London Serial Killers: 11 Best Serial Killer Documentaries On YouTube To Watch Now

Since Jack the Ripper, London has been both terrorized and fascinated with UK serial killers. If you’re like me and like to go down the darkest rabbit holes on London serial killers, here are the best serial killer documentaries on YouTube to watch today.

Visit my London Dark History map to see all of the locations involved in these London serial killer documentaries.

1. Real Crime: A Mind to Murder – Dennis Nilsen

Recently there’s been a spate of documentaries and dramas about Dennis Nilsen, a London serial killer so prolific that 7 of his 15+ victims are still unidentified. This Real Crime episode is one of the best serial killer documentaries on YouTube about Nilsen. It explores his crimes, his victims, and the impact of one of the worst UK serial killers of all time.

Nilsen’s case was also recently dramatized in the haunting David Tennant series Des and Netflix’s The Nilsen Tapes.

2. Dark Son: The Hunt for a Serial Killer

This is a London serial killer case you may have never heard of: the “Jack the Stripper” murders.

Also called the Hammersmith nude murders, this cold case was one of the most prolific UK serial killers in history. The case centers on the bodies of 6 women found nude in West London, and was one of the biggest manhunts in Scotland Yard history. How was the killer never caught?

3. How the Police Missed the Grindr Killer

The police epically failed (again!) to catch a predator of gay men in London: Stephen Port. “The Grindr Killer” murdered 4 men between 2014-2015.

It’s hard to imagine that these days you couldn’t catch a killer who leaves a digital trail. This documentary explores why, and if the Met can prevent it from happening again.

4. The Hunt for the Camden Ripper

Anthony Hardy was sentenced to life in prison for three murders, but it’s possible he was responsible for as many as six more. He lived in Camden in the early 2000s and disposed of his victims in local bins.

The way he was finally caught will make your blood boil. Warning: this is graphic, and very angry making.

5. Patrick MacKay: The Psychopath Serial Killer

Patrick MacKay is a horribly prolific London serial killer who stalked the capital from 1974-1975, killing anywhere between 4 and 13 victims. MacKay is interesting in that he didn’t have a particular M.O., which is maybe why you haven’t heard of him.

His murders were seemingly random, fueled by insanity and anti-semitic hatred. Even after he was caught, police wouldn’t realize the breadth of his crimes until he confessed. MacKay is one of the most terrifying UK serial killers ever.

6. Jack the Ripper’s Victims | Their Lives, Deaths & Poverty in 19th Century

I have a hard time with most Jack the Ripper documentaries because they tend to cast the victims in an unfavorable light. These were real women forced to sell their bodies, as I explored in my Ripper series.

This is a little hidden gem of serial killer documentaries on YouTube, focusing on the victims and the wider social and economic conditions that allowed the Ripper to get away. A must-watch for anyone interested in The Whitechapel Murders of 1888.

7. Levi Bellfield: What Happened to Milly Dowler?

Piece of human garbage Levi Bellfield murdered three young women who were just living their young, innocent lives in London in the early 2000s. A fourth miraculously survived, though, and testified against him when he was finally brought to justice in 2007.

This BBC doc interviews the prosecutors and centers on the case of Milly Dowler, the 13 year-old who was so brutally brought down by this awful man.

8. Amelia Dyer: The Woman Who Only Killed New Borns

Warning: this one has very graphic descriptions of a horrifying subject, as the title suggests. But what is more disturbing is that Amelia Dyer and her compatirates got away with “baby farming” for so long.

We’ll never know how many infants died at the hands of Dyer, who is one of the worst UK serial killers in history, and definitely the most despicable. This case is so angry-making and devastating, you will be haunted by it forever.

9. The Rillington Place Killer

In post-war Notting Hill, seemingly kind and caring John Reginald Christie was hiding a dark secret. Literally. Under the floorboards and in his garden, he was keeping the bodies of his victims. It gets darker: the husband of his victim was tried, convicted and hanged for the murder of his wife and baby daughter.

Christie was finally apprehended, but only after he also murdered his wife and three more women he lured back to his home. This case was also dramatized by the series Rillington Place, which is a deeply disturbing portrayal of Christie’s crimes by talented actors Tim Roth, Samantha Morton and Jodie Comer.

10. The Bigamist With A Taste For Blood | Murder Maps

You probably know this case as the “Brides in the Bath” murders. In the early 1900s, George Joseph Smith married. And married again. And again. He took a wife, took her money, took off, and took a new name. Sometimes, the wives didn’t make it out alive.

It’s an infuriating look at why women chose marriage at the time, and how little power they had compared to their husbands.

11. The Serial Wife Poisoner: Murder Maps

Another wife murderer named George, this piece of trash only technically married once, but made his mistresses pose as his wives. And then he killed them.

Also known as “The Pub Poisoner” or the “Borough Poisoner,” Seweryn Antonowicz Kłosowski a.k.a. George Chapman would kill 3 women in the late 1800s and go on to become a Jack the Ripper suspect.

London Serial Killers: The Best Serial Killer Documentaries on YouTube

There’s so much to watch on YouTube about London serial killers and UK serial killers, how do you choose? Start with my list above, and you’ll naturally be led to more and more with YouTube suggestions.

What’s your favorite London serial killer documentary?