Well that says it all really, there's going to be a British television series about the Yorkshire Ripper covering four novels about The Yorkshire Ripper which will be made into three films.

These won't just be made for television films that will go straight to DVD, these are planned to have a UK theatrical release, and for each of the films there will be a different director.

The four books ( / / Play.com) are from David Peace who wrote about Peter Sutcliffe nicknamed The Yorkshire Ripper, his murder of thirteen women over a five year period, and the police hunt for the killer. The books are titled Nineteen Seventy Four, Nineteen Seventy Seven, Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty Three.

The story comes from Variety through JoBlo and tells us that Film4 are producing the film and are looking to sell it for a theatrical release.

What's interesting is that the script is going to be written by Tony Grisoni who also wrote Death Defying Acts, The Lives of the Saints, Brothers of the Head, Tideland and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, so suddenly this isn't feeling so much like a televsion series.

Then there's the three directors. Apparently the line up is Julian Jarrold, Kinky Boots and Becoming Jane, directing Nineteen Seventy-Four, James Marsh, The King and Man on Wire, directing Nineteen Eighty and Anand Tucker, And When Did You Last See Your Father? and Shopgirl, directing Nineteen Eighty-Three. Yes I know what you're thinking, that's only three titles, well apparently the final book will have parts which are throughout all three films, so does that mean we're seeing this all in flashback from 1983?

Apart from television I don't think there's been an investigation of the Yorkshire Ripper case as yet, and from the ratings and reviews from the books and the names involved behind the scenes, it looks like these films could be really strong. I just hope they make them as films and then cut them for series rather than the other way around.