“It is suddenly like a marriage being broken”

Jerome Flynn, star of BBC One’s period drama Ripper Street, has confirmed the BBC has decided not to renew the Victorian crime drama following poor ratings.

The Whitechapel set drama, stars Matthew MacFadyen and Adam Rothenberg alongside Jerome who plays Sergeant Bennet Drake. MyAnna Buring and Charlene Mckenna are also amongst the cast with Being Human star Damien Molony who joined the second series.

During an interview with BBC London 94.9, Flynn said: “We found out this week that the third series of Ripper Street isn’t going. We’re all in shock.

“It was up against I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! and that’s been cited as one of the reasons in terms of viewing figures.

“We’re all in absolute shock because it’s a wonderful job and we feel like it’s kind of this unfinished work. So we’re hoping it will turn around if anyone from the BBC is listening.

“There’s these wonderful storylines which Richard (Warlow) and Toby (Finlay), the writers, have marked out and it’s one of the most captivating characters I’ve played and also been part of in terms of the story, so it is suddenly like a marriage being broken,”

A BBC spokeswoman said: “We are very proud of Ripper Street which has enjoyed two highly ambitious series on BBC One. 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.”

The final episode of Ripper Street will air on BBC One on Monday, 16th December at 9pm.