# Ripper Street - BBC "Historical" Crime Drama



## ctg (Jan 1, 2013)

My days, BBC has done it again. Just as their fantasy series Merlin dwindles down and disappears in back of our memories, BBC has started to showing almost steampunkish crime thriller. And by the looks of it the producers hasn't spared a penny as the whole series looks, feels and sounds like an instant classic so much so that I could put it in bar with the Sherlock.

Sherlock in its brilliance is one above many others, but this one, I get a feeling that it could as well turn out to be so much more. Not only its settings are actually _really _dark, but its depiction is factually very accurate. And that makes it _very_ exciting.

I don't want to spoil the thrill of the first episode for those who're going to check it out, but I say this, the first episode closely follows the rituals of Jack the Ripper. 

Check it out, you wont be disappointed. Promise.


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## nerd literature (Jan 1, 2013)

I saw the trailer for this when watching Dr. Who and I literally sprang from my couch when I saw what it was about. I cannot wait to watch this. Glad to hear that it has historical accuracy and dark. Just what I expected from something like this.


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## Connavar (Jan 2, 2013)

Ripper?  Can brit tv,films ever get past the serial killer.....

I doubt this show can capture the brilliance of Sherlock, Sturgeon's Law making me doubt it.

I will wait for acclaim or lack of and if it survives first season.  If it gets second season.


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## ctg (Jan 2, 2013)

Thing is mate, you won't see Jack in any episode, but the thread of the Ripper is still hanging in the air after five months since the murders stopped. So you see it's not about some particular thing, but it's a theme the show can rely upon. Quite brilliantly if you ask me.


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## ctg (Jan 6, 2013)

In the second episode the Ripper Street continues being wonderfully periodic. The beginning was wonderfully steampunkish, and it gave another flavour in form of a nod toward  1800 storytellers, Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm. And another nod towards Dickens - Oliver Twist. 

While the story itself simplistic compared to last week, I'm still admiring the complexities of these amazingly three dimensional characters, that keep delivering stellar performances in these amazing settings the producers has managed to conjure around them. 

So I don't care if the plot were more and less straight forward run from A to B as the minute I sat down to watch the show, I was transported through the nitty-gritty details in the world that is far from perfect. Not by a long stretch as the watcher can easily see the grime and filth running down the street, where East-Londoners don't care as they know nothing better. 

It just the way it is. You won't see them in the settings of Poirot or at the heart of the capitol by Mister Holmes Baker Street. No, this is it and just the way I like it. And the characters fit there perfectly.

They don't use any modern languages, or the story doesn't try to use anything other then the sciences or appliances that they'd back in those days. Even if it means of the use cocaine for the hangover cure, or an axe handle to punish the wicked.

So without spoiling any more I recommend you to check it out.


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## Susan Boulton (Jan 7, 2013)

ctg said:


> its depiction is factually very accurate.


 
Nope, this week it had a child with a teddy bear. Also a lot of nylon lace on the ladies costumes.

The lace I can forgive due to budget constraints on a TV production. But having a child holding a teddy bear in 1888/9 when teddy bears weren't made until 1903 in the states and then took a couple of years to become popular in the UK is a bit bad. Also the doctor's approach to the autopsies owes more to CSI than the period. A good show, but catering to a modern audience's idea of the times, not the times itself.


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## ctg (Jan 7, 2013)

Right. Apologies for being such ignoramus.


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## allmywires (Jan 7, 2013)

Loved Joseph Gilgun as the baddie, he was incredible. Didn't find it as interesting as last week's and to be honest probably wouldn't have watched it to the finish if it weren't for Gilgun. I thought it was meant to be about Jack the Ripper but it seems to be just a run-of-the-mill cop show set in the 1800s - not enough to keep me watching, sorry BBC. Though I would like to know what happened to Edmund to give him those burns, and the implied fate of his daughter.


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## PTeppic (Jan 7, 2013)

I'm actually pleased they're avoiding Jack himself. It saves covering old ground, even with new theories. Yet it ties the characters to a specific timeframe and gives them an emotional background.


