Should I Check This Out - Ripper Street season 2

Sometime ago I reviewed the first season to the BBC Victorian crime series Ripper Street and found it enjoyable if a little flawed in places. That said, there was definitely potential for bigger and better things, and the first episode looked promising. Little did I know that the series would take a massive upturn and become one of my favourite (technically, maybe not financially) British series in recent years. Packing a great cast with plenty of new faces, fantastic art direction and a really solid script, season two has been a blast to watch.

For cast members Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn and Adam Rothenberg, their onscreen relationship was certainly taken to a new level and really managed to develop each character. Supporting cast members including MyAnna Burning, Damien Molony, Clive Russell and Charlene McKenna were all great to watch. Smaller performances from Joseph Drake as the tortured Joseph Merrick and Suits' David Constabile as Jackson's older brother really added to the show. And it would be a shame not mention the two key antagonists of the show played by the underrated Joseph Mawle and the menacing Frank Harper, which as mentioned before, were the key ingredients missing in season one that give two such a boost.

Visually this series couldn't have looked better. Despite one or two slightly dodgy CGI backdrops and some iffy lines, the level of detail is amazing and really builds up the atmosphere between the glistening floors of the London upper-class and the muddy streets of Whitechapel. The same care also applies to the costumes and cinematography which are all great.

But with such a great cast and production design, the news that the BBC had chosen to axe the series due to it not being 'successful' as ratings moved towards a reality show, were certainly a huge disappointment. As season two progressed, each episode gained further momentum leading to a great finale where I really wanted to see what will happen next. Thankfully there is talk that the series is to be picked up by a VOD channel where it might continue.

Resisting the urge to go into spoiler territory, I can strongly recommend Ripper Street, particularly after a such a great second season. Hopefully we'll see what happens next for Edmund Reid and his team at H Division.