‘Ripper Street’ gets a third season, thanks to Amazon

The Victorian-era detectives of “Ripper Street” have been granted a stay of execution, thanks to Amazon, which ordered a third season of the BBC series that had been canceled last year.

The online retail giant announced the new eight-episode season as part of the launch of its Amazon Prime Streaming Video service in the United Kingdom. The third season will stream on Amazon in the United Kingdom before it airs on BBC One, where the first two seasons aired.

BBC America, a co-producer of the series, will air the new season after it has aired in the United Kingdom on BBC One. Currently, Amazon does not have streaming rights for the show in the United States.

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This is the first time Amazon has saved the life of a series previously canceled on cable TV. Its rival in the online streaming entertainment space, Netflix, has gained notoriety for picking up extra seasons of fan favorite programming, including a new season of “Arrested Development” last year, a fourth season of the previously canceled AMC drama “The Killing” and the final season of the animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.”

“Ripper Street” stars Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg and MyAnna Buring and follows the cases of the H Division police precinct in London’s Whitechapel neighborhood in the direct aftermath of the Jack the Ripper killings.

The new season will begin filming in May of this year for a 2015 premiere.

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