kathypig1 Review of Ripper Street

Ripper Street (2012–2016)

High quality production with majorly underrated actors

[10/10 · 11 September 2015]

This series has absolutely gripped me from the beginning. Set in the grimy Whitechapel area of Victorian London in the immediate aftermath of the Jack the Ripper murders, this show is just flat-out sublime in casting, sets, costumes, period atmosphere, writing, and soundtrack.The hugely underrated Matthew McFadyen is glorious as Detective Inspector Edmund Reid, who is haunted (in more ways than obvious ones) by the unsolved Ripper killings. His colleague , Inspector Bennet Drake, is played to weary perfection by Jerome Flynn, who is thankfully by no means relegated to a secondary "sidekick" role. Drake and Reid are joined in their crime-fighting efforts by the American Civil War veteran/physician/medical detective Homer Jackson, who as portrayed by Adam Rothenberg, is a combination of chain-smoking Byronic hero and lab geek. If you're tired of shallow characterizations and inept screen writing masquerading as substantive TV dramas, then this is the show for you!