Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, MyAnna Buring, Charlene McKenna, Joseph Mawle, Clive Russell, David Dawson, David Wilmot, Damien Molony, Leanne Best, Frank Harper, David Costabile, Justin Salinger, Robert Goodman, Joel Gilman.
If the official statement can be believed, then the two part story, Our Betrayal, is the last the B.B.C. will be showing of what has been an incredible series of stories in the enthralling Ripper Street. Whilst rumours abound that perhaps it might not be the last audiences see of Inspector Reid, Detective Sergeant Drake and Captain Homer Jackson, the Corporation should be seen to be ashamed of themselves in letting such a great piece of television be surrendered in a such a fashion. Even if there was one more series in which to let such a fine cast, which has captured the imagination of life in the East-End of London in the dying days of the 19th Century superbly, bow out with dignity, then that surely has be better in the eyes of those who have taken this series to their hearts.
The title of the two parter, Our Betrayal, is apt in more ways than one. Away from the politics of that guides programming inside the Corporation, Inspector Reid found himself bereft of friends as his chief ally Sergeant Drake went missing after his wife had died at her own hands in the previous episode, his fledgling pathologist still looking for a way out of his predicament and to get back into the good books of Long Susan, portrayed excellently by MyAnna Buring and the young Detective Constable Albert Flight being shown for the stooge and traitor that he was. It was perhaps with nervous trepidation that Reid had found himself feeling cornered and battered even though there were no murders in the area to pin the blame upon.
If there are to be no more episodes then at the very least the B.B.C. should be congratulated for having the foresight to show a detective programme that didn’t rely on the ever increasing use of technology over policeman intuition in which to solve a crime, the dogged determination to show the East-End of London for the dangerous place that it was during the years of the 19th Century, however it is a congratulations that is muted for the almost disgraceful way in which they dealt with finishing off the programme.
The series certainly has bought some great television actors back into the consciousness of the avid viewing public, Matthew Macfadyen and Jerome Flynn have been in excellent form throughout and the addition of Joseph Mawle as the corrupt Detective Jebediah Shine, the superb MyAnna Buring as the Madame, Leanne Best as Councillor Jane Cobden and Damien Molony as the heavily influenced Albert Flight has been a revelation.
There are too few very good quality dramas on the B.B.C. at the best of times that showcase the gritty realism offered by the likes of Ripper Street, and yet somehow some crimes against television are allowed to be swept under the carpet and left till the corpse begins to smell, only tapered by yet another so called reality television programme or cooking expert making a name for themselves.
Ian D. Hall