Ripper Street season 4 recap: Five key plot points as season 5 starts on BBC

The fourth season of the Whitechapel-based drama opened in 1897, the year Queen Victoria celebrated her diamond jubilee with Edmund Reid (played by Matthew Macfayden) giving up detective work. 

The detective inspector has moved to the beach with his daughter Mathilda (Anna Burnett), who was found alive in season three after she went missing before the show began. 

But, when Deborah Goren (Lucy Cohu) turns up urging him to return to H division he is pulled back to East London to investigate the murder of a rabbi. 

Edmund Reid returns to Whitechapel

Despite finally finding peace with his daughter at Hampton-On-Sea, Reid returned to Whitechapel to investigate the murder of a rabbi for which acclaimed scientist Isaac Bloom (Justin Avoth) had been incarcerated. 

Debrah Goren who pleaded with him to re-open the case, was certain that Bloom had been wrongly convicted and wanted to prove his innocence. 

His return was met with disapproval but he worked tirelessly on the case. Later in the series, Thomas Gower (Jake Mann) was found stabbed in the streets of Whitechapel and his post-mortem hinted that he sustained injuries similar to those of the victim of Bloom. 

The identity of the real murderer is still unknown at the end of season four – will Reid be able to finally close the case?

Homer Jackson helps Long Susan escape from prison

Long Susan (MyAnna Buring) was incarcerated when it was revealed that her attempts to have a legitimate business resulted in a train derailment and multiple deