Textual Analysis: Whitechapel

I watched the first episode of the ITV series ‘Whitechapel’, which was initially broadcasted on ITV in 2009 and is now available on Netflix. Starring Rupert Penry-Jones, Phil Davis and Steve Pemberton, the episode had brief tagline “ambitious detective Joseph Chandler is assigned a seemingly straightforward murder case”, this gives the programme an initial enigma of what the case entails and what makes Joseph stand out as being ambitious compared to the other detective in the show. I thought the pilot was an excellent way of kicking off the series, with the new, young DI being undermined by the older, less determined detectives. It represents everyday conflicts that my target audience, ‘millennials’ as they have probably experienced prejudices like this when they began working.

The crime itself is based around the murders of ‘Jack the Ripper’, in which there are two gruesome murders which follow the story almost exactly. The stuck out to me as I have often seen crime dramas link murders to famous murders or fairy tales, I really enjoy narrative aspects like this so this is a huge option for my own programme. With gore as a huge element in the show, close-ups of the bodies I feel it does appeal to the target audience of 18-35 millennials, as the horror element makes it explicit to under 18s.

In terms of narrative structure, there are two key turning points in the programme; initially the murder of the first victim, then a resolution is almost resolved when they predict another murder but arrived too late to prevent it adding another disruption.

The show uses a large variety shot types, angles, editing speeds which is what the exam board are looking for so I could incorporate similar techniques into my own project. The opening sequence uses fast paced editing switching from high-key lighting to low-key lighting which foreshadows the genre of crime and hints at there is a thriller aspect to it. The word ‘MURDER’ is the first shot the audience see’s, this stands out hugely as the main aspect but after re-watching the episode, I feel it includes the fairy tale aspect of murder itself. I love the idea of creating small predictions similar to this so that my projects has this sense of ambiguity to it.

Whitechapel appeals to fans of TV crime drama using genre conventions, but perhaps a slightly older target audience group but it is really focused on genre rather than age. Representation from an inscription point of view, the detectives are white male, and the victims are females, they can’t change this as it is historically factual. Lacks ethical diversity.

This is a snap shot from google images of an image from the opening. The word 'MURDER' is emphasised by this panning shot across an old book. I found this element really interesting as it not only foreshadows the disruption that will take place, but also links to the resolution of the narrative, when discovering the murders are in fact linked to murders of Jack the Ripper. 

The shot here is taken at a low-angle which shows his high-status and authority. The background is blurred, emphasising his figure showing that the focus is on him. His turned up collar on his jacket suggests an enigma around him and his character that there maybe something to hide, this enigma runs across episode 1 as there is no resolution to, adding suspense and a mean of continuation in watching the series. The dark lighting adds suspense, helping to exaggerate the chase in the episode.

Episode	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate	Viewers (millions)
1	"Part 1"	S. J. Clarkson	Ben Court & Caroline Ip	2 February 2009	9.26