Where's Jack at London Dungeon
Jack the Ripper has long had a
firm place in the depths of the London Dungeon; in fact, he is such a staple
that a brand new summer show entitled ‘Where’s Jack?’ has been rolled out
across the entire Dungeon’s chain (except for Blackpool and Warwick Castle). It
is fair to say that this is one of, if not the biggest summer shows that the
Dungeon’s have ever created and with all the hype, we couldn’t wait to venture
down to the flagship Dungeon to see what all the fuss was about. ‘Where’s
Jack?’ was advertised as intriguing, spine chilling and tense and as the Jack
the Ripper section was probably the most frightening part of the New London
Dungeon, we were naturally very excited.
Upon arrival, the first sign of the new show is at the entrance. The stone axe men have been temporarily replaced with poster columns advertising the new show, and visitors are greeted to a recreation of a Victorian style street, complete with a paper boy handing out news papers on all the most recent ripper activity. We thought that this really set the scene, and as we got to keep the paper, we were able to read through some interesting facts whilst we queued. Unfortunately, County Hall is currently undergoing maintenance and renovation, meaning that entrance to the Dungeon seems quite obstructed. We couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Dungeon, as it was clear a lot of design and care had gone in to creating the new, temporary façade.
‘Where’s Jack?’ did not begin until quite late in to our Dungeon journey, and the usual show continued, with the usual mix of fun and jumps, until we arrived at what would usually be ‘Mrs. Lovett’s Pie Shop’. Instead, we were greeted by Mrs Hardiman, who was the proprietor of a cat meat shop. She may have temporarily replaced Mrs. Lovett, but she certainly not any less eccentric and wild. We were very impressed by this section. It was the first section of ‘Where’s Jack’ and contained much more ‘gory’ meat than usual. Mrs Hardiman provided some chilling lines, making sure we understood that she wasn’t happy that we were ‘nosying’ around near where ‘those horrid murders’ had taken place. After some more information of the recent spree of killings in the area, and a reassurance from Mrs Hardiman that her sons had nothing to do with it, we were ushered next door, in to what would usually be the ‘Sweeney Todd’ section, meeting one of what we assumed to be Mrs. Hardiman’s sons.
This section had remained relatively unchanged, except that the usual barbershop table in the middle was filled with stacks of newspapers. We didn’t catch the name of the character leading this section, but were nonetheless totally immersed in the story. We were told that where we were sat was merely feet away from the latest ghastly murder, carried out by someone known only as ‘Jack the Ripper’. We were then told to wait here and talk to someone, as the usual Sweeney silhouette appeared and the lights went out. In place of the usual close shave with Sweeney, we were instead given a chilling speech from an anonymous figure. Perhaps it was due to it being new, but we found this section to be much more chilling than Sweeney Todd; it involved some very effective sound effects and ended with a realisation that we were in the room with Jack himself!
Following this, we were ushered out on to the streets of Victorian London, led by a police officer investigating the case. At this point we were left slightly disappointed; the new policeman character was telling us that there had been another murder, and pointed to the wall where the killer had left the message ‘The Duwes are the Men that shall not be blamed for nothing’. However, we were not able to stop and observe this properly, and were ushered in to the usual Mitre Square scene. It was interesting that the new Dungeon chose to include the infamous message; although it was in the original Dungeon, it seemed bold to include it when the new Dungeon was designed to be more family friendly.
The usual Jack the Ripper section continued as normal. The actress in Mitre Square gave a fantastic performance, and the show was given an added jump scare to those at the back of the group. The two actors interacted wonderfully, and we soon found ourselves in the Whitechapel Labyrinth. Unfortunately, this section was cut shorter than usual. An over excited guest had caused one of the mirrors to crack, which had resulted in it being boarded over. Whilst this was unfortunate, we can appreciate that this was done for Health and Safety reasons. The Ten Bells was, as usual, terrifying, and added a chilling finale to ‘Where’s Jack’. All of our group were laughing nervously as the lights came back on and we ventured out in to the Courtroom. After plummeting to our deaths on Drop Dead, we ventured out on to the South Bank and were able to think back over our experience.
‘Where’s Jack’ has clearly been carefully planned, researched and executed. If we had any niggles with the show, it would be that there was no elaboration on the message scrawled on the wall before Mitre Square. We did feel that it would seem a bit random to visitors who were unaware of Ripper history; whilst we appreciate that the London Dungeon has to be carefully timed and controlled due to the mass number of visitors, we do feel that an elaboration on this message would add a bit more coherence and historical information in to the show. Overall, ‘Where’s Jack?’ felt right at home in the Dungeon. It had plenty of shocks and scary moments, with enough history to keep our interest throughout. Although a very popular section, we preferred the temporary shows currently replacing the whole Sweeney Todd aspect, as they seemed much more factual and relevant.
