"Ripper Street: Season One"

Another recommendation and lo & behold, from the very first minute I not only loved this one but suddenly realized what was so wrong with the previous TV series: this is British TV show. Which means that "The Killing" had this particular cookie cutter, mass-produced feel to it - we have seen shows like this time and time again, another crime, another detective search but this one is European production so it has completely distinguishing quality.

First of all, it is a period piece set in Victorian London - precisely in poorest slums of East London bursting with immigrants, criminals, beggars, prostitutes and what was basically a twilight society. Everybody wears historical costumes, which gives a show a decisive, unreal feeling so even though we are dealing with crime & murders, we are in the world of Charles Dickens and not CSI forensics. Police detectives wear old-fashioned, bushy moustaches and sideburns, ladies are buried under the layers of Victorian clothes (hats, petticoats, gloves), children run around with bare feet. Yes, it is crime story - hence the title, hinting at the most famous murderer of the day, Jack the Ripper - but most of the time Jack the Ripper is just mentioned as a threat and not really part of the story. Each episode had different story and what connects them are three main characters (police detectives) and their wives/girlfriends that we see each time. It is almost unspoken but the main character here is East London itself, from the very beginning one of the very poorest areas of town, place of nasty smelling and low paid jobs, poverty, orphans, place where locals often took justice in their own hands, the part of town where aristocrats and high society (like Oscar Wilde) went only for fun & adventure (just like in 1920s wealthy New Yorkers visited nightclubs in Harlem for kick of forbidden fruit). This time I am not disturbed by neither crime or violence because it is not realistic and everything is set in particular historical period, perfectly re-created and fascinating to watch. Of course it makes you wonder what kind of live you would live in society like these - classes were so sharply divided that majority of people worshipped every penny and would (and were) commit any crime for it. The sheer abundance of everything we have today - food, clothing, comforts of all sorts - were beyond the reach of people back than, who struggled to survive in overcrowded town. Fascinating.