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## allmywires (Jan 7, 2013)

I guess, but it was probably more the fact that I -- getting the wrong end of the stick -- thought it would be a Jack the Ripper serial that was disappointing. I haven't actually seen any Jack TV shows, possibly a factor of my age though...


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## Penkitty (Jan 8, 2013)

Haven't seen this yet but sounds right up my street, must try to get hold of it.


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## rune (Jan 8, 2013)

I started watching this and was quite pleased. Its better than I expected

Yes, possibly not as realistic to the time period as it could be. But not so much that is spoils it -well not for me.


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## ctg (Jan 14, 2013)

I really enjoyed last night episode and as SJAB so well put, the show turning to a historical CSI with a twist. It's not all about gathering the evidence, but using the evidence to bring in the real perpetrators. And even then the legacy Jack left behind doesn't leave the people alone. He is there, like a ghost, to haunt normal people and in twisted way to inspire those whose mind has gone wrong.

I was really surprised to see a mass murderer in this episode, and the fact he was using a poison to gull down the population, when in so many shows poisoning never happens. It is always a thread. And always the coppers catch the perpetrators before they manage to a lot of damage. But that doesn't happen in the Ripper Street. In there the real people dies, and that makes the show so different compared to the other ones.


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## J-WO (Jan 15, 2013)

Is it me or does the American guy look like Howard Moon from Mighty Boosh?


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## AnyaKimlin (Jan 15, 2013)

Stuffed bears probably existed from at least the early 1800s - although Teddy Bears did not exist until 1903.  There are pictures of homemade stuffed bears from the 1890s so there is no reason why one should not be present in 1888/9.  Nylon is just a material to make the dressmaking/costumes cheaper.  Nobody does cheap scenery and special effects like the BBC - I mean who would have thought a pepper pot with a plunger attached would create so much terror for fifty years.

I watched the first one last night and really enjoyed it.


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## Ursa major (Jan 15, 2013)

According to Wiki, commercially produced stuffed toys were produced from 1880 onwards (by Steiff), which


> used new technology developed for upholstery to make their stuffed toys.


Then, in


> 1903 Richard Steiff designed a soft bear that differed from earlier traditional rag dolls because it was made of plush furlike fabric.


I suppose there may have been homemade bears earlier than this; it depends, really, when that plush fur-like fabric became available, and why it was produced at all (if not to make stuffed bears).


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## AnyaKimlin (Jan 15, 2013)

They didn't necessarily use the plush, furlike fabric earlier than the Steiff bears. There are pictures of bears from before they became Teddy Bears though that would be about the time of the Ripper Street programme.  Whilst unlikely, it is not impossible for a child to have one especially in London.  I know my poorer ancestors in Liverpool had some really unusual, cutting edge things because of the docks. 


I have seen some interesting, sorry looking patchwork arrangements from before the Teddy Ber and well they did have the option of animal hide.   I have a couple of koala bears from Australia that are made from kangaroo fur.


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## Ursa major (Jan 15, 2013)

Not having seen the programme, I can't comment on what the bear looked like. I'm assuming that, as the description used above for the toy was "teddy bear", it had the plush fur we're used to seeing now. But perhaps not.


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## AnyaKimlin (Jan 15, 2013)

It probably was.  Like the nylon for the dresses has been used.  I am not saying they haven't used their cheapest alternative but there is no reason a child of era couldn't have a stuffed bear.  I'll know tonight when I watch the episode I guess.


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## paranoid marvin (Jan 16, 2013)

The series is interesting, but the stories a little silly. Brilliant premise, setting it in the post-Jack (not that they knew it!) era.

Probably not at all like Victorian times for the police, in the same way that Deadwood (to which it looks VERY similar) is probably nothing like the Wild West was, but still good fun - which is what tv should be first and foremost, right?


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## AnyaKimlin (Jan 16, 2013)

In Victorian times the police were mostly poorly paid thugs.  (she says apologising to her ancestors).


