Did anyone else catch the premiere of Ripper Street? The premise is that after the Jack the Ripper murders stop, the police of Whitechapel are trying to get back to normal life. It’s basically a police procedural set in 1889. Reminds me a lot of the Caleb Carr book The Alienist. Great actors, solid writing so far, and a terrific hook.
I’ll have to give it a look. My wife was turned off by yet another show showing victimization of women, but perhaps it’s more than that?
I’ll give it a try. I was disappointed by the recent Copper, which squandered a somewhat similar premise, but left me wanting to see a better 19th century cop-drama.
(also, gonna kinda be weird to watch a crime-drama in 1890’s London without you-know-who)
You know, that time period IS right about when that completely crazy idea about using fingerprints to identify criminals really started to take root. They’d probably have to fudge the dates a few years, but that’s pretty much par for the course in the world of television dramas.
That’s interesting. A policeman stopped a fellow in the area the night of one of the ripper murders. The guy had blood on him, but the cop let him go because he was “obviously a gentleman”.
I take it this is on BBC America?
Loved The Alienist. I will have to check out Ripper Street now. I was disappointed in *Copper *too.
Wellllll…I don’t know what the future holds, but the first episode was pretty heavy on that. It wasn’t lurid or gratuitous, though.
Snooooopy: Yes, I’m hoping that they will make use of early forensics, both successful and not-successful. Like, there was a theory around that time that you could take a photograph of the victim’s retina and see the last thing they saw before they died. I’d love to see them trying theories like that.
I watched the first episode. Was pretty promising.
Its actually kinda bizarre how close this show is to Copper, though. Outsider medical examiner character, whose friends with the lead. Brothel being a prominent set. First episode focuses on perverted rich guy. Even the opening credits are similar.
Here in Canada we have a great show called “Murdock Mysteries”,
The series takes place in Toronto in the 1890s and follows Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) of the Toronto Constabulary, who solves many of his cases using methods of detection that were unusual at the time. These methods include fingerprinting, blood testing, surveillance, and trace evidence.
Thanks for the recommendation, I’ll check it out. I’m not so much a fan of crime dramas as I am of BBC productions.
I did really enjoy “From Hell” though.
Are you speaking of the Johnny Dep film?
Wasn’t that From Hel?
I got lost, somewhere. 
Yes. Really loved it. I’m especially fascinated because the directors, the Hughes brothers, got their start directing rap videos and gangsta movies. “From Hell” was their first departure from the gangsta genre, and I can’t think of a setting any more far removed than 19th Century London. They did an amazing job of capturing the atmosphere.
LOL.
I too enjoyed the movie, but missed the joke.
That’s streaming on Netflix. It looked promising and I’ll get back to it once I get caught up on the doleful adventures of the Winchester brothers.
The new show on BBCamerica looks promising, too.
You wrote Johnny Depp as Dep, so I referred to From Hell as From Hel.
Not a big deal. You’re entitled to say the L with it.
Ah, thanks.
I had no idea how to spell his name. Mrs. Plant v.3.0 is a fan. :rolleyes:
I watched these on Netflix. Excellent show!
It looks like we won’t get Ripper Street here until January 19th. I’m looking forward to it.
Was finally able to watch the first episode.
It was great. Very worth seeing. This first episode resolves by the end, which is quite welcome in a pilot. By the end of the episode, you know whether or not you want to continue watching the series. I’ll definitely be tuning in to the rest.
And very American I thought. It was much more like “The Wire” or “CSI” than a typical BBC drama. High production values too.
Quite NSFW though. Don’t watch it with your children, or on a first date.
Thanks again to the OP for pointing this series out.