Sadface. The lads and lasses of BBC's Ripper Street won't be back on the streets of Dublin filming next summer (as they had been for the past two years). In fact, they won't be back at all because the BBC has only gone and cancelled the period drama.
A spokesperson for the British public service broadcaster told Digital Spy that they had decided to pull the plug on the popular series, featuring Matthew Macfadyen, MyAnna Burling and our own Charlene McKenna. "We are very proud of Ripper Street which has enjoyed two highly ambitious series on BBC One," they said. "However, the second series didn't bring the audience we hoped and in order to make room for creative renewal and new ideas it won't be returning."
Ratings for the series have dropped significantly when compared with Season 1 but we can't help but wonder if that's most likely because Season 2 tends to go head to head with I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! of a Monday night? We guess there's something about the 'slebs in the jungle that the viewing public just can't resist.
Anyway, we think it's an almighty shame that the Beeb have given the boys their marching orders, but sure here's hoping they come back fighting with even bigger and better dramas, eh? In the meantime, who wants to come and amuse us next summer? The cast of Boardwalk Empire perhaps?
