Ripper Street is back on BBC One this summer for a third season.
The eight new episodes star Matthew Macfadyen as Detective Inspector Reid, Jerome Flynn as the newly promoted Detective Inspector Bennet Drake, Adam Rothenberg as Captain Homer Jackson, and MyAnna Buring as Long Susan.
> Buy the Season 1-2 boxset on Amazon.
> Order Season 3 on DVD on Amazon.
Episode 1: ‘Whitechapel Terminus’
Friday 31 July 2015, 9pm
1894 – Four years have passed since Det. Insp. Edmund Reid bayed for Sgt. Bennet Drake to end the life of Jedediah Shine. Four years that have seen the crime-fighting axis of Reid, Drake and Cpt. Homer Jackson split and sundered. Drake has left London for Manchester to become the policeman – and man – he felt he could no longer be in Whitechapel. He is an Inspector himself now.
Jackson has reverted to the man Reid plucked out of the Tenter Street brothel, a two-penny, sawbones, clap-doctor. And Reid… Reid has succumbed to his own shame and isolation, policing Whitechapel with a level of forensic detail and dedication that leads Chief Insp. Fred Abberline to fear for his old friend’s mental well-being.
Meanwhile, Long Susan has made good on her threats to both Captain Jackson and the dying Silas Dugan – she has separated from her husband and taken command of Duggan’s criminal empire and turned it into a legitimate property empire of huge philanthropic ambition. But such aspirations are costly. The burden of which is born by Ronald Capshaw, her loyal but scheming solicitor.
All of this – resentments, fears, ambitions – is soon forgotten, however. Two trains collide on the newly constructed bridge above Leman Street. A catastrophe – those engines and their dead – which falls into Reid’s world and demands explanation. His pursuit of that cause is to reunite him with Drake and Jackson and set him on his own collision course with his past and with the secret crimes of Long Susan and Ronald Capshaw.
Episode 2: ‘The Beating of Her Wings’
Friday 7 August 2015, 9pm
A routine murder inquiry into the death of a woman in a curiosity shop reveals links to Obsidian Estates, the burgeoning East End property empire overseen by Long Susan and her scheming lawyer, Ronald Capshaw.
As Reid begins to understand the moral compromises Susan makes to build the philanthropic side of her business, however, the discovery of a barred underground cellar beneath the floorboards of the shop shifts his focus. Jackson’s grudgingly given expertise reveals that the now missing inhabitant of the dungeon was a teenage girl, a girl who had been kept there for many years.
Fred Best, meanwhile – bereaved of his lover by the terrible locomotive disaster – has been conducting his own investigation into that terrible event and shares his discoveries with Reid.
But Reid’s focus is absolute now. The ghosts of his past have been stirred back to life by the thought of this missing girl. His search for her will lead him back to Obsidian and Long Susan, and to the reawakening of both his greatest shame and greatest hope.
Episode 3: ‘Ashes and Diamonds’
Friday 14 August 2015, 9pm
Chief Inspector Abberline asks Drake to take over the helm of H Division. But Drake is far from keen to preside over his friend’s desk.
The mysterious death of a clairvoyant takes a reluctant Drake, Jackson and PC Grace into a world of devious charlatans capitalising on the grief of a sorrowful community. Further questions arise when Drake and Jackson meet one of the clairvoyant’s grief-stricken clients, who unlocks the heart of a deceptive scheme.
Meanwhile Drake seeks solace in arms of an old flame. But is she willing to risk her engagement to become a simple bobby’s wife?
Capshaw alerts Susan to the smoking gun they are holding and convinces her that the situation must be dealt with.
Episode 4: ‘Your Father, My Friend’
Friday 21 August 2015, 9pm
As a lost girl wanders the dangerous streets of the East End alone, The hunt for the traumatised and vulnerable girl grows more frenzied when reports arrive that she’s been ‘befriended’ by a renowned and iniquitous pimp. While there are still questions to answer about the death of Horace Buckley, the team of H Division unites to locate the girl.
Jackson confronts Dr Frayn over her involvement in concealing the young girl, and it is her words which lead the team back to the haunting case of Jack the Ripper – the unsolved mystery which started this perilous journey for them all. Could this lost girl’s footsteps enable ghosts of the past to be laid to rest?
Tangible proof to bring Capshaw to justice finally arrives, but Capshaw and Long Susan aren’t willing to forgo everything they’ve worked so hard for without a fight.
