This film shows different public appeals launched to help catch the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe. The first initiative featured shows a piece being printed in the Wakefield Express, asking the public they can help catch The Ripper. There are then scenes from a police station canteen, which possibly shows detectives listening to the hoax tapes made by Wearside Jack. The final sequence shows the "Help Flush Out The Ripper" exhibition in a busy shopping arcade, where members of...

This film shows different public appeals launched to help catch the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe. The first initiative featured shows a piece being printed in the Wakefield Express, asking the public they can help catch The Ripper. There are then scenes from a police station canteen, which possibly shows detectives listening to the hoax tapes made by Wearside Jack. The final sequence shows the "Help Flush Out The Ripper" exhibition in a busy shopping arcade, where members of the public were invited into a police caravan to hear the hoax tape. The film opens with officers loading bundles of newspapers into the back of a truck. The filmmaker then captures a shot of a buildings wall which has writing that reads, 'The Wakefield Express series Yorkshire's largest weekly newspaper group', and a church spire can be seen in the background. A truck then exits the Wakefield Express' printing premises, and, as the truck passes, 'E.D. Walker & Wilson LTD. Darlington' can be seen stencilled on the side. Another truck with 'WhSmith' written on is shown outside the print house, and workers load more bundles of papers into the back. The next sequence opens in a cafeteria. Several men (most probably of duty officers) sit round a table eating shepherd's pie, omelettes, chips and peas, and the filmmaker captures several shots of the men, most of whom wear patterned jumpers with large collared shirts. A close up then shows a plaque above a notice board that reads 'Fletcher Sutcliffe Wild Limited - Hornbury, Wakefield, Yorkshire', and the camera pans across to reveal the notice board has the heading of 'Announcements'. A diner lady scoops ice cream from a plastic container, before ladling a sticky toffee pudding with custard. An investigator then takes his pudding to the table, where the group of men sit, and an officer in uniform (slightly casual) stands above them. A shot zooms out from a radio to reveal the officer standing next to it, with the following shots show the men listening at the table intently. Note: Although the film has no sound, the accompanying paperwork suggests that they are listening to the Ripper hoax tape of Wearside Jack, which surfaced on 17th June, 1979. The cafeteria gets increasing busier and more people move approach the canteen to receive their food; one man stands at the counter with two fired eggs on a plate. The final shots in this sequence are of the dining tables, with more investigators now sitting at them. A shot then shows a printing press rapidly spitting out pages of newsprint, which are then sent zigzagging between rollers overhead. The pages are then shot into a green sorting machine, which staples the individual pages into the compact newspaper. The next shot shows a man standing beside the machine reading the paper, and the headline reads, 'Help us catch the Yorkshire Ripper'. Print workers gather round the mouth of the machine as the finished papers are ejected from the machine, before running along a short stretch of conveyer belt. The workers bundle the newspapers together, placing the beneath a binding machine, after which they are sent down another conveyer belt. Two officers are at the end of the production line taking the bundles of newspapers off the line and stacking them on the ground - ready for delivery. Shots then show visitors milling round a shopping centre, and two women move towards the camera past a kiosk and racks of shoes. In the background, an exhibition with a stationary caravan is visible in the centre, with a large crowd gathered around. A shot captures people queuing by the exhibition entrance, which has a banner above that reads, 'Flush out the 'Ripper.' A shot then captures three people looking at one of the displays, which is a large scale map of Yorkshire, with a heading that reads, 'he's mobiles'; there are also various other questions on the map, some of which ask, 'Does he live near you?', and 'Does he work with you?'. A shot from above shows the visitors packed between the rows of boards, looking at the exhibition. A sign then reads, 'Flush Out the Ripper Campaign - Reward £30,000'. An officer - standing in the entrance of the caravan - addresses a large group of people. A shot captures visitors looking at another board that reads, 'We don't know who he is? But we know what he is...He's disloyal,' and at the bottom there is another plea for help: 'Flush him out for us...he doesn't deserve your pity'. More boards are shown with statements that read, 'Put a name to his face for pity's sake!', and 'Could you recognise his voice. It's on a tape'; below this question there are posters that offer people the chance to hear his voice in the police caravan, or form the 'comfort of their home'. The final shots in this film show people milling around the exhibition, while others wait their turn outside the caravan', where they can hear the hoax tape made by Wearside Jack.