His name's not in the title. It's not about him ..it's about the victims

ITV Ripper show 4yrs in the making | Writer aided by grieving loved ones

- MARK JEFFERIES

THE writer of a new series about Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe was adamant the drama would focus on the 13 victims after hearing the harrowing tales of their families.

So much so, the killer's nickname does not appear in the title and Sutcliffe does not feature until the final two episodes of the seven-part drama series.

The Long Shadow focuses on the five-year manhunt for him.

Screenwriter George Kay said: "We started by calling it The Yorkshire Ripper when we announced it. We hadn't learnt that that moniker that people used to describe Peter Sutcliffe was disrespectful in many ways and especially to the victims' families.