Since relocating over two years ago, the London Dungeon has slowly been amending what it has to offer guests, from small amendments to permanent shows, to large seasonal investments such as this. Whilst its marketing style and target audience may have changed, there is still enough thrills, laughs and chills on offer to keep us coming back again and again. A summer visit to the London Dungeon to experience ‘Where’s Jack?’ is highly recommended; just don’t turn your back near Jack!
Upon arrival, the first sign of the new show is at the entrance. The stone axe men have been temporarily replaced with poster columns advertising the new show, and visitors are greeted to a recreation of a Victorian style street, complete with a paper boy handing out news papers on all the most recent ripper activity. We thought that this really set the scene, and as we got to keep the paper, we were able to read through some interesting facts whilst we queued. Unfortunately, County Hall is currently undergoing maintenance and renovation, meaning that entrance to the Dungeon seems quite obstructed. We couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Dungeon, as it was clear a lot of design and care had gone in to creating the new, temporary façade.
‘Where’s Jack?’ did not begin until quite late in to our Dungeon journey, and the usual show continued, with the usual mix of fun and jumps, until we arrived at what would usually be ‘Mrs. Lovett’s Pie Shop’. Instead, we were greeted by Mrs Hardiman, who was the proprietor of a cat meat shop. She may have temporarily replaced Mrs. Lovett, but she certainly not any less eccentric and wild. We were very impressed by this section. It was the first section of ‘Where’s Jack’ and contained much more ‘gory’ meat than usual. Mrs Hardiman provided some chilling lines, making sure we understood that she wasn’t happy that we were ‘nosying’ around near where ‘those horrid murders’ had taken place. After some more information of the recent spree of killings in the area, and a reassurance from Mrs Hardiman that her sons had nothing to do with it, we were ushered next door, in to what would usually be the ‘Sweeney Todd’ section, meeting one of what we assumed to be Mrs. Hardiman’s sons.
This section had remained relatively unchanged, except that the usual barbershop table in the middle was filled with stacks of newspapers. We didn’t catch the name of the character leading this section, but were nonetheless totally immersed in the story. We were told that where we were sat was merely feet away from the latest ghastly murder, carried out by someone known only as ‘Jack the Ripper’. We were then told to wait here and talk to someone, as the usual Sweeney silhouette appeared and the lights went out. In place of the usual close shave with Sweeney, we were instead given a chilling speech from an anonymous figure. Perhaps it was due to it being new, but we found this section to be much more chilling than Sweeney Todd; it involved some very effective sound effects and ended with a realisation that we were in the room with Jack himself!
Following this, we were ushered out on to the streets of Victorian London, led by a police officer investigating the case. At this point we were left slightly disappointed; the new policeman character was telling us that there had been another murder, and pointed to the wall where the killer had left the message ‘The Duwes are the Men that shall not be blamed for nothing’. However, we were not able to stop and observe this properly, and were ushered in to the usual Mitre Square scene. It was interesting that the new Dungeon chose to include the infamous message; although it was in the original Dungeon, it seemed bold to include it when the new Dungeon was designed to be more family friendly.
The usual Jack the Ripper section continued as normal. The actress in Mitre Square gave a fantastic performance, and the show was given an added jump scare to those at the back of the group. The two actors interacted wonderfully, and we soon found ourselves in the Whitechapel Labyrinth. Unfortunately, this section was cut shorter than usual. An over excited guest had caused one of the mirrors to crack, which had resulted in it being boarded over. Whilst this was unfortunate, we can appreciate that this was done for Health and Safety reasons. The Ten Bells was, as usual, terrifying, and added a chilling finale to ‘Where’s Jack’. All of our group were laughing nervously as the lights came back on and we ventured out in to the Courtroom. After plummeting to our deaths on Drop Dead, we ventured out on to the South Bank and were able to think back over our experience.
‘Where’s Jack’ has clearly been carefully planned, researched and executed. If we had any niggles with the show, it would be that there was no elaboration on the message scrawled on the wall before Mitre Square. We did feel that it would seem a bit random to visitors who were unaware of Ripper history; whilst we appreciate that the London Dungeon has to be carefully timed and controlled due to the mass number of visitors, we do feel that an elaboration on this message would add a bit more coherence and historical information in to the show. Overall, ‘Where’s Jack?’ felt right at home in the Dungeon. It had plenty of shocks and scary moments, with enough history to keep our interest throughout. Although a very popular section, we preferred the temporary shows currently replacing the whole Sweeney Todd aspect, as they seemed much more factual and relevant.
Since relocating over two years ago, the London Dungeon has slowly been amending what it has to offer guests, from small amendments to permanent shows, to large seasonal investments such as this. Whilst its marketing style and target audience may have changed, there is still enough thrills, laughs and chills on offer to keep us coming back again and again. A summer visit to the London Dungeon to experience ‘Where’s Jack?’ is highly recommended; just don’t turn your back near Jack!
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