Phew. What an hour that was.

This week, BBC One’s Ripper Street seriously upped its game, powering through the penultimate episode like a runaway steam engine – and in the process, leaving behind a whole host of casualties, including (sob) one major fatality.

Chocked full of everything that makes this series a cut above your normal Sunday evening fare, Ripper Street’s seventh episode, ‘A Man of My Company’, was far and away the best of the series so far.

We opened with the arrival in London of American shipping magnate Theodore Swift (Ian McElhinney) and his gang of lackeys, led by the ominously named Frank Goodnight (Edoardo Ballerini).  In town to do business, Swift’s arrival suspiciously coincided with the washing up of a body in the docks.

After a little investigation Inspector Reid (Matthew Macfadyen) and his team discovered that the murdered fellow in question was an engineer by the name of Fanthorpe, who was working on a sophisticated new engine for a floundering cruise company. Reid, sly devil that he is, quickly grasped that the murder was most likely carried out by a business rival looking to ensure the break up of the company.

But, of course, that’s not the whole picture. Because, as established before we even got to the credits, Swift and his men – in particular, Goodnight – had a rather large bone to pick with our man Homer Jackson (Adam Rothenberg), and, by extension, Long Susan (MyAnna Buring). And that’s not even the half of it.

Once again, Ripper Street proved its ability to tangle together multiple strands, ensuring neat little twists and turns every ten minutes.

Intricate plots aside, the real strength of Ripper Street is its characterisation. There’s a grubby, bloody cynicism to everyone involved that feels completely authentic. Early on in the episode, reporter Best (David Dawson) lost an ear at the hands of Goodnight, and all for the sake of a good news story.

Far from resenting his sleazy ambitions, though, we feel as though he – alongside all the other characters – is fighting tooth and nail to survive, to preserve the little that he has in a world that is constantly threatening to pull him under.  And, crucially, we’re genuinely rooting for everyone to stay afloat, whatever their past misdemeanours.

Thus, although we lost a series regular at the hands of Goodnight this week, perhaps the most heartbreaking moment was when the relationship between Jackson and Susan was finally revealed. Some years ago, the pair met and fell madly in love, leading both to go to extreme lengths to escape America and ensure a happy life together.

The irony being, of course, that both gave up everything, only for their love to go rotten in the face of constant threat and the realisation that perhaps they weren’t so perfect for one another after all.

Poignantly, in this week’s best scene, both recognised that – despite all that – it was worth it for the few happy months they shared together. It’s moments like this, which are balanced entirely upon the believability of the characters, that make Ripper Street a cut above your normal crime drama.

There are certainly plotholes, easy contrivances and moments of cliché within this series but, in its best moments, Ripper Street is as sharp as a backstreet barber’s blade. We’re just crossing our fingers that next week’s finale doesn’t disappoint.

Aired at 9pm on Sunday 17 February 2013 on BBC One.

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