Ripper Street

Amongst all of the reviews that have been released about Ripper Street beginning this Saturday on BBC America, I've only seen Collider address the so-called feminist controversy, and frankly, they have been the most sensible about it, too.

Here's what Collider had to say

Speaking of whores (like in so many series that take place in the late Victorian era), they are a-plenty, and they play central roles.  There has been plenty of negative feminist commentary about Ripper Street, that the women portrayed are either pious or whores, with little in between.  I think that the lack of dimension in their livelihoods, which isn’t unusual for the time period, is undone somewhat by the hint at, perhaps, some actual personality.  Mind you, it’s nascent, and the men are absolutely far more absorbingly written than the females of the show.  Still, there is hope that one or two might actually turn into actual characters at some point.

I'm a staunch feminist, but I have not been offended by Ripper Street. It was the reality of that era and locale.  I, too, am looking forward for the female characters to be "fleshed out" further.

There are so many positive reviews of the upcoming BBC America's, Ripper Street, it's hard to pass all of them along to you. However CNN just published their review, which included the following gem of a quote about Matthew Macfadyen's character Inspector Edmund Reid, by writer/creator Richard Warlow.

"We wanted Reid to be a different kind of copper, somebody who was affected by the work he did, but that it didn't make him maudlin. Matthew gives you great presence, but at the same time, he gives you such soul, I think. He brings a solid sense of integrity about everything that he does."

Please do read the whole review though.  Ripper Street begins on BBC America this Saturday at 9 pm EST.