| Genre: | |
| Creator: | Richard Warlow |
| Starring: | |
| Theme Music Composer: | Dominik Scherrer |
| Composer: | Dominik Scherrer |
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| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 5 |
| Num Episodes: | 37 |
| List Episodes: | List of Ripper Street episodes |
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| Producer: |
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| Location: | Dublin, Ireland |
| Cinematography: |
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| Camera: | Single-camera setup |
| Runtime: | 58–76 minutes |
| Company: |
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Ripper Street is a British mystery drama television series set in Whitechapel in the East End of London starring Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, and MyAnna Buring. It begins in 1889, six months after the infamous Jack the Ripper murders. The first episode was broadcast on 30 December 2012, during BBC One's Christmas schedule, and was first broadcast in the United States on BBC America on 19 January 2013.[1] Ripper Street returned for a second eight-part series on 28 October 2013.[2] [3]
On 4 December 2013, it was reported that a third series would not be made due to low viewing figures for the second series.[4] Then on 11 December 2013, Variety reported negotiations between the show's producer Tiger Aspect and LoveFilm to fund future episodes, similar to Netflix's funding episodes of Arrested Development.[5] On 26 February 2014, it was confirmed that Amazon Video would resurrect the show. Filming began in May 2014.[6] The third series began streaming on Amazon UK Prime Instant Video on 14 November 2014 but was not immediately made available on Amazon's US site.[7] [8] The third series began airing on BBC America on 29 April 2015[9] and on BBC One on 31 July 2015.[10]
In June 2015, the series was renewed for a fourth and fifth series.[11] [12] [13] In 2016, it was announced that the show would end with the fifth series.[14] The fourth series premiered on Amazon UK on 15 January 2016,[15] [16] on BBC America on 28 July 2016, and in the United Kingdom on BBC Two from 22 August 2016.[9] The concluding fifth series' six episodes were released on Amazon UK on 12 October 2016.
The series begins in April 1889, five months since the last Jack the Ripper killing, and in Whitechapel the H Division is responsible for policing one and a quarter square miles of East London: a district with a population of 67,000 poor and dispossessed. The men of H Division had hunted the Ripper and failed to find him. When more women are murdered on the streets of Whitechapel, the police begin to wonder if the killer has returned.
Among the factories, rookeries, chop shops (food establishments), brothels and pubs, Detective Inspector Edmund Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) and Detective Sergeant Bennet Drake (Jerome Flynn) team up with former US Army surgeon and Pinkerton agent Captain Homer Jackson (Adam Rothenberg) to investigate the killings.[17] They frequently cross paths with Tenter Street brothel madam Long Susan (MyAnna Buring), who came to London with Jackson from America and lets him reside at the brothel. Their relationship becomes strained due to Jackson's attraction to one of her most profitable girls, Rose Erskine (Charlene McKenna), and because of his close involvement with Reid and H Division.
Reid and his wife Emily (Amanda Hale) only have one daughter, Mathilda, who was lost and presumed deceased, some months before the series begins, in a river accident (the disaster) during the hunt for the Ripper. The newspaper reporter, Fred Best (David Dawson), knows a dark secret about her death. Although still troubled, and despite her husband's reservations, Emily is determined to make a new life for herself by helping the fallen women of Whitechapel.
The second series is set in 1890. Emily has left Reid after he gave her false hope that Mathilda might not have drowned. Rose Erskine has left Long Susan's brothel to work as a waitress at the music hall, Blewett's Theatre of Varieties. Sergeant Drake has married another of Susan's girls, Bella. A new detective constable, Albert Flight (Damien Molony), is introduced.
Reid crosses swords with the ruthless Inspector Jedediah Shine (Joseph Mawle). Ten years an Inspector on the Hong Kong police force, Shine has used that experience to exert a firm grip over Limehouse's neighbouring "K" Division and the emergent Chinatown that grows within it. Long Susan, happy as brothel keeper, is in debt to Silas Duggan (Frank Harper), who lent her funds to start the business, unbeknownst to Jackson who wants to leave London.
