Ripper Street was clever enough not to hang its hat on the over-examined killings of the five Ripper victims, and clever fans of police procedurals will relish spending eight hours with cops who have to invent the crime-solving tools at their disposal.

It is well-written and certainly well-acted, with plot and psychological twists as numerous and tantalizing as the streets on which they occur.

Ripper Street is a well-acted, well-written and compelling mystery series. And even better, there's no waiting around, wishing it would improve. It's alluring from the start.

Ripper Street is pretty ripping good for the most part.

An entertainingly sinister dip in the cesspool of 19th century criminality. [21 Jan 2013]

It's just too bad a show paved with such an enticing premise doesn't get a little deeper under your skin.

Ripper Street is a decent but not especially remarkable thriller about crime solving in Whitechapel immediately following Jack's reign of terror.

An intriguing premise and a rich period setting that is not fawned over in place of a real and compelling script. Mcfayden and the cast are well placed in this engrossing series.

We Americans love the BBC's historical dramas, and we love their detective shows, and "Ripper Street" gives us BOTH! Plus Matthew Macfayden, master of the ethical giant with zero sanctimony (Prior Phillip in "Pillars of the Earth," e.g.), brooding brawler Jerome Flynn, currently tearing up "Game of Thrones," and sexy American Adam Rothenberg, new to me but already a favorite. The women seem a bit less compelling, though Lucy Cohu, who has a recurring role as the governess of a Jewish orphanage, is wonderful, clear-eyed about the evil world she inhabits but profoundly loving, saved from cynicism by a single tenet of the religion she has lost: save one, save the world. The show's premise, that the shadow of the Ripper falls on every subsequent case, is an interesting one; as a resident of Ted Bundyland, I think it's about time a series had something intelligent to say about the western fascination with serial killers, rather than just pandering to it (Kevin Bacon, are you listening?). The show's writing and direction are unusually muscular, without sacrificing complexity, but I have to give top honors to the set designers, who convey a profound sense of the squalor of 19th-century Whitechapel. Not since "The Libertine," has anyone done dirt so well. Frankly, I'm a little surprised at the muted applause here; I think the series deserves an ovation.

A clever twist on Police procedure shows, with an interesting mix of factual and literary influences. Good performances, well directed and writing that does not get dragged into overplaying the characters flaws, but makes them part of the story. It was a shame that the Beeb didn't think this worth keeping but thankfully it was taken up by Amazon and now the Beeb have bought it from them. Their are some little nuances in the production that outside of the UK may get missed, but the reverse is the same for shows airing their from other countries, this does not detract from the overall appeal of the show though. If you watch this thinking its about the Ripper you will be disappointed, but if you go into it knowing its just after those heinous crimes and is in the shock and aftermath left in London at that time, it works completely.

Well the show is semi interesting entertainment. Good sides are the acceptable actors, the visuals and some mediocre excitement. But the bad sides are, each episode has its own closed plot and is not really connected to the next episode like in other series, even worse, each episode runs after the same scheme, the main characters get some Mac Gyver like ideas or clues or hints and solve the case. Most of the time i found myself doing other stuff and let the series just run in the background since most of the time i didn't miss any important plot. Its quiet enjoyable but not really great

A good show with interesting plot lines that keep you engaged and entertained. Though it's called Ripper Street we don't actually see Jack The Ripper but instead live in the overarching shadow of him, which quite frankly was a much better story line that simply having him run amuck, not only has that been done before but we all now how it ends. The series instead, depicts life in 19th Century Whitechapple, and does it very well, through the 8 episode season we are shown the hopes, fears, troubles, growths and grim realities of the time; everything from the development of science (and opposition against it by some) to the pestilence of Cholera. I'm not an expert of the age so I can't really say how accurate these depictions actually were but from my estimation they were quite true to the point. So now we have an interesting show during an interesting period, what we need now s interesting characters. Sadly we don't get them. The characters here are as stereotypical as they can come, and so are their personal story lines, which we see bits and pieces of throughout the season. Had the creates taken some more time and come up with complex, un-predictable characters he show might have evolved into a higher dimension, but non-the-less the characters we have are good enough for entertainment and makes the show fun to watch. (Season 1 review)