Signed

I share the strength of feeling about this sad and unbelievable news.

The ratings are a result of poor scheduling and not a TRUE reflection of the potential of this one of a kind drama. OR of public opinion - which has not been taken into account! The best and most extraordinarily high quality period TV drama and the BBC are throwing it away? It is a jewel of a thing, unique and exceptional, and yet, lesser dramas who will not go up against 'I'm a celeb' will be left to continue?

Had the BBC given Ripper Street a fairer chance by actually PROMOTING it themselves rather than giving up after about the second episode..maybe then it would have stood better chance up against IAC.

The saddest thing about this for me is... the writers and creators and actors are only finding out now so they had no chance to write and ending for the show, the proper ending they could envisage if they had to do an ending at all, and the ending Ripper Street and we deserve(s).

I've signed two petitions now and have reblogged both on tumblr and retweeted like crazy.  BBC siting ratings is an excuse in my opinion.  They stopped promoting it and the ratings slipped.  Self fulfilling prophecy.  This show has a much larger audience that Being Human and the outrage in the media and social networks has been very clear.  Let's hope we can make a difference this time.  Regardless of Damien being in it, there really are very few quality programmes out there.  The intensity and emotion, the thought provoking topics, the insistence on not compromising on the language and violence that depict a better more accurate picture of those times is to be applauded and I wouldn't be surprised at all if it wins awards.  For BBC to cancel it is a travesty and I think a slip into more and more mindless programmes.  I wont have anything to watch pretty soon!

I'm a bit confused though. Two petitions is not a good idea as it'll split the wealth of feeling; I think we need to pick just one and stick with it...the one I signed, which I think is the one Domino has linked, is the bigger (it had 2000 sigs when I signed this morning) so that should be the one we should be promoting.

There is if people don't know which to sign. Not everyone is as invested as we are in terms of news and things and people won't sign two; they'll think, well I've signed and that's it. Plus it gives a fractured response to the Beeb, esp if they only see the lower signed petition. It just feels like we need to be joined up if we want anything to happen, although I suspect nothing we do will change their mind, just not enough support generally...we'd need hundreds of thousands of signatories for an about turn unfortunately.

I'm sounding like the harbinger of doom there aren't I? I suppose I'm just trying to be realistic about this...

I agree with you kat, multiple petitions risk diluting the impact of the message, but it is an indicator of how strongly people feel about Ripper Street and that they are willing to take action to hav their opinions heard.

There is one other petition I would urge forumers to sign, from none other than Mr Barcroft who runs the fabulous H Division @RipperStreet twitter account. It is also worth reading what he has to say:

Commission Ripper Street For a Third Series or a One-off Special | Sign the petition

I agree with this because even a one off special would give the show a chance for a proper ending, which as I have said is possibly the things that saddens me the most.

 

 

Also this quick to do Poll via the Radio Times:

Should the BBC Have axed Ripper Street? | Vote in the poll

Glofigs, the top petition has 2,294 signatures!

I have to agree with PradaKat's opinion that to sway the BBC, there has to be hundreds upon thousands of signatures. Having been a veteran of the cancellation of Angel several years ago as well as Being Human earlier this year, unless there's a surge of support OR, miracles upon miracles, the BBC are genuinely surprised by the support for the show and relent, i fear nothing will work. I will however hold a little bit of hope for fan power.

I guess i'm more angry at the fact that the BBC schedulers messed this up, the show suffered and they just shrugged their shoulders and went 'oh well' I can imagine that every show in the 9pm slot at BBC1 the last couple of weeks have lost viewers. As i said before, commission another series, put it back in its original slot in it's original time frame and IF the ratings suffer still, then fair enough. I understand that it's expensive to make but wow, every moment watching it has been worth it. There is nothing like this on television, the use of authentic language is one of the reasons it stands out and it sickens me to my stomach that the BBC see the reality tv ratings of other channels and shows such as Ripper Street are sacrificed to this stupid panic. I know i don't run a television station and don't know the first thing about scheduling but for God's sake, someone must've had a clue somewhere when finding somewhere to slot Ripper Street. They are idiots if they didn't.

And i do believe if BBC America hadn't jumped the gun to announce an early December US broadacast date (and haven't they since postponed it?) then we would have been looking at a January/ February transmission date and probably wouldn't be having this conversation. But they did and i think BBC1 scrabbled around to look for a transmission date before the proposed US one and everything backfired. It's infuriating. 

-- Edited by rubyrosettared on Thursday 5th of December 2013 02:37:23 PM

It's particularly annoying because, I believe, The Paradise has been recommissioned for a third series, which is in a Sunday slot and, don't get me wrong it's OK, but it's no Ripper Street. It's just a relaxing wash over you type of drama, which is just a little dull really...and, I bet, costs the same as RS, if not more because they have a lot of props and things - but fewer sets I suppose.

It is galling and I do think it should have had a third series at least and then be cancelled, but I think it's a victim of its own hype in some respects. So much press was around the "violence to women" angle, that some people elected not watch, even though shows like Silent Witness (Series 17 I believe now!) still get decent figures.

Just grrrr...

I have just seen that Radio Times has acknowledged that Ripper Street came top of the viewers poll. I thought they were going to ignore it!

Radio Times article