Written by new-contact on Nov 6, 2014. Posted in On Location

Period crime drama Ripper Street returns for Dublin filming in third series

Victorian crime series Ripper Street returned to shoot its third season on location in Dublin, using the Irish capital as a stand-in for London. Filming locations included Clancy Barracks, Trinity College, Dublin Castle and Kilmainham Gaol, and the new series will be launched on 14 November.

Ripper Street was a BBC drama for its first two series but was then cancelled, before being rescued for a third season for online distribution on Amazon Prime Instant Video. It will be broadcast by the BBC early next year.

The show was supported by the Irish Film Board and has employed several thousand local cast and crew over the course of three seasons.

Dublin and its surrounding area is becoming something of a production hub for high-end TV dramas. Historical drama Vikings uses standing sets at Ashford Studios and was recently commissioned for a third series. Supernatural TV drama Penny Dreadful, created by Skyfall screenwriter John Logan, is based at nearby Ardmore Studios and, like Ripper Street, is also set in Victorian London.

Ireland offers a generous filming incentive programme which will be expanded and converted to a tax credit from next year. The government is also to consider increasing Ireland’s annual incentive cap, a move that would help broaden the country’s appeal to bigger-budget international shoots.

Earlier this year the upcoming sci-fi epic Star Wars: Episode VII spent several days filming on the remote island of Skellig Michael off County Kerry. The production recently wrapped its London-based shoot and now enters a long period of post-production to meet its release in December 2015.