BBC cancels Ripper Street after ratings trouncing

UK pubcaster the BBC has cancelled Ripper Street before the end of its second season after ratings took a tumble up against tough competition from ITV’s I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.

The Tiger Aspect-produced crime drama series, set in Victorian London, was been chopped “to make room for creative renewal”, the BBC said in a statement.

The BBC One show was comprehensively beaten by ITV’s revitalised reality series I’m a Celebrity…, scoring 3.2 million in its most recent episode against the 8.8 million its rival took. In the US, it runs on BBC America, which coproduces the show with Tiger Aspect and UK indie Lookout Point.

Ripper Street actor Jerome Flynn (pictured above left) first revealed the news on BBC radio yesterday and said the cast and production team were “in shock”. He urged BBC’s commissioning team to reconsider.

There was also public backlash on Twitter, where Endemol-owned Tiger Aspect told followers: “It is very disappointing but we are touched by all the wonderful support fans are expressing.”

Internationally, distributor BBC Worldwide has shopped the series to channels including Fox in the Netherlands, MNet in South Africa, Space in Canada, NRK in Norway and Network Ten in Australia. In July, BBCWW singled it out as a key performing title.