Ripper Street

Here are a few articles recently published on Ripper Street that haven't been mentioned earlier

CSI Victorian London

Matthew Macfadyen takes on the role of Detective Inspector Edmund Reid, who works in the police precinct H Division. His beat is only 1.4 square miles but it is packed with 67,000 people, some of whom are the most disadvantaged and troubled in London. He has his work cut out for him but, as Macfadyen says, he approaches it all with wit, vim and vigour.

"What I find interesting about him is that there's nothing jaded or on the back foot about him," says the actor. "I wanted to get away from the sort of classic, seen it all, done it all copper and he's definitely not that. He's quite progressive and interested in technology and the innovations of the age, which were enormous, especially in Victorian times."

Macfadyen was impressed by the "vividly written" script and its "fantastic energy".

He thinks it feels cutting edge despite being set in 1889, thanks to Reid's intellect and his use of local maverick doctor Homer Jackson to help him solve crimes, and his ex-army colleague Bennett Drake to keep people in order.

"Things were happening at an alarming rate, technologically. And so I think Reid and his team would think of themselves as very modern and very progressive, which is interesting because this was an age where the amazing advances that we take for granted now hadn't happened: forensics, forensically fingerprinting and DNA," he says.

Macfadyen also loved filming in Belfast, where the world of Victorian London, with its dark alleys and shady doorways, has been lovingly recreated to the point where you can almost smell the smoke in the air.

"It was like a big playground," he says. "We were able to create a big street [inside a studio], it was great."

 Radio Times Video Preview

RT TV editor, Alison Graham said: "Richard Warlow’s full-on script, in the first of an eight-part series, and the excellent production design pull us straight into Ripper Street. You can almost smell the stench of a capital groping its way to prosperity after the Industrial Revolution. But it’s a strange thing, a stylised oddity and, oh my, it’s very kinky."

Female First

With Matthew Macfayden and Jerome Flynn at the heart of the show though, the BBC are assured great performances from them, while we can’t wait to see the first UK outing for American actor Adam Rothenberg as the third of our trio of detectives.

TV Magazine went on location in Dublin during the filming of Ripper Street this summer.

 

And as we peer past a crowd of extras, a familiar figure emerges in the gloom – former Spooks star Matthew Macfadyen, all broad-shouldered and reassuring in a well-cut check suit.

“Everyone has got this terrible hangover from not finding the Ripper – and they’ve got real hangovers as well,” says Matthew, 38, who stars as Detective Edmund Reid. “There has been a little bit of Guinness.

 

And this is what costume designer, Lorna Marie Mugan had to say about dressing the male leads:

“We wanted to make the three lead men stand out. They’re all above-average height, but we brought in smaller extras to make them look even taller. Also, because Matthew’s character is a dapper gentleman, he had to have a strong-shaped coat and bowler hat.

Be sure to read the full article HERE.

The Daily Mail has an interview with Matthew Macfadyen, who describes the premise of his character, Edmund Reid. He goes on to describe some of the differences between himself and his "namesake".

Here's a quote from the article on filming location: 

It wasn’t always easy during the 19-week shoot though, because they were often held up by heavy rain: 

‘It was wet, cold and then very sunny.' says Matthew, 'it’s a soggy old place is Dublin. But actually we all loved filming there.

'The barracks were like a big playground, big enough to recreate a huge area of Whitechapel, and we filmed in Dublin Castle and Kilmainham Jail, all as if it was the East End of London.’

Be sure to read the full interview HERE.