Ripper Street
Period pieceSet meaningfully in a past era.This show: 9/10GrittyRaw, unglamorous realism in both look and subject matter.This show: 8/10AtmosphericMood and place thick enough to touch.This show: 8/10Detective mysteryCrime-solving from the investigator's side of the table.This show: 8/10British TVThe British television sensibility: tone, restraint and format traditions.This show: 8/10Criminal underworldOrganized crime, gangs and the criminal life seen from the inside.This show: 7/10Dark toneShadowy mood and subject matter, a shade short of outright bleak.This show: 7/10
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Starring
Matthew MacfadyenAdam RothenbergMyAnna BuringJerome FlynnDavid WilmotCharlene McKenna
Written by
Richard Warlow
Starring
Matthew MacfadyenAdam RothenbergMyAnna BuringJerome FlynnDavid WilmotCharlene McKenna
Written by
Richard Warlow
Ratings per Episode
Votes per Episode
Ripper Street Episode Ratings Heatmap
| Avg | E1 | E2 | E3 | E4 | E5 | E6 | E7 | E8 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 8.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 8.2 | 7.9 | 8.5 | 8.6 | |
| S2 | 8.1 | 7.8 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 8.2 | 8.7 | |
| S3 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 8.6 | 7.9 | 8.7 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.2 | 8.9 | |
| S4 | 8.4 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 8.4 | 9.1 | ||
| S5 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.0 | 8.2 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 7.5 |
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About
"Victorian crime drama that outgrew its own cancellation"
Set in 1889 Whitechapel just months after the Jack the Ripper murders, this period crime drama follows Detective Inspector Edmund Reid and his H Division colleagues as they hunt killers, con men, and vice in London's most notorious slum. It's moody and grim but never dull, mixing forensic detective work with the social rot of the era, plus a haunted American surgeon with a past. The pace rewards patience, character work is strong, and the atmosphere thickens with each season as the show grows bolder once it moves beyond the BBC.
Watch it for
the slow-burn partnership between Reid, Drake, and Jackson as they piece together grim cases.
Maybe skip if
you want fast plotting rather than atmosphere and want light, cheerful period drama.
Written by our AI editor to help you decide, spoiler-free by design.
All Seasons
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Season 12012
8.06K88h 15m
Haunted by the failure to catch London's most evil killer, Jack the Ripper, Inspector Edmund Reid now heads up the notorious H Division - the toughest police district in the East End.
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Season 22013
8.14K88h 11m
The memory of Jack the Ripper may have faded but the Whitechapel streets he walked are more dangerous than ever.
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Season 32014
8.34K89h 1m
After a locomotive disaster, Reid's iron grip on 'H' Division begins to unravel.
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Season 42016
8.42K77h 36m
In 1897, Reid has given up his detective work and lives in Hampton-on-Sea with Matilda. When his old friend Isaac is accused of murder, he is drawn back to Whitechapel to investigate. Meanwhile Drake is now head inspector of Whitechapel and still employs Jackson who has given up his drinking and gambling in order to save money to free Susan from prison.
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Season 52016
8.12K66h 42m
Returning to a dark secret they all share and to a Whitechapel terrorised by an all too familiar horror, Series Five sees the show’s heroes take on a serial killer with subhuman desires, but a superhuman ability to avoid being apprehended.
Full Cast & Crew
Cast
Matthew Macfadyen Det. Insp. Edmund Reid
Adam Rothenberg Cpt. Homer Jackson, Dr. Homer Jackson
MyAnna Buring Long Susan
Jerome Flynn Det. Sgt. Bennet Drake, Det. Insp. Bennet Drake, Detective Inspector Bennet Drake
David Wilmot Sgt. Donald Artherton, Sgt Donald Atherton, Sgt. Donald Atherton
Charlene McKenna Rose Erskine, Rose Drake
David Dawson Fred Best
Anna Burnett Mathilda Reid, Alice
Clive Russell Ch. Insp. Fred Abberline
Lydia Wilson Mimi Morton
Crew
Richard Warlow
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