'Ripper Street' (BBC1) is a damn fine piece of telly. Take the anarchist campaign of the 1880s in London's East End, the background of the Jack the Ripper slayings, an intelligent script, some fine acting, eye-catching cinematography and the fact that the external scenes were shot half a mile down the road from where 'thetvreviewguy' resides (in South-West Dublin rather than East London) and there's the sum of Sunday night quality TV. Matthew Macfadyen is as good as ever playing the troubled, principled DI Edmund Reid, Adam Rothenberg convinces as the mysterious Pinkerton employee Homer Jackson and Michael McElhatton is outstanding as the uber-political and duplicitous Commissioner Munro. As for last Sunday's plot, who could possibly believe that Russian agents were running amok on the streets of London killing their enemies? (er...on second thoughts...!) Anarchism, both peaceful and violent, isn’t an easy topic for mainstream, prime-time television but 'Ripper Street' covered this and the growth of trade unions and employer backlash with a surprisingly progressive outlook. Watch out for the developing love interest between the (shock-horror) married Reid and the feisty Deborah Goren, played with élan by the excellent and, in the eyes of 'thetvreviewguy', delectable Lucy Cohu. If you like your Detective Victoriana, this will be right up your 'Ripper Street'.
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