End of first series Ripper Street
Well; Eight episodes and mixed feelings.
I am still not sure whether I have really enjoyed the series or not. In reality some bits I have, whereas others I have not.
It has been an experience, and a great opportunity for me, as a writer of novels set in Victorian Leicester, to look at how a script-writer brings to life a bit of old England, but in this case, some forty years later than mine originate.
There has been more than a fair share of violence, that must have existed given the nature of the beast that was 1890 England.
There has been more than a fair share of turning a blind eye to Police ' doing things a little unethically' or being downright illegal themselves.
Why?
It catches viewers.
Has the series done enough to encourage me to keep an eye out for series two?
Of course it has! I am a hopeless optimist and pessimist and something might or might not improve upon what they have done. So, I will watch again.
Was episode eight predicatable?
Pretty much...BUT then again...
It was clear that Homer Jackson (Adam Rothenberg) would not be written off on the gallows as 'Ripper'. That would leave a big gap for series two.
Did Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) find his daughter in the end?
We all thought he was going to part way through the episode. Well done BBC and thanks for keeping one iron in the fire for series two! So the answer was no, but what a finish.
Did Rose (Charlene McKenna) find her way back to DS Bennett Drake (Jerome Flynn)?
Not this time. Series Two? Perhaps.
Did Reid get to bed Miss Goren (Lucy Cohu)?
Certainly looked that way to me, once or twice. There is still a flame flickering! What next?
What of Reid's wife Emily (Amanda Hale). Too goody two shoes. She needs to find a seedier side! Perhaps Rose will educate her?
The storyline of a former Ripper suspect, Victor Silver (David Oakes - who gave a sound Hannibal Lecterish performance as a cold and sly abductor of young waifs, ably accompanied by his really sinister sister Clarrisa Clarice? - another Lecterish tie, who probably was the nastiest villain of the series, and who really wanted hanging) brought the series to an 'ish' ending.
Is Reid's daughter in Argentina? We never asked nor had it answered or suggested. Why ever not?
Loved the scalping and fake torture scene. Like that would ever happen! Ho Ho!
There is room for a second series and room for some 'tightening up' of historical innaccuracies. The odd item slipped in before it had been invented, or even conceived.
The cops need to be a bit harder, but a bit more credible in the next series.
Whitechapel needs to be a bit more 'London Town' than the wild west.
What would I do?
Read my first book from 'The Borough Boys' series, 'Jack Ketch's Puppets' which should be out by this summer! See what the Old Bill were like in 1850 Leicester! Meet Samson Shepherd and John Beddows - Leicester's Regan and Carter of the time!
I am still not sure whether I have really enjoyed the series or not. In reality some bits I have, whereas others I have not.
It has been an experience, and a great opportunity for me, as a writer of novels set in Victorian Leicester, to look at how a script-writer brings to life a bit of old England, but in this case, some forty years later than mine originate.
There has been more than a fair share of violence, that must have existed given the nature of the beast that was 1890 England.
There has been more than a fair share of turning a blind eye to Police ' doing things a little unethically' or being downright illegal themselves.
Why?
It catches viewers.
Has the series done enough to encourage me to keep an eye out for series two?
Of course it has! I am a hopeless optimist and pessimist and something might or might not improve upon what they have done. So, I will watch again.
Was episode eight predicatable?
Pretty much...BUT then again...
It was clear that Homer Jackson (Adam Rothenberg) would not be written off on the gallows as 'Ripper'. That would leave a big gap for series two.
Did Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) find his daughter in the end?
We all thought he was going to part way through the episode. Well done BBC and thanks for keeping one iron in the fire for series two! So the answer was no, but what a finish.
Did Rose (Charlene McKenna) find her way back to DS Bennett Drake (Jerome Flynn)?
Not this time. Series Two? Perhaps.
Did Reid get to bed Miss Goren (Lucy Cohu)?
Certainly looked that way to me, once or twice. There is still a flame flickering! What next?
What of Reid's wife Emily (Amanda Hale). Too goody two shoes. She needs to find a seedier side! Perhaps Rose will educate her?
The storyline of a former Ripper suspect, Victor Silver (David Oakes - who gave a sound Hannibal Lecterish performance as a cold and sly abductor of young waifs, ably accompanied by his really sinister sister Clarrisa Clarice? - another Lecterish tie, who probably was the nastiest villain of the series, and who really wanted hanging) brought the series to an 'ish' ending.
Is Reid's daughter in Argentina? We never asked nor had it answered or suggested. Why ever not?
Loved the scalping and fake torture scene. Like that would ever happen! Ho Ho!
There is room for a second series and room for some 'tightening up' of historical innaccuracies. The odd item slipped in before it had been invented, or even conceived.
The cops need to be a bit harder, but a bit more credible in the next series.
Whitechapel needs to be a bit more 'London Town' than the wild west.
What would I do?
Read my first book from 'The Borough Boys' series, 'Jack Ketch's Puppets' which should be out by this summer! See what the Old Bill were like in 1850 Leicester! Meet Samson Shepherd and John Beddows - Leicester's Regan and Carter of the time!
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