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Ripper Street (2012)

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From IMDB:

The streets of Whitechapel are the haunt of Detective Inspector Edmund Reid and his team of officers, who aim to maintain law and order in a place once terrorized by Jack the Ripper.

A new drama set in the East End of London in 1889 during the aftermath of Jack The Ripper murders. The infamous H Division – the police precinct charged with keeping order in the district of Whitechapel- is in a chaotic state trying to keep order after a tumultuous time for London and reported infamously worldwide.

From Netflix you can stream 4 seasons consisting of 37 episodes  as follow:

  • Season 1 – 8 episodes
  • Season 2 – 8 episodes
  • Season 3 – 8 episodes
  • Season 4 – 7 episodes
  • Season 5 – 6 episodes       As of April 21,2017 not yet released

WARNING: Season 4 ends with a real cliff-hanger that needs Season 5 to resolve the issues. But at this point you cannot stream Season 5.

Matthew MacFadyen superbly plays Detective Inspector Edmund Reid.  Jerome Flynn (who was Bronn in “Game of Thrones”) plays Det. Sgt. Bennet Drake. Adam Rothenberg (who played Danny in “The Divide”) plays Dr. Homer Jackson.

Strong stomachs and tolerance for blatant vulgarity are required for watching this series. Otherwise these intense episodes are captivating. Trying to be authentic for 1889, the speech is formal, possibly pedantic, even when describing sexual activity.  Here we have an escape from the usual formulaic police procedurals. Do not be misled by the very first episode which deals with a murder that tries to mimic the work of Jack the Ripper because subject matter for the episodes is incredibly varied (thievery, pestilence, and other delights).

London in that period was a horrible, dirty, smelly, hellhole in which the place of women was especially dire. In the eighteenth century, one in every five women were sex workers. If a woman was not wealthy or married, she very often ended up in the streets.  In this series the plight of women is often the motivating theme.

Workers had no rights, no workplace safety precautions.  Future readers of this review should be reminded that under our current President Trump, the Republican party places itself in opposition to such protective organizations as the EPA.  One episode features (and shocks with a view of a match girl [woman who worked in a match factory] inflicted with) phossy jaw. You may never forget the sight.

One episode features as a character the famous Elephant Man whose real name was Joseph Merrick.  Merrick the actor is made to look exactly like the photograph in the mentioned Wikipedia article. You may never forget the sight.

One episode centers about the laws against sodomy which enabled blackmailers and often destroyed lives.

One episode makes vividly alarming the horrors created by the law making abortion illegal. Note that even now in the USA the Republicans would return to that terrible past.

London was an ugly, ugly place. Brace yourself!

After viewing more and more episodes I have upgraded to DO NOT MISS!

 

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The Field of Blood (2011)

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From Netflix streaming:

Paddy Meehan is a new kind of heroine. A young, female, feisty and funny trainee reporter, she often oversteps the mark between reporting crimes and solving them – while sometimes becoming part of the crime along the way.

You can read about the story in Wikepedia. Only Series 1 is currently available. There is a second series.

There are only two one hour episodes:

The Field of Blood Part 1: Paddy has a personal connection in the case of a missing two-year-old. As the story develops, Paddy believes it could provide a much-needed break in her quest to advance from copy boy to reporter.

The Field of Blood Part 2: Paddy continues to investigate even after the case takes a dangerous turn. Convinced of the accused’s innocence, she is getting little support from her colleagues, her family, or her fiancé.

Paddy Meehan, a young Glasgow woman, starts as a “copy boy” in a newsroom staffed by cynical losers who disparage her as a “fat girl”.  But our Paddy never gives up her ambition to be a reporter and when she gets wind of two similar murders that the police refuse to consider as connected there is no stopping her. Along the way she alienates her family, gives up a boy friend, and connects with a young reporter.

Good story (pay attention to all the details) and good acting make for two enjoyable hours