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An unsolved case built our modern-day crime obsession in “Jack the Ripper” on LUCY WORSLEY INVESTIGATES – Jan. 7 at 9pm.
< < Back toSeason 2 of LUCY WORSLEY INVESTIGATES
Premieres Tuesday, January 7, 2025, on PBS and Streaming on the PBS App and PBS.org
Historian Lucy Worsley Once Again Turns Detective, Following New Clues and Bringing Modern Perspectives to Four of British History’s Most Intriguing Chapters
Popular British historian Lucy Worsley is back on the case with a new season of LUCY WORSLEY INVESTIGATES. Examining four new cases in forensic detail, Lucy follows the evidence to explore how some of the most dramatic and brutal chapters in British history unlock issues that speak to modern audiences, from the media treatment and scandalization of female victims, the vulnerabilities of the poorest in society, to the political radicalization of young people. The first three episodes of Season 2 of LUCY WORSLEY INVESTIGATES premiere Tuesdays, January 7-21, with the finale scheduled on Sunday, March 23, 2025, 9:00-10:00 p.m. ET on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS app.
“This series combines some of the juiciest episodes from British history with a real deep dive into the work historians do, interrogating the sources,” says Worsley. “I’ve learned so much from visiting the places where history happened and talking to experts about their work. And I know from series one that our viewers loved that too.”
Credit: Tom Hayward, BBC Studios
In the new season’s first episode, Lucy tackles one of the greatest unsolved crimes of the 19th century — the case of Jack the Ripper, Britain’s most notorious serial killer. She investigates how this serial murder case set the template for a new kind of ‘entertainment’ and even today fuels our fascination with true crime. Next, Lucy looks into William the Conqueror, who in 1066 successfully invaded England and claimed his right to the throne. Lucy discovers it took more than the infamous Battle of Hastings to subdue the English into accepting William as their King. In Episode 3, Lucy explores the Gunpowder Plot — the audacious attempt by Guy Fawkes and a group of disenchanted rebels to blow up London’s Parliament in the name of their Catholic faith. Finally, Lucy re-examines the life of Queen Mary I, England’s first ruling queen. Lucy explores whether Mary I — maligned as “Bloody Mary” for her execution of nearly 300 of her Protestant subjects — really deserved her reputation or if she was the victim of a sexist smear campaign.
In each episode, Lucy’s journey brings a contemporary perspective to the investigation, exploring how our changing attitudes to these dramatic moments in history can challenge our understanding of the past and provide us with new revelations.
Episode One:
“Jack the Ripper” (January 7, 2025 at 9:00 pm)
Many think of true crime as a modern obsession, but Lucy investigates the phenomenon through the world’s most infamous serial killer, Jack the Ripper. She uncovers a story that goes beyond a single murderer and his five victims — Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane — to a burgeoning newspaper industry desperate for readers and a Victorian society unequipped to support the most vulnerable. With access to rare original evidence, archival newspapers and expert contributors, Lucy explores how this still-unsolved case fuelled sensationalist journalism and became a template for all true crime stories to follow.