Set in Whitechapel in 1889, Ripper Street follows Detective Inspector Edmund Reid and his team at H Division as they grapple with the brutal realities of crime, poverty, and social unrest in the East End.
Blending historical detail with fast-paced storytelling, the show combines procedural detective work with the personal struggles of its central characters, creating a dark yet compelling portrait of a city haunted by fear but brimming with resilience.
Where is the drama series Ripper Street filmed?
Despite being set in Whitechapel, in the East End of London, the show’s real-world filming locations have all been situated in the city of Dublin, Ireland.
Dublin Castle Up Yard – Photo by Donaldytong (Wikimedia Commons)
Due to the events surrounding Jack the Ripper having taken place during the late 1880s, it’s easy to see why the actual locations in London weren’t chosen by the show’s producers, due to them having now changed so much in appearance.
Instead, the former site of Clancy Barracks was used to recreate large sections of Whitechapel, giving the crew far greater freedom. Other key locations used to film Ripper Street include a prison turned museum, Kilmainham Gaol and Dublin Castle. Effectively, the Irish Capital provided producers with all the scenery and backdrops necessary to give viewers the feel of 1889 Whitechapel.
Series Overview
Ripper Street ran for five seasons across a total of 37 episodes, beginning with its BBC One debut in December 2012 and concluding with its final season released on Amazon Prime Video in 2016 before later airing on BBC Two. The series began life as a flagship BBC crime drama, but after its second season, it was not recommissioned due to falling ratings.
However, strong fan support and a deal with Amazon revived the show, giving it three additional seasons that allowed the story to reach its planned conclusion. In the UK, the first two series were broadcast exclusively on BBC One, while later seasons premiered on Amazon Prime Video before their eventual terrestrial broadcast on BBC Two.
At the heart of the drama was Detective Inspector Edmund Reid, played by Matthew Macfadyen, a principled but haunted policeman determined to bring order to Whitechapel in the wake of Jack the Ripper’s crimes. He was joined by Sergeant Bennet Drake, portrayed by Jerome Flynn, a loyal but conflicted enforcer whose own past shaped his sense of justice, and Captain Homer Jackson, played by Adam Rothenberg, a rough-edged American surgeon and former Pinkerton agent whose medical expertise often proved vital in investigations.
Meanwhile, Swedish-British actress MyAnna Buring starred as Long Susan Hart, a brothel madam and later businesswoman whose complex relationship with Jackson added further intrigue. Together, this ensemble anchored a drama that combined murder mysteries with broader themes of morality, corruption, and survival in Victorian London.
References: The Daily Mail