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‘Ripper Street’ tears into its characters

The Columbian
Published: May 16, 2015, 5:00pm

The Victorian-era police procedural drama “Ripper Street” has been renewed for a fourth and fifth seasons.

A collaboration between Amazon Prime Instant Video and the BBC, “Ripper Street” was initially canceled in 2014. After fan outcry, it was revived for an eight-episode third season that is now being broadcast on BBC America.

Creator and writer Richard Warlow always thought the strongest part of Victorian murder drama “Ripper Street” was its characters.

So when the show was given an unexpected eight-episode reprieve for a third season, he decided to concentrate on their inner dramas. The new season started April 29 on BBC America at 10 p.m.

The Victorian-era police procedural drama "Ripper Street" has been renewed for a fourth and fifth seasons.

A collaboration between Amazon Prime Instant Video and the BBC, "Ripper Street" was initially canceled in 2014. After fan outcry, it was revived for an eight-episode third season that is now being broadcast on BBC America.

The first season was set in the aftermath of Jack the Ripper killings in London’s Whitechapel, but now it’s 1894 and the murders have receded in the memories of most — except the haunted, brittle Inspector Edmund Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) who commands H Division.

Reid was shattered by the death of his wife and the loss of his beloved daughter. The powerful leader has withdrawn into himself and his newly created forensic library.

Warlow says that, in the beginning, Reid is fragile. “Over the course of the series, we put him (Reid) back together.”

The other two who used worked with him in Whitechapel have also moved on. Reid’s main assistant, Detective Constable Bennet Drake (Jerome Flynn), escaped to Manchester to start a new life where he has risen to become an inspector. The American doctor, Homer Jackson, (Adam Rothenberg) has become a cheap surgeon, pickled in liquor and steeped in unhappiness.

The first show starts with Drake coming back to London to take up a new position in Whitechapel. A train wreck cascades disaster down on the streets. Over the season, the reasons behind the accident are revealed. Jackson’s forensics begin to solve the mystery as do old-fashioned policing on the part of Reid, Drake and reporter Fred Best (David Dawson).

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