Ripper Street Season One
Matthew Macfadyen, Adam Rothenberg
BBC Video
Those familiar with the Canadian series Murdoch Mysteries will immediately recognize the set-up of Ripper Street,a BBC mystery TV series. Set in 1889 a few months after the last Jack the Ripper murder, the series stars Matthew Macfadyen as new school police detective Edmund Reid and Jerome Flynn and Adam Rothenberg as his Sergeant and an American doctor living in London. Ripper Street – Complete Box Set (Series 1-5)
Ripper Street opens with a murder in the Whitechapel district of London. The press is quick to rile up the public about the return of Jack the Ripper and not above changing the crime scene to make that more believable. Detective Edmund Reid is first on the case and has to fight both the press and Chief Inspector Abberline, a man smarting for not having solved the Ripper case.
Reid is aided by American surgeon Captain Homer Jackson who introduces the forensics stuff into the series. Jackson has a few secrets of his own so helping Reid is one way to not arouse suspicion.
Season One of Ripper Street is a winner. You have to get used to a thicker than usual British accent in a lot of the secondary characters. It also requires a bit of willing suspension of disbelief when it comes to all the pre-forensics forensic stuff.The series slowly wanes after that but it is a BBC mystery TV so comparatively speaking it is still pretty good.