it. Hobson doesn’t like Oldfield’s tone, but it’s soon clear he might be losing his grip on the case when he discovers the murder of Patricia Atkinson has been linked to the case and David Gee has convened a meeting to discuss it, without letting him know.
After the meeting, DCS Oldfield stays behind to discuss the case with CC Gregory and tells him of how the papers are all over it and the murders are spreading beyond Leeds. He then pours scorn upon DCS Hobson and tells his boss he wants to take over the case if there’s another killing. It’s clear CC Gregory would be very happy to receive his call.
At the meeting Professor Gee goes over the wounds Patricia Atkinson received, with DCS Hobson casting aspersions upon his theory that her murder is connected to the others. However when Gee says he found a footprint of a Dunlop Wellington boot size 7 at the scene, even Hobson has to admit the killing was carried out by their man.
In June 1977, 16 year-old Jayne MacDonald is murdered in Leeds and CC Gregory makes good on his promise to give DCS George Oldfield the case. He immediately sets off to the scene of the crime and tells DCS Hobson the news about his promotion, before telling him it’s his fault this “normal lass from a good family who’s done nothing wrong” is dead.
Jayne’s mother is distraught when DCS Oldfield visits her and explains that he knows how she feels, because he and his wife once lost a daughter to illness when she was little. Jayne’s father is confused as the news said the Ripper only kills sex workers and Oldfield says the killer has made a “terrible mistake” and gives his word that he will catch this man.
DCS Oldfield visits the playing field where Wilma McCann’s body was found and explains how Jayne MacDonald lives on the same street and wonders if the Ripper lives in one of the same houses in the area. Oldfield says if he can see them he should be panicking, as they are going to catch him.
The Long Shadow episode 4 will be shown at 9pm on ITV1 on Monday 16 October
