David Richards directs this fact-based drama exploring the case of 'The Yorkshire Ripper'. Throughout the 1970s and early '80s, the serial killer preyed on young women and committed a total of 13 murders in the West Yorkshire area. This film shows a dramatisation of the investigation led by Detective George Oldfield (Alun Armstrong) which took its toll on both his career and personal life but which also led to the conviction of Peter Sutcliffe (Craig Cheetham) in 1981.

Martin Sheen and Charles Furness star in this drama about the dramatic sinking of the Nantucket whaleship Essex that was attacked by a sperm whale in 1820. An old Tom Nickerson (Sheen) recounts the story of when he and his crew were the subjects of a vicious attack by a normally peaceful animal and how they were left to fight for their lives as their ship and all their equipment sunk to the ocean floor. After the attack it was three months before the surviving men were rescued and as Tom (played, as a young man, by Furness) and his fellow survivors waited patiently, watching the days pass by, they were forced to endure a great deal to stay alive.