Ripper Street

Luckily, even though we’re all suffering through the terrible experience of waiting through yet another interminable wait for a new season of Sherlock, we’ve got plenty to entertain ourselves with in the meantime since many members of the show’s cast seem to be keeping fairly busy with a variety of projects. And now there’s another name to add to the list of Sherlock stars in unexpected places – Louise Brealey is joining the cast of period crime drama Ripper Street.

Best known for her role as Sherlock’s brilliant but slightly awkward pathologist Molly Hooper, Brealey will play Dr. Amelia Frayn, a trailblazing female Victorian doctor who runs the Obsidian Clinic in Whitechapel.

Ripper Street, the period drama focusing on a group of police officers fighting crime in London’s notorious Whitechapel district during the late nineteenth century, will be returning to BBC One at the end of October, with a US airing not too far behind.

Created by Richard Warlow, Ripper Street is set in the East End of London in 1889, during the aftermath of the “Ripper” murders. The series follows H Division, the police precinct from hell which is charged with keeping order in the chaotic streets of Whitechapel. H Division was responsible for policing a relatively small area of just 1¼ square miles, yet into that space were packed some 67,000 people; a seething, bustling mass of the poor and dispossessed.

And, even though the shadow of the Ripper murders may be receding, it doesn’t mean that east London has found any peace.

Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn and Adam Rothberg are all back as crime solving trio Detective Edmund Reid, Detective Bennett Drake and Captain Homer Jackson in the second installment of the popular series. This time, they’ll also be joined by Being Human star Damien Molony as a new detective who’s clearly (as you’ll see in the trailer below) carrying around his own secrets with him.

The BBC released a new trailer yesterday highlighting its forthcoming slate of “Original British Drama” – a montage of both new and returning series that’s meant to get us all excited for the great programs – both new and old – headed our way from Auntie Beeb in the not too distant future.

Spoiler: This clip does its job really well.

The trailer – which is extremely well put together and very theatrical – shows off several of the BBC’s most highly anticipated properties, including the returns of Sherlock and Ripper Street and several new premieres, including period drama The Musketeers with Peter Capaldi, The Escape Artist with David Tennant, The Great Train Robbery, Quirke, By Any Means and What Remains.

Granted, none of these series get to highlight more than a handful of super quick glimpses of new footage – but we don’t think you’ll mind so much. Watch for yourselves below.

The gentlemen in H Division will apparently be sleuthing out violent killers a bit longer – a second series of period crime drama Ripper Street has been confirmed by the BBC/BBC America co-production team. The series stars Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn and Adam Rothenberg as detectives in Victorian London’s East End, solving crimes in the wake of the grisly Jake the Ripper murders.

Production on the eight-episode second series is slated to begin sometime this Spring, and new episodes will premiere sometime in 2014. Given the fact that the American airing of Ripper Street is only about three weeks behind the UK, it seems safe to assume we can expect a similar set up next year. (Not perfect, but easily manageable. And, hey, it could be worse.) Details below.

BBC One’s new crime drama Ripper Street makes its way across pond this weekend to BBC America, giving US viewers a chance to see the gripping, often grisly, period drama for themselves.

The eight-part series stars Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn and Adam Rothberg (among others) and is set in London’s ll focus on the investigations of the H Division of the London police department and their attempts to battle crime and keep the peace in the East End. It premieres tonight at 9pm on BBC America and I can’t imagine I’m the only Anglophile out there who is curious to check it out.

Watch the opening scene from the gritty looking new thriller under the cut – and let me know what you think, does this look like something you’d watch? Or does it cross the line into too dark?

BBC America has released their first preview for upcoming period thriller Ripper Street starring Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn and Adam Rothberg. Set in the Whitechapel neighborhood in the immediate aftermath of the Jack the Ripper murders, Ripper Street will focus on the infamous H Division of the London police department and their attempts to keep the peace in the East End following these grisly crimes.

The first (supertiny) teaser for this highly anticipated series aired following the closing ceremonies of the London Olympics, but this is the first clip in which we can actually see some real footage from the show. Well done, BBC America, for starting the promotional wheels for this series turning earlier rather than later – and not just because the BBC’s tendency to drop trailers two weeks before series premieres is often occasionally frustrating.

Anyway, this clip is well worth a look – Macfadyen is looking predictably dishy in period dress and his performance seems predictably solid, even in these brief snippets. What’s most interesting here, though, is the show’s surprisingly dark and grisly tone. This shouldn’t be a total surprise, given that the series is set right after the Ripper murders, but sense of atmosphere, of place and moment in history, is palpable. I’m intrigued! Hopefully, this won’t doesn’t turn out to be some sort of boring procedural cop drama that happens to feature detectives in period dress, because I quite like the feel of this thing so far. Take a look for yourselves below.

The BBC used the closing ceremonies of the London Olympics last night to kick off their promotional campaign for upcoming period/crime drama Ripper Street, with what I assume must be one of the shortest teaser trailers in existence.

“As the sun sets on the Olympics, darkness rises,” intones an ominous sounding voiceover, as three men chase (presumably) a criminal through a shadowy alley. That’s literally it as far as new footage goes, but since Ripper Street is pretty high on my list of 2012 programs I’m excited about, I don’t mind so much. It’s all terribly atmospheric.

Created by Mistresses’ writer Richard Warlow and starring MI-5’s Matthew Macfadyen, Game of Thrones’ Jerome Flynn, The Twilight Saga’s Myanna Buring and Luther’s David Dawson, this eight-part period drama will attempt to make the oft-depicted Jack the Ripper murders interesting again by focusing on the aftermath of the famous crimes instead of identity of the murderer. Ripper Street will dramatize the life of London’s H Division, the police precinct charged with keeping order in the Whitechapel neighborhood in the days following the Ripper killings.

Click through and take a look. There’s certainly not enough (any?) actual footage to make any sort of judgment about the series, but if this sort of thing is your cup of tea, it’s enough to get you excited for more.

BBC America has announced that new period police drama Ripper Street will premiere this Fall as part of their ongoing Wednesday night “Dramaville” block. The eight-part series is set in and around Whitechapel in London’s East End, during the aftermath of the Jack the Ripper murders in 1889.

Created by Mistresses writer Richard Warlow, Ripper Street will star MI-5’s Matthew Macfadyen (Swoooooon!), Game of Thrones’ Jerome Flynn, The Twilight Saga’s Myanna Buring and Luther’s David Dawson. The period piece will focus on the infamous H Division, the police precinct which is charged with keeping order in Whitechapel following the Ripper killings.

Filming is currently underway in Dublin and the first official cast photo has been released. Click through to take a look for yourself!