I love Lucy Worsley’s TV shows. Formerly a curator at the Historic Royal Palaces, she now presents history programmes that explore topics in depth. Her enthusiastic style has made her a popular TV favourite.

Her most recent show is the Victorian Murder Club, a three-part series investigating a serial killer contemporary to Jack the Ripper. The “Thames Torso Murderer” was active in London in the same decade and never caught.

I doubted I’d enjoy it, given the subject, but I gave it a chance because it was Worsley. The show turned out to be fascinating and I kind of miss it now that it’s over.

My favourite parts were when Worsley discussed the forensic reports and the killer’s activities with professional experts who assist the justice process today. They were able to give informed advice about how the Thames Torso Murderer compares to other modern serial killers.

Most notably, one specialist gave comment on the Victorian police’s forensic reports. Her thoughts were particularly useful and helped dispel one theory.

Consulting these experts helped to communicate that these events really happened and affected real people. It also shed an interesting light on how advanced police techniques already were at that time.

As I’m sure you’re aware, Jack the Ripper is so well known that he’s almost a cartoonish figure these days. In Worsley’s show there was no danger of the same thing happening to the Thames Torso Murderer.

I really liked the respectful attention that Worsley paid to the victims themselves. Where possible, she visited their burial sites and tried to learn about their lives.

The third episode provides a convincing theory about who the serial killer might have been. The man identified is known to have committed crimes against women on the Thames. The reports from survivors give a disturbing indication of what may have happened to the Thames Torso Murderer’s victims.

It’s okay if you don’t want to watch Lucy Worsley’s Victorian Murder Club. We’ve had decades of TV sensationalising the murders of women and glorifying serial killers. It’s quite understandable if you’d rather not watch anything about murder ever again.

However, I do think this show counterbalances the sins of earlier television trends. It’s an emotionally intelligent production that brings real history alive without lionising any of the criminals mentioned.