The Rest Is History — Episode 625

Jack The Ripper: Horror in Whitechapel (Part 2)

Release Date: December 11, 2025
Hosts: Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook

Episode Overview

In this gripping follow-up to their Jack the Ripper series, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook delve into the atmospherics, press frenzy, investigative efforts, and social context enveloping the Ripper crimes of autumn 1888. Building on their first episode's scene-setting and account of the initial murders, they explore the third canonical killing, the feverish media reaction, community dynamics, and the emergence of the infamous “Jack the Ripper” name itself. Throughout, they highlight the intricacies of late Victorian society: mass literacy, urban anxiety, immigration, and evolving attitudes to violence and policing.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Whitechapel’s Atmosphere and the Press’s Role

• [03:33] Tom Holland opens with a dramatic reading from the Evening Star (Sept 8, 1888), evoking the terror and helplessness that gripped late-Victorian London as the “Whitechapel Murderer” was still unnamed.

  “London lies today under the spell of a great terror. … The ghoul like creature who stalks through the streets of London … is simply drunk with blood. And he will have more.”
  — [03:33] Tom Holland (quoting The Evening Star)

• Discussion: The press’s lurid headlines and repetitive narratives stoked the burgeoning hysteria, entwining public fear with fascination, and were central to the shaping of the Ripper phenomenon.

  • Newspapers were competing for an increasingly literate public due to the 1870s–80s Education Acts.
  • Mass-market titles and “penny dreadfuls” set a precedent for sensationalism.
  • Much of what is known about the murders comes from journalism, not official documents.

  “This is as much a story about the newspapers and about publishing and indeed about mass literacy as it is one about crime or poverty or prostitution.”
  — [08:25] Dominic Sandbrook

2. Recap of Prior Killings & The Rise of Press Hysteria

• [05:26] Dominic Sandbrook recaps the earlier murders of Martha Tabram and Polly Nichols, noting the press’s intensifying focus and the beginning of the “Ripper” phenomenon.
• [07:14] Tom Holland: Police efforts were confounded by a lack of clues or witnesses—leading to rampant speculation and invention in reporting.
• [08:05] Tom Holland: Reports like “Ghastly crimes by a maniac” became press staples.

3. The Victims and Canonical Crimes: Annie Chapman

• [21:05] Dominic Sandbrook offers a chilling, minute-by-minute reconstruction of Annie Chapman’s murder at 29 Hanbury Street, September 8, 1888.

  • The crime’s brutality: intestines removed, uterus taken.
  • The police surgeon and coroner note the killer's anatomical skill (or at least savage precision).

• Victim’s life: Annie Chapman emerges as a real person—47 years old, alcoholic, sick with tuberculosis. Her desperate circumstances parallel those of earlier victims.

  “Her last words, I shall soon be back. Don’t let the bed…”
  — [26:30] Dominic Sandbrook (on Annie Chapman)

4. Police Response, Public Perception, and Early Investigation

• [13:34] Dominic Sandbrook: Media and mass fear put “enormous pressure on the police.”
  • The police force was relatively understaffed and facing public derision or suspicion.

  “In the popular imagination, there's a general sense that the police are either unbelievably incompetent or uniquely malevolent…”
  — [14:02] Dominic Sandbrook

• [15:27] Tom Holland: Chief Commissioner Charles Warren’s background—including Freemasonry—feeds later conspiracy theories.
• [17:22] Dominic Sandbrook: Victorian society had no concept of a serial killer’s psychological motives; people were bewildered and inclined toward theories of “mania.”

5. Eyewitness Accounts & Forensic Challenges

• Analysis of three crucial witnesses at Annie Chapman’s murder scene narrows the time frame to a tight 15-minute window ([30:42] Tom Holland).
• Physical description of the suspect ([31:54] Dominic Sandbrook):
  • “Dark complexioned, brown deerstalker, over 40, slightly taller than Annie, ‘looked like a foreigner’, shabby-genteel.”
• The killer was:
  • Daring (murder by daylight, in a bustling location)
  • Fast and unhesitating
  • Knowledgeable about the area and anatomy ([35:43] Dominic Sandbrook)

  “To take out those internal organs would have taken me an hour … the killer must have done it in moments…”
  — [36:07] Dominic Sandbrook (quoting Dr. Phillips)

6. Viral Panic and Early Suspects

• Immediate aftermath saw mass public gatherings, morbid tourism, and numerous wrongful arrests, especially of those fitting “foreigner” or “outsider” profiles ([44:07] Dominic Sandbrook).

  • Arrests included a German barber and a butcher from Switzerland—both foreign and connected with knives.
  • The figure of “Leather Apron” (John Pizer), a Jewish shoemaker, was hyped by the press before his alibi cleared him.

  “A suspect with a terrifying name ramps up the tension massively.”
  — [46:25] Tom Holland

• Surge of anti-Semitism:

  • Sharp rise in anti-Jewish suspicion and scapegoating, reflecting Whitechapel’s newly arrived Jewish refugees ([48:34] Dominic Sandbrook).

7. The Birth of “Jack the Ripper” and the Penny Dreadfuls

• Discussing the famous "Dear Boss" letter ([55:46] Dominic Sandbrook; [55:57] Tom Holland), sent to a news agency, not police—theory:
  • Likely written by a journalist hoping to drive circulation.
  • The name was crafted for drama: “Jack” is the go-to name for rogues and evildoers in Victorian pulp—thus, “Jack the Ripper” was born and went viral almost instantly.

  “The evidence for that is it goes viral, doesn’t it?”
  — [59:46] Tom Holland

8. The Autumn of Terror — More Murders

• On the night of September 29–30, two more canonical murders—Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes—occur ([59:49] Dominic Sandbrook through [65:30] Tom Holland).
  • Stride is murdered in the yard of the International Working Men’s Educational Club; quickly discovered, her throat cut but not mutilated.
  • Within an hour, Eddowes is slain in Mitre Square (on City of London Police’s patch); this time with the full brutality associated with the Ripper.
• The episode closes with a cliffhanger as the investigations (and the violence) escalate.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On sensationalist reporting:

  “The reason that we’re quoting so much from the newspapers is that they are absolutely central not necessarily to the crimes, but to the Jack the Ripper phenomenon, to the historical phenomenon of the Jack the Ripper case.”
  — [08:25] Dominic Sandbrook

• On the killer’s boldness:

  “He must know the area. Right, here’s a spoiler alert. I think if you’re a member of the Royal Family, you’re gonna get lost in that area and you’re gonna be spotted pretty quickly, frankly.”
  — [36:04] Dominic Sandbrook

• On the “Jack the Ripper” name:

  “Jack was a standard name that you reached for, you know, if you were creating a character, should we say.”
  — [58:35] Dominic Sandbrook

• On mass hysteria:

  “And the news breaks during the course of Saturday the 8th, and journalists editors go berserk. … This is their dream scenario. … And the result is exactly what the press wants. Mass hysteria, mass excitement, a demand to know more.”
  — [41:59] Tom Holland

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:33 — Dramatic reading: terror and the press
• 05:26 — Recap of Whitechapel’s setting, earlier victims
• 11:26 — The rise of the mass-market newspaper
• 21:05 — Annie Chapman’s murder: witness sequence
• 28:15 — Inspector Frederick Abberline: the real history vs. myth
• 35:43 — Anatomical skill and evidence at the crime scene
• 41:59 — Press frenzy, mass hysteria
• 48:34 — Rise of anti-Semitism amid the panic
• 55:46 — The “Dear Boss” letter & birth of “Jack the Ripper”
• 59:49 — Double event: Stride and Eddowes’ murders
• 65:30 — Cliffhanger: the darkness gathers, and more horror looms

Tone & Style

Tom and Dominic balance evocative storytelling with scholarly caution and dry humor. They avoid sensationalism for its own sake, instead probing how the phenomenon of Jack the Ripper is as much a story about media, urban anxiety, and social change as it is about the deeds of one killer.

For Further Exploration

• The Complete History of Jack the Ripper by Philip Sugden
• The Five by Hallie Rubenhold
• “Casebook: Jack the Ripper” website for contemporary press accounts

End of summary. If you want the next installment (Part 3), or details on the bonus club episodes, join The Rest Is History Club at therestishistory.com.