VIEWERS are introduced to so-called 'Wearside Jack' in tonight's episode of The Long Shadow.

The ITV drama tells the story of the five-year hunt for serial killer Peter Sutcliffe.

Bradford-born lorry driver Sutcliffe murdered 13 women and attempted to kill seven others between 1975 and 1980.

Episode five of The Long Shadow sees police revisit historic attacks in the hope of identifying further victims - as the number of murders increases. 

Detective George Oldfield is also fired up by the arrival of a letter apparently from the killer - but as we now know, it actually came from 'Wearside Jack' John Humble.

Unemployed Humble, of Sunderland, tricked police into believing he was the killer in three letters and an audio tape, leaving Sutcliffe free to kill three more women.

Humble was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2006.

Police confirmed that the notorious hoaxer drank himself to death aged 63 in 2019.

Reviewing the latest episode, The Radio Times said: "We tonight reach perhaps the most notorious point in a police investigation already littered with awful errors. 

"And I'm talking here of the letters and audio tape supposedly sent by the killer, which ultimately turned out to be hoaxes.

"The man who sent them, John Humble, was unmasked, charged with perverting the course of justice and then sentenced to eight years in jail as late as 2006. 

"But back in the late 1970s, DCS George Oldfield of the West Yorkshire force (David Morrissey) is convinced that what he and the Daily Mirror have received are genuine and so decides to go public in the hope that playing the recording at a news conference will flush out the killer."

The last episode of The Long Shadow focused on a prime suspect.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: A still from The Long ShadowA still from The Long Shadow (Image: ITV)

A taxi driver from Leeds, with dark curly hair and a beard, emerged as a key suspect in the murder probe - but he turned out to be innocent. 

Viewers of The Long Shadow have praised the ITV drama for "giving a voice" to Sutcliffe's victims. 

Sutcliffe died aged 74 in 2020 after reportedly refusing treatment for coronavirus.

The murderer, who was serving a whole life term, was an inmate of the maximum security Frankland jail and died at the nearby University Hospital of North Durham.

The Long Shadow continues on ITV at 9pm on Monday. It is also available in full on ITVX.