Ripper Street star Matthew Macfadyen has promised that the Victorian crime drama’s third series will be “brilliant, gripping and heart-rending”.

Series 3 began filming in Manchester this week, with Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, MyAnna Buring and Adam Rothenberg all returning to their roles from the first two series.

Eight new episodes will debut on Amazon Prime Instant Video before airing on BBC One a few months later.

MacFadyen, who plays Edmund Reid, commented: “I’m delighted and excited to be back for a third series of Ripper [Street]. Thank you to Amazon, thank you to our fans who wanted more, and thank you to our wonderful writers and producers for giving us the most thoroughly brilliant, gripping and heart-rending episodes.”

Tim Leslie, Vice President of Amazon Instant Video in the UK, teased: “The third instalment of the show is set to be grittier and more exciting than ever and we can’t wait to bring it to our customers first this autumn.”

Speaking exclusively to CultBox earlier this year, Ripper Street writer Toby Finlay revealed: “If you saw the end of the second series, you’ll know that pretty much every major character was in some way devastated by the events which came to culmination. All I’ll say is that the third series begins some four years after that.”

Are you looking forward to Series 3? Let us know below…