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## PTeppic (Jan 17, 2013)

AnyaKimlin said:


> In Victorian times the police were mostly poorly paid thugs.  (she says apologising to her ancestors).



We have seen two "confessions" in three episodes. But skills change: it's only 30 years since ambulance staff (UK at least) were little more than porters...


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## ctg (Jan 30, 2013)

Sorry that I haven't blogged about the last two episodes, but here's small news to the fans. 



> Here's some good news for fans of Matthew Madfadyen's latest small-screen role: at the end of its current eight-episode run, _Ripper Street _is confirmed to be returning for a second series.


http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/ripper-street/24281/bbc-orders-ripper-street-series-2


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## AnyaKimlin (Jan 30, 2013)

I am enjoying it and think it is really well done.  I think it has the right level of accuracy to romanticism.


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## ctg (Oct 18, 2013)




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## AnyaKimlin (Oct 18, 2013)

oh Fab - I've waiting for that, Sherlock and George Gently


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## Dr Zoidberg (Oct 19, 2013)

Excellent.

If you like this, Copper from BBC America is also worth a look.
Only two series before it was axed, but very good nonetheless.


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## DaCosta (Oct 28, 2013)

Looking forward to this. I really enjoyed the dark aspects of the first series. Nicely done.


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## ctg (Dec 4, 2013)

> *Ripper Street series 2 will be the last, the BBC has confirmed.*
> 
> Here's some sad news. Whilst the BBC's _Ripper Street_  has had its bumps, there's plenty about it to like, and the show has a  hardened core of fans that follow it. Not enough as it happens, though,  as the BBC will not be ordering a series 3.
> 
> ...


 BBC cancels Ripper Street, confirms no series 3 | Den of Geek


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## ctg (Dec 10, 2013)

*Ripper Street is the latest cancellation casualty of the ratings war, but why is the BBC even on the battlefield?*



The BBC, Ripper Street, and cancelling shows | Den of Geek


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## AnyaKimlin (Dec 10, 2013)

I agree I'm gutted over it.  There aren't many shows I watch every week.


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## ctg (Dec 17, 2013)

With the last episode of the second series of Ripper Street just  having aired on  the BBC in the UK tonight, we are left wondering about  the fate of the characters in the fantastic British drama.


This episode was hugely dramatic and only shows what a magnificent show Ripper Street has become.


As I write this we are edging up to 21,000 signatures - 21,000 people  who are telling the BBC to reverse their decision to cancel Ripper  Street.


Over the past two weeks, we have had great publicity in newspapers  and on the web. And it has resulted in TigerAspect - the maker of Ripper  Street - talking to LoveFilm about making the show directly for online  viewing - the BBC says it may buy it afterwards. Whether this all  happens, we don't know but it is a positive movement and it gives us  hope that Reid, Drake, Jackson, Long Susan and the other beloved  characters will come back next series and continue their stories on the  streets of 1890s Whitechapel.


  Please pass on this link  to your friends and fellow Ripper Street fans and continue the fight to Save Ripper Street!


http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/reverse-the-bbc-s-decision-to-cancel-ripper-street


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## Idoru (Dec 18, 2013)

Wow! That's brilliant. I only got into this in the second series so I'm a bit gutted it's been cancelled. The final ep was truly excellent. Matthew Macfadyen and Jerome Flynn are so good in it.


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## Overread (Dec 18, 2013)

NOOO! I've been enjoying this series!  

I will admit the first series was a bit off feeling; mostly at the start because the characters were established; it always felt like there was a two or three episode starter dealing with the Ripper hunt itself that was "missing"; but otherwise its been a solid strong series; especailly as its dealt with a more brutal side of police work; its not the softly softly approach of many detective dramas. 

I hope they can continue it; they've clearly spent a lot on the series with sets and period dress; not to mention on a solid set of actors.


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## Lenny (Feb 26, 2014)

Listen up, *Ripper Street* fans: all hail your saviour, Amazon!

