We live in an age when a slew of TV is being created for different factions of fans. Creativity abounds in current TV programming, from the way television is being formatted for different channels and streaming services to the way that shows can be shuffled around or moved to different formats if they aren’t working out as part of the regular TV schedule. Ripper Street was one of these cancelled shows that was moved to Amazon Prime UK for a few more seasons on the air. Unfortunately, however, now Amazon has axed the series, too. There is some good news, however.
Let’s talk about the good news, because good news is always preferable to bad news. Ripper Street was picked up by Amazon Prime after its first two seasons on the BBC didn’t prove to be highly rated. Season 3 crushed on Amazon Prime to the point where the subscription streaming service signed on for Season 4 and 5 of the series. If you’ve kept up on the show, you should know that Season 4 just premiered at the start of the year in the UK. That’s great news, because although the show will be ending, fans will get a fifth season to wrap up the storyline first.
We also know a bit about Season 5. Deadline reports that Season 5 will pick up at the end of the Victorian era, which has always been where writer Richard Warlow has expected to end the drama. In addition, Detective Inspector Jedediah Shine is expected to rejoin the series for its last outing, which is a pretty big deal, since he’s been off of the show since Season 2.
If this whole Amazon deal is new news to you, you probably live in the United States, where viewing for Ripper Street is still on BBC America. Season 3—or Series 3 if you will—aired on BBC America, but that has yet to happen with Season 4. Currently the website does not have a return date listed for American viewers, who have to watch the series on a delayed schedule, similar to Downton Abbey. So, if you live in the US the silver lining is that you probably still get to power through two more seasons before this stuff is actually off of the air.
Cancellations are never fun for viewers, but the trend of late has been to allow longer running shows to end on a high note. The Good Wife is wrapping up its storylines just before the showrunners are leaving to pursue new projects. Bones has been given one shortened final season to wrap things up in a way that should be pleasing for the viewers who stuck with the show for more than a decade. And now Ripper Street will get to finish out its narrative at the end of an era, just as the creative team intended.
