CHANNEL WRITES: RIPPER STREET

RIPPER STREET Saturdays 9 pm on BBCAM 

This is everything I wanted COPPER to be. Something about that series always seemed to be just a bit off. I liked the setting, the time period, the idea. It should have meshed but it never really did for me.

Then along came RIPPER STREET. Equally as dark, essentially the same archetypes but now something is clicking. The stories are semi episodic with just enough of a thread tying subplots together to help flesh out the characters.

Matthew Macfayden leads the cast as D.I. Edward Reid. Without giving any spoilers, his back story revolves around his inability to capture the Ripper. He is tormented by an estranged wife and the loss of his young daughter. I first saw Macfayden in the original Death at a Funeral where is his droll, stoic characterization of Daniel proved his comedic chops. Then I saw him in a miniseries called Any Human Heart where his dramatic side overtook the series from Jim Broadbent interpretation of the same character. This talent has carried him through grueling scripts this season as he’s tackled copycats, socialists, and murderous characters.

Jerome Flynn plays his troubled partner Sgt. Drake struggling to stay loyal to the force and his superior. Flynn does double duty of Game of Thrones as Bronn. Where Bronn is cool in his battles, Drake is a brute. Most often he is used to ‘interrogate’ suspects. Well, Reid asks the questions while Drake uses his fists to get the answers. But there’s more to Drake then brawn.

The final figure in this trio is rogue Pinkerton agent and early coroner Captain Homer Jackson, an expatriate from America. He and the Madame he bunks with have a history that has driven from one country into the other. Adam Rotheberg plays the wily and mysterious Jackson. A quick look at IMDB.com shows he’s had character roles in a large array of dramas since 1999. He seems to have found a niche as Jackson.

Bottom line: The stories are goo, the acting is solid, and the production values are high. Give it a watch if you haven’t. BBCAM tends to give its shows a short shelf life. It cancelled The Hour after only two seasons. I haven’t seen any mention of The Fades this year. And where the heck is Dr. Who???????

BLATANT SELF PROMOTION CORNER: Yellow Mama will publish my western short, Cavendish Rides next month. King’s River Life will run my soft boiled short, At the Rainbow’s End next week for St. Patrick’s Day. Finally, eFiction Horror will post The Water Tower, a steampunk horror tale of two boys and what they find in a water tower.