Save Whitechapel!

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join in our sorrow and honour the memory of an extremely exquisite crime television series. TV audiences across the globe mourn the tragic loss...

Basically, Whitechapel has been killed. 

ITV decided to cancel the series.

image source here, edit by me.

I would love to hear a proper official explanation as to what the reasons behind this decision were. The only thing I managed to dig up was BBC reporting what ITV said: "Whitechapel has been a successful drama commission since first broadcasting in 2009. The commissioning team continue to refresh the channel's drama portfolio, hence the decision not to commission beyond the fourth series." For the love of God I cannot find where they said it, but the BBC says they did, so it must be true. 

Maybe I am in denial, trying to pretend that this is not happening, but I am reluctant to believe that a show like this would be cancelled just because... it's not new enough.

Did they feel like the poor old district had been troubled with enough murderous trauma and mystery? If you count in Ripper Street on BBC One, it looks like there's never been a dull (in other words safe) time period to live in that part of London. Has somebody from Whitechapel actually complained that it ruins their reputation? I don't think so. Mysteries are usually good for business. Or maybe the production team simply cannot afford more clean shirts for DI Chandler. Or did just somebody somewhere, sitting behind a nice desk in an office, decide that that the viewing figures were not satisfactory any more?

I may not know much about viewing figures or money, but I know, and I'm sure I'm not alone in this, that I find watching Whitechapel very satisfactory.

I remember that I discovered it quite accidentally and then just couldn't stop watching. It was also one of the first things that I saw Rupert Penry Jones in, so technically it's Whitechapel's fault that I became a fan and went on to watch as much of his work as I could find. I mean, it's impossible not to love DI Chandler. I am very glad such a character has been written onto our screens and RPJ does a brilliant job portraying him. Yes, I am alluding to OCD. I just find it very easy to relate to and to sympathise with. I myself am not really OCD, not quite to the extent DI Chandler is (I just love saying DI Chandler, sorry), but I know a thing or two about perfectionism and inner demons that live inside your head and make your life a living hell sometimes. And that's just silly old me. I'm sure there are many many people who can relate to the haunted inspector much deeply.

Another little thing I like about the show is that, unlike in many other crime series, Whitechapel's team of investigators are not a crowd of invisible people. They are not just faces that do the paperwork for the main two guys. We get to know their characters, we are allowed to explore the dynamics in the office and therefore we feel connected.

Whitechaple has also taught me that I can find fear (in a reasonable amount) entertaining. Yes, sometimes the scenes are so dark (I mean in the literal sense of the word) that you find yourself peering at the screen, unable to see a thing, and when you do, chances are it is something so gruesome and disturbing that I actually prefer to look away or shut my eyes completely. Thus I am saved from permanent mental damage and nightmares, but I still get to enjoy the carefully dosed suspense and thrill. 

And I'm asking, yes, ITV, I'm asking you:

Would it kill anybody to give us one more season? Just one. Continue all those tiny personal details that were carefully left there to be picked up again, and then give us some closure. I need more closure! I need more on that Lucifer creepy old lady! And while you're at it, throw in a happy ending, why don't ya? (Have you noticed? There's less and less happy endings on telly these days.) Something like DI Chandler finding a life companion at last, or catching a murderer and keeping them alive long enough to actually prosecute them. Just one of those things would do. And then kill the show if you like. What I'm trying to say is: the way series 4 has ended, that's not a way to finish a whole drama series.

Let it end properly first. Let the show say goodbye.

This feels like a relative or a friend who was supposed to come visit again has suddenly died in a horrific accident and you didn't even get a chance to say goodbye and now they're gone. I'm not ready to say goodbye. Not just yet. 

Anyway, as I doubt my desperate blog cry can have any real effect on the matter, I would like to sincerely thank to all the people who were involved in making this wonderful series: all the writers, production members, all of those about whom us, the unsuspecting audience, have no idea who they are and what they do, but without them, TV things wouldn't be happening. And last, but by no means least, I would like to thank the lovely cast for bringing these characters to life and making them real for us. *group Whitechapel hug*

Farewell, dear Whitechapel! You shall be sorely missed.

If you agree with me, feel free to share this post, tweet it, facebook it... Do what you like. I heard there is a petitions to ITV going on somewhere, I will have to have a look around and find it. (Edit: here is a link for the petition. Go on and sign it, if you want to :) Maybe it's not the end yet, maybe there's room for us to do something about. Let's tweet some hashtags, sign petitions and what not, shall we? This cannot be the end!

#SaveWhitechapel
#bringbackwhitechapel

 Oh and tell me in the comments what is your favourite thing about the series? What would you/will you miss the most when the show is gone?