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LONDON – The BBC has decided to cancel period crime drama Ripper Street amid declining ratings.
The show, which airs on BBC America in the U.S., will not return for a third season, a BBC spokesperson said Wednesday.
The crime drama starring Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn and Adam Rothenberg was set in 19th century England. The first season was set six months after the last Jack the Ripper killing.
“We are very proud of Ripper Street, which has enjoyed two highly ambitious [seasons] on BBC One,” the representative for the U.K. public broadcaster said. “However, the second [season] 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 season-two premiere of Ripper Street on BBC flagship network BBC One drew a smaller audience than the start of the first season, but its ratings were in line with the season-one overnight average of 5 million viewers, which rose to more than 7 million when including delayed viewing.
However, last Monday, the show drew only 3.3 million overnight. Competition from strongly performing ITV reality hit show I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! contributed to the declining ratings.
Email: Georg.Szalai@THR.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
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