ITVX has rolled out a true crime miniseries chronicling the Yorkshire Murders starring Toby Jones, David Morrisey, Katherine Kelly, and Daniel Mays. It is a gripping true story of a series of murders that shocked British society in the 1970s.
The story follows the police investigative team in which they track down a serial killer who slain thirteen women over a period of five years.
This series contains a lot of gruesome, nasty details surrounding the murders, the investigation, and the manhunt, so it is not for the faint of heart.
In case these kinds of topics are triggering for you, you should skip it, but if you’re daring enough, be sure to give it a shot, because aside from the great cast, the editing, cinematography, and script are robust. So, with one episode down, here’s a spoiler-filled recap for you.
The Long Shadow Episode 1 Recap
Wilma McCann tucks in her eldest daughter Sonia and leaves her four children asleep on October 29, 1975, but she’s gone by morning.
Sonia and her brother Richard wait at the local bus stop for her, hoping she’s still going home. They have no idea they accidentally passed their mother’s corpse.
Two policemen find the pair and take them to a children’s home while finding their mother’s remains in a playing field behind their council house. Police learn from neighbors that Wilma regularly leaves the children at home and goes out in the evening.
Hoban makes it clear that no one deserves to die like Wilma, even though some of his team has little sympathy for her because she was a sex worker. He worries about how the public will view Wilma and how they will frame her murder.
Hoban tells Wilma’s children about their mother’s death and asks them to take a photo with their favorite toys, a real-life event. Hoban knows the public may be more sympathetic and forthcoming about a mother’s death than a sex worker’s.
DCS Jim Hobson, Hoban’s second-in-command, says she was last seen outside a pub on Meanwood Road when last orders were called on the second day of the investigation.
The killer left Wilma on a field by a car park while driving, and Hoban finds a book with men’s names and phone numbers on her bedside table.
Chief Constable Gregory visits Hoban three weeks after Wilma’s death, despite his denials, to check on the investigation. He invites Hoban to Christmas drinks because he needs to meet people.
Wilma’s book’s suspects are eliminated, and the police have distributed 10,000 leaflets and made house-to-house visits but have found no leads. Hoban is determined, but Hobson is losing faith in the tactics.
The next night, they attend a Leeds party at The Gaiety, but Sydney, who can’t drive, only invites his wife to drive him home.
Emily puts a song on the jukebox while Sydney drinks with his friends and notices a man with dark curly hair and a mustache at the bar. The man follows her to dance, and they have chemistry.
He follows her outside, and while she’s intrigued by his advances, she leaves when he mistakes her for a sex worker and asks, “How much?” Is this Peter Sutcliffe, who killed Wilma McCann and at least 12 more women in Yorkshire over the years? Regardless, the encounter gives Emily, whose family is poor, food for thought.
The truck driver says he saw Wilma in the middle of the road the night she died. He considered picking her up but decided against it because he thought she might vomit in his cab due to her intoxication.
However, he recalls Wilma getting into a Corsair or Fastback shortly after. The driver tells Hoban that he lives in Rochdale and has only recently learned of Wilma’s murder.
At the Christmas party, Chief Constable Gregory introduces Hoban to DCS George Oldfield, a rural Yorkshire detective, who asks about his investigation and implies that many of their men are helping him. Hoban’s obsession with the case is already evident.
A few weeks later, with The Morecambe & Wise Christmas on TV, Hoban is in the control room when a caller says they saw Wilma get into a “Chapeltown regular”‘s green Land Rover the night she died. Could this be the man they want?
The next night, they attend a Leeds party at The Gaiety, but Sydney, who can’t drive, only invites his wife to drive him home.
Emily puts a song on the jukebox while Sydney drinks with his friends and notices a man with dark curly hair and a mustache at the bar. The man follows her to dance, and they have chemistry.
He follows her outside, and while she’s intrigued by his advances, she leaves when he mistakes her for a sex worker and asks, “How much?” Is this Peter Sutcliffe, who killed Wilma McCann and at least 12 more women in Yorkshire over the years? Regardless, the encounter gives Emily, whose family is poor, food for thought.
The Long Shadow Episode 2 Release Date
The Long Shadow Episode 2 will land on ITVX on Monday, 2 October 2023, at 16:00 hrs Eastern Time, United States. Each episode lasts around 60 minutes. In the following list, you’ll find the regional time release schedules for this program.
- Pacific Time (PT): 13:00 (1:00 PM) PT
- Central Time (CT): 15:00 (3:00 PM) CT
- Mountain Time (MT): 14:00 (2:00 PM) MT
- British Summer Time (BST): 21:00 (9:00 PM) BST
- Central European Summer Time (CEST): 22:00 (10:00 PM) CEST
- Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST): 06:00 AM on October 3, 2023
- Sydney Time (Australia): 06:00 AM on October 3, 2023
- Melbourne Time (Australia): 06:00 AM on October 3, 2023
- Brisbane Time (Australia): 06:00 AM on October 3, 2023
- India Standard Time (IST): 01:30 AM IST on October 3, 2023
- Singapore Time (SGT): 04:00 AM SGT on October 3, 2023
- New Zealand Standard Time (NZST): 09:00 AM NZST on October 3, 2023
The Long Shadow Official Trailer
https://youtu.be/8E4bO9J3TB4
The Long Shadow Episode Guide
The Long Shadow consists of a seven-episode run starting in late September 2025, airing weekly on Mondays up until early November. Consult our episode guide, mark your calendar, and don’t skip a single episode.
- Episode 1: Monday, 25 September 2023
- Episode 2: Monday, 2 October 2023
- Episode 3: Monday, 9 October 2023
- Episode 4: Monday, 16 October 2023
- Episode 5: Monday, 23 October 2023
- Episode 6: Monday, 30 October 2023
- Episode 7: Monday, 6 November 2023
Also Read: The Ghost Town Terror Season 2 Episodes: Streaming Guide & Schedule
How To Watch The Long Shadow Episodes?
Catch the episodes of The Long Shadow via ITVX at the times and dates described above. If you reside in the United Kingdom, you can stream the show from that platform with your TV license. Still, this option is restricted to UK viewers.
For those of you living outside the United Kingdom who wish to watch the show, we recommend you circumvent the geographical restrictions by employing a virtual private network service (VPN), connect to the UK, navigate to ITVX, provide your email, and stream the show without any difficulties.
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