Axed BBC drama Ripper Street resurrected by Amazon for new series

Victorian crime drama Ripper Street, which the BBC cancelled in December, will make a return to screens via Amazon’s VOD service.

17:22 27 February 2014

BBC drama Ripper Street, which was cancelled in December due to poor ratings, is set to make a comeback to the screen via Amazon’s video on demand service. Aside from commissioning a third season for its Prime Instant Video Service, Amazon also acquired the UK subscription streaming rights of the first two series of the show.

Meanwhile, the BBC will continue to make a contribution to production costs of the new season, while other broadcast partners – including BBC America and the Irish Film Board – will remain on board as part of the new arrangement.

The new series will be produced by Tiger Aspect and Lookout Point. The filming will start in May.

Ben Stephenson, the BBC's controller of drama commissioning, said: "This is an exceptional opportunity to bring back Ripper Street for a third series by working with the right partners.

"This deal gives fans another series of the show they love at excellent value to the licence fee payer."

Due to outpouring of support from social media, it is expected that similar deals of its kind will follow for fan favourite shows that don’t quite manage to recoup their high production costs.