At first glance, the BBC's ambitious drama Ripper Street could be mistaken for a British take on something like Deadwood. Yet the creative team behind Ripper Street are wiser than to try that, instead fashioning a taut mix of drama and mystery that more than carves out an identity of its own.

Ripper Street is set in 1889, and kicks off half a year after the last unsolved murder conducted by Jack The Ripper. Yet the Ripper's shadow looms large over East London, and the Whitechapel H division have the uneasy job of policing the district. It is, as you might expect, a dangerous job, one explored over eight episodes of this maiden series for the show.

Starring Jerome Flynn and Matthew Macfadyen, Ripper Street balances nicely between a grisly case to solve, and the ongoing development of its key characters, who somewhat inevitably are not short of shades of grey. Granted, there's a derivative feel to some of the drama, but the historical setting does add a sense that anything could happen here, and the show has its fair share of surprises and twists to keep you guessing.

It's wonderfully realised, with some excellent direction and production design evoking the period. And there's a little bit more going on under the surface here too than might be immediately obvious. A quality drama, and an excellent disc release. --Jon Foster