Historical backdrops to episodes in the second series include Chinese immigration, the London matchgirls' strike of 1888, electrical war of the currents, the Cleveland Street scandal, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Joseph Merrick (known as "the Elephant Man"), and the Baring crisis.
In 1894, a train accident in Whitechapel kills fifty-five civilians. At the scene of the accident, Reid, Drake, Jackson, Rose Erskine and Long Susan are reunited after a long period of separation. Reid investigates the derailment and discovers that it was caused by a heist. The organiser is Susan's solicitor, Ronald Capshaw. His intention is to steal US bearer bonds in order to bail out their financially stricken Obsidian Estates and to continue in their attempt to gentrify Whitechapel.
Mathilda is discovered by Capshaw to be still alive, although Reid is told by Susan that she has died since being rescued. Mathilda escapes and is picked up by Harry Ward, a teenage pimp. Receiving a tip-off where she was last seen, Reid and Drake find her, but she runs away. Reid returns to his home and father and daughter reunite.
Series 4 opens in 1897, the year of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. Reid has now given up his detective work and is living in Hampton-on-Sea with Mathilda. He is drawn back to Whitechapel after a visit from Deborah Goren, who urges him to return to investigate the murder of a rabbi at the hand of Isaac Bloom, whom she believes innocent.
Meanwhile, Drake is now head inspector of Whitechapel and still employs Jackson, who has given up his drinking and gambling in order to save money to free Susan, who is now sentenced to hang for her crimes. When his attempts to legally free her fail, he helps to fake her death, forcing her to give up their son to be raised by Drake and his wife Rose, while Susan hides out of sight and Jackson pretends to be a grieving widower to his friends.
Series 5 continues the events of series 4. Following Drake's murder and the exposure of their various crimes, Reid, Jackson and Susan hide out in Whitechapel with the aid of Mimi Morton. The trio covertly attempt to expose the true Whitechapel Golem, Nathaniel Dove, and bring his brother, assistant commissioner Augustus Dove, to justice. An unstable Jedediah Shine becomes the head of H Division and vows to capture Reid, while Mathilda now lives with Sergeant Drummond.
The show was a joint BBC and BBC America production written by Richard Warlow, Julie Rutterford, Declan Croghan and Toby Finlay, and directed by Andy Wilson (4 episodes), Colm McCarthy (2 episodes) and Tom Shankland (2 episodes). The series includes scenes of the seedier side of life during the late Victorian era, including bare-knuckle boxing, early pornography, and prostitution.[18]
Tom Shankland said of the series, "Whitechapel's not an area that was short of vicious murders and any woman found murdered with a knife in the consequent months was held up as a Ripper murder... So we’ll touch on Ripper in that way but not dig anybody up or change the canonical five... All the period depictions I’d seen of that particular crime story had almost been a bit too well behaved in a slightly slower way and shots have to be a bit wider to show off the nice furniture, but if you can think of something awful, it was happening [in [[Victorian London]]]."[18]
The three leads of the show, Macfadyen, Flynn and Rothenberg, have discussed how they got the roles in interviews. Macfadyen claims his involvement was all down to his interest in the 'fresh' script: "I had a few months of nothing, then a load of scripts all came at once, and this was by far the best. It's such terrific writing; it just barrelled along. I saw the title and thought, 'This has been done before', but it was so fresh, and it had all the qualities, interest and depth of a period drama."[19]
Rothenberg's involvement in the show was more straightforward, as he auditioned during pilot series. In an interview with both Flynn and Rothenberg, the latter states: "I auditioned for it, got it, and then showed up. That’s as simple as it was for me," to which Flynn chimes in, claiming: "It was very funny, though, 'cause when he [Rothenberg] did show up, he was like, 'I don’t know how the fuck I got here!'" Flynn's casting experience was similar: "It was pretty basic for me. The writer, Richard Warlow, had seen me in Game of Thrones, playing Bronn, and asked about casting me."[20]
The series was filmed entirely in Dublin, Ireland, in locations that included the former Clancy Barracks beside Clancy Quay and Trinity College, Dublin.[21]
The Leman Street police station and "The Brown Bear" pub are still on Leman Street.[22] The Jews Orphan Asylum still exists, however it has been renamed and relocated, first to Norwood, and then to Stanmore.[23]
See main article: List of Ripper Street episodes.
Ripper Street was well received by critics upon release. On the review aggregator website Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[31] On another review aggregator website, Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds an approval rating of 90%, based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7.39/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Gritty, sinister, and visually striking, Ripper Street is a gripping thriller, with well-crafted characters and compellingly lurid plotlines."[32] The second, third, and fifth seasons hold approval ratings of 86%, 100%, and 100% respectively.[33]
Critical reception of the initial two episodes was divided, with some praising the show's gritty script and good acting performances, and others feeling the show was a mix of ITV's Whitechapel and Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes.
In his weekly review of the show, Jamie-Lee Nardone wrote of its continued improvements, "more of this please, just perhaps not before dinner", referencing the show's gory nature.[34]
Sam Wollaston of The Guardian discussed the pros and cons of the show, claiming "It would be easy to be negative about Ripper Street. Do we really need more on a story that's been not just done to death, but then carved up, and had its insides torn out?" but he concludes his review stating "[the] script is real, alive and human. It's beautifully performed, and beautiful to look at – stylish, and stylised. The bare-knuckle fight scenes are brutal and memorable. It's proper, character-based crime drama, gripping, and yes – I'm afraid – ripping as well".[35]
Benji Wilson of The Daily Telegraph reviewed the first episode positively, praising the performances of the three leads, which he said compensated for the "dull grind of all the exposition" and "tedious" historical references.[36]
PopMatters reviewed the debut episode, remarking:
The effects of such moments are shaped by writer/creator Richard Warlow and episode director Tom Shankland’s attention to the period details: streets are sooty, gaslight creates flickering shadows, and stone floors make footsteps seem chilling. These details help make Ripper Street a compelling procedural, its long form narrative and deliberate pace different from the CSI and Law & Order clones. But the show also bears traces of contemporary influences: an underground boxing club sequence in the first episode resembles similar scenes in Sherlock Holmes (2009) so much that a coincidence is hard to imagine. Equally derivative, some overt efforts to shock viewers deliver graphic violence and some nudity, courtesy of the evolving technology of photography, as it’s inspiring an evolving "smut" industry.[37]
Ahead of its debut in the US, IGN's Roth Cornet reviewed the first episode, discussing how "the setting is handled with absolute care and a razor-sharp attention to detail, from costume and production design to the varied vocal cadences of the players, the texture and flavor of London's East End are brought to vivid life." The review continues to discuss the show's depiction of London's streets in the Victorian era:
Ripper Street provides a gritty look at the evolving streets of London and the advent of technology at the time; be it the "moving-picture-machine" that is featured in "I Need Light" or the introduction of early forensics that follows through the series. More interesting still is that it is the dirt and bones look at the uses of said technology that is in play here. This is no wink-wink "look at how charming early cameras were" depiction, but rather a portrayal of the underbelly of what those cameras would have been used for. Additionally, there is engaging interplay between those who would usher in necessary change and those who are, as Jackson says, "the barriers to progress."[38]
The Hollywood Reporter gave it significant praise: "Ripper Street is a well-acted, well-written and compelling mystery series. And even better, there’s no waiting around, wishing it would improve. It’s alluring from the start."[39] Los Angeles Times called it "Well-written and acted."[40]
Some female critics have not been so positive about the show, disappointed by its two-dimensional portrayal of women as either repressed wives and mothers or prostitutes.
Grace Dent of The Independent was more satirical about the show, but was still unamused by the portrayal of women, stating "centuries may shift and fashions may change, yet raping and murdering women has really never been as popular."[41]
The show was later voted best show of 2013 in a UK public poll for the Radio Times TV guide and magazine shortly after the series had ended, ahead of Doctor Who.[42] [43]
Series 1 was released on a region 2 (Europe) 3-disc DVD set and 3-disc BD on 18 March 2013, with the same DVDs being released in region 1 (Canada/US) on 12 March 2013.
The series 2 DVD-set, plus a 6-disc box set containing both series 1 & 2, was scheduled to be released on 27 January 2014, with region 1 DVDs of series 2 to be released on 15 April 2014.[44]