Comment by Gerry Regan on December 14, 2013 at 4:54pm

Here's info about the BBC series: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ripper_Street . The series is set in East London in the aftermath of the Ripper serial killings.

Comment by Lisa Fortin Jackson on December 14, 2013 at 5:48pm

Thanks, Gerry. From what I was told, quite a bit of it is filmed in the Temple Bar area.

Comment by Kieron Punch on December 16, 2013 at 4:38am

Ger, have you managed to watch the series? The final episode of series 2 is being broadcast tonight, here in the UK, and unfortunately, that will be the last ever episode because the BBC has decided to cancel the show due to poor viewing figures. It would appear that stylish, excellently produced, well written quality dramas, containing fine acting (particularly from Matthew MacFadye, Adam Rothenburg and Jerome Flynn in the lead roles) are not what the public wish to watch - what a sad indictment it is that the major TV hits over here tend to involve third-rate celebrities learning how to dance, or eating vile insects in the jungle, or wannabe singer talent contests.

If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, look out, too, for the BBC's excellent drama series "Peaky Blinders", which stars Cork's own Cillian Murphy as one of the leaders of a criminal gang, set in the dark and gritty world of post-WW1 Birmingham. This series is so well produced that, at times, it approaches cinematic quality, and like Ripper Street, it, too, has a fine cast which, in addition to Murphy, includes Helen McCrory (wife of Damien Lewis, the star of Homeland) and the ever excellent, Sam Neill, who plays an RIC officer brought over to England by Winston Churchill to deal with the gang.

Although the BBC has commissioned a second series, the first series only attracted audiences of around 2.5 million, so I suspect that Peaky Blinders may, unfortunately, go the same way as Ripper Street.

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