BBC News - Ripper Street resurrected by Amazon deal



> The BBC cancelled the show in December due to poor ratings, but Amazon has now commissioned a third season for its Prime Instant Video service - formerly known as Lovefilm Instant.
> 
> The show will premiere on Amazon and screen on the BBC a few months.





> The programme's makers said the third series would go ahead as originally planned with eight episodes, the same budget and "slightly more bells and whistles" than the previous two series.



Same cast, same sets, same budget, same plans, with the BBC broadcasting the episodes not long after they appear on Amazon.


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## LadyDarkWood (Mar 1, 2014)

Thank you Amazon!

I met this serie only because I bumped into it one night watching the crime channel on tv (basically the only one I watch... I love crime and thriller tv series!) and I love it at first sight!

I have to admit I have no such knowledge to know by first sight what was accurate and what not, but I enjoyed it a lot, I loved the fact it was different from other series, the Jack the Ripper's ghost haunting the police and the people of White Chapel... Plus I have to admit I'm a huge Matthew Macfadyen fan 

Unluckily for me I was just able to watch the first 4 episodes of the first serie... guess I'll buy the blueray if there is any and watch it all!


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## Overread (Mar 3, 2014)

Nice! And great to see another big company stepping in to save the series - I'm impressed that they've been able to retain full cast and sets! 

Now I wonder if we could get Amazon to buy Firefly......


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## joyUnbounded (Mar 3, 2014)

Isn't the show being commissioned by Amazons Love Film, or whatever it is they call it these days?


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## ctg (Oct 6, 2014)

* The new series of Ripper Street starts on Amazon Prime Instant Video with a double-bill on Friday the 14th of November at 9pm...*



> Following news earlier this year of the Amazon deal that saved _Ripper Street_ from cancellation (a deal aided in no small way by the activity of fans not prepared to accept the series two finale as the last they'd see of D.I. Reid and co.), we now have release date details for the new series.
> 
> Instead of landing online in one great lump, series three of _Ripper Street_ will be meted out weekly, following the broadcast pattern. New episodes will arrive on the streaming service every Friday at 9pm from the 14th of November until the 26th of December. A double-bill will kick-start the action and take fans back to Whitechapel.
> 
> ...


 http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/ripper-street/32365/ripper-street-series-3-start-date-announced


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## AnyaKimlin (Oct 6, 2014)

Ugh well I can't watch it as I refuse to do Amazon Prime after they took money out of my bank account without permission.


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## ctg (Oct 6, 2014)

AnyaKimlin said:


> Ugh well I can't watch it as I refuse to do Amazon Prime after they took money out of my bank account without permission.



You didn't read the highlighted bit in the quote box. It said, "*The episodes will also air on the BBC in 2015, in an edited form that doesn't include some scenes exclusive to Amazon customers.*" So, yes, you can watch it next year after they've edited the content away from BBC viewers.


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## AnyaKimlin (Oct 6, 2014)

ctg said:


> You didn't read the highlighted bit in the quote box. It said, "*The episodes will also air on the BBC in 2015, in an edited form that doesn't include some scenes exclusive to Amazon customers.*" So, yes, you can watch it next year after they've edited the content away from BBC viewers.



I did read it ...  I'll be able to watch the edited, without some of the good bits, version.


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## Brian G Turner (Oct 6, 2014)

AnyaKimlin said:


> Ugh well I can't watch it as I refuse to do Amazon Prime after they took money out of my bank account without permission.



Amazon are normally very strong with customer care, so hopefully if you can get the issue solved with them.


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## AnyaKimlin (Oct 6, 2014)

Brian Turner said:


> Amazon are normally very strong with customer care, so hopefully if you can get the issue solved with them.



I did to a point..  They put the money back but getting the bank charges back took a lot more of a fight.  Apparently it happened to a lot of people.  I won't be using Amazon again in a hurry.


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## Idoru (Oct 25, 2014)

The lovely Louise Brealey was just on Saturday Kitchen, and she's in the new series of Ripper Street. Apparently it'll be available on Amazon Prime from 14 November.


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