Detective Inspector Drake must try to find his old friend Edmund Reid and bring them to justice.
Episode 5: ‘Heavy Boots’
Friday 28 August 2015, 9pm
Ripples of shock reverberate around the laneways of Whitechapel as Detective Inspector Reid lies unconscious and on the precipice of death. While Drake and Jackson grapple to cope; a destructive gang of youths sense a moment of weakness within the police force, and unleash chaos upon the streets. It is not until daylight breaks that the true horror of their brutal work is revealed, causing Inspector Abberline to step in and lead the charge once again.
Long Susan, meanwhile, has managed to convince the world her solicitor Ronald Capshaw was solely responsible for the train crash, and was the fiend who shot Inspector Reid. Thankfully, the cancer of her organisation has been eradicated and she is hailed as a hero for saving Reid. But the truth lies uneasily with her – what if he should survive?
The trail leads the team into the heartland of one of city’s oldest trades – the London Breweries. And while the Black Eagle has provided the ale supped by the city for generations, times are changing. The young apprentices fear for their futures, and grief and anger are a potent concoction: one which young Constable Grace is forced to taste.
But Drake and Jackson must suppress their grief – the policemen of H Division must rise up from the ashes and join forces to put paid to such destruction and wrath…for no crime goes unpunished on the streets of Whitechapel.
Episode 6: ‘The Incontrovertible Truth’
Friday 4 September 2015, 9pm
The dark and corrupt streets of Whitechapel are witnessing a new breed of tourist; one from the higher realms of society wanting salacious entertainment. Yet Lady Montacute’s curiosity means she now stands before the men of Leman Street charged with the vicious stabbing of a local woman. But what truly occurred in that frenzied, bloody room?
Lady Vera may come from a life of privilege and wealth, but it is one occupied with abject ennui and a loneliness which can easily consume any poor soul. War, her husband Lord Montacute understands. But there is more pain and bitterness felt across their marital bed than on any battlefield.
Vera has sought a means of liberation and she is renowned in elite circles. The streets of Whitechapel and this ‘city of dread delight’ have bestowed for some time a foreign and titillating fascination to Lady Montacute. It is here where she seeks gratification on a regular basis, and it has been fellow suspect, Tom Denton, who has helped her to fulfil those desires.
But with the weight of the authorities due to bear down on them at first light, the squad has only a meagre few hours to unearth the true culprit. Before justice is overturned.
Meanwhile, the men still believes Capshaw shot Reid on that fateful day, but how long can the lie persist? When will they realise the deceit woven by Long Susan? Unbeknownst to them all, a vital piece of evidence could be quietly sitting in the depths of Leman Street itself…
Episode 7: ‘Live Free, Live True’
Friday 11 September 2015, 9pm
The murder of a chemist leads the team into the shadowy underworld of illegal abortionists, and the desperate women of Whitechapel forced to use their brutal services. But the ghastly backstreet abortion racket they expose conceals a nefarious secret with far-reaching ambitions.
Dismayed at yet another helpless victim in her clinic, idealistic Dr Frayn believes there is more she and Long Susan could do to help the women of the East End. But her desires to modernise the practices at Obsidian Clinic involves new techniques she doesn’t fully understand – with risks which could be perilous for all parties.
Meanwhile, when one of Long Susan’s business ventures is on the cusp of ruination, she realises she needs to regain control – despite the patriarchy’s attempts to undermine her every effort. Desperate times may just call for ingenious measures…
Episode 8: ‘The Peace of Edmund Reid’
Friday 18 September 2015, 9pm
Fred Best collaborates with an American journalist on an exclusive story, but when the writer is viciously murdered in the alleyways of Whitechapel, Best realises the peril he now courts. With his explosive report threatening to ruin the reputations of vengeful and authoritative figures, Best has to decide if the story – and justice – is worth pursuing this time.
Long Susan also has to contend with a shocking revelation, and a phantom from her past who returns to exert their control. But with her business empire and her positive accomplishments slipping through her fingers like grains of sand; Susan is entrapped into a perilous position.
Meanwhile, the team of H Division inch ever closer to the truth about the train robbery and pursue those responsible. But the revelations carry some disturbing home truths, and life altering choices which have to be made.
> Order Season 3 on DVD on Amazon.
> Buy the Season 1-2 boxset on Amazon.
Watch the Season 3 trailer…
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