Amazon Prime Instant Video has signed a landmark deal that secures the immediate future of Ripper Street, the popular BBC drama previously dropped by the broadcaster.
The former Lovefilm streaming service will premier a third season of the Victorian crime drama with the BBC receiving later broadcast rights. Amazon also has exclusive rights to the first two seasons.
“We’re delighted to have secured not only the highly popular first two seasons of Ripper Street for our Prime Instant Video customers, but we can also confirm today that we will making season three, news that we know will delight the millions of fans of this brilliant British drama,” said Jason Ropell, Head of Amazon Instant Video International Content Acquisition. “Prime Instant Video offers our customers the largest subscription streaming service in the UK with over 15,000 popular movies and TV episodes, many of which are exclusive to the service, and we’re just getting started.”
Ben Stephenson, the BBC’s Controller of Drama Commissioning, added: “This is an exceptional opportunity to bring back 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, ensuring that the BBC can also commission an entirely new, yet to be announced drama series.”
Ripper Street follows the notorious H Division, the Police Precinct charged with keeping order on the meanest streets imaginable: late Victorian Whitechapel. It is a series of one-hour thrillers that transport audiences into the dark heart of London as it stumbles toward the Twentieth Century.
The series will continue to be co-produced in the US by BBC America. It will be distributed globally by BBC Worldwide. Filming will begin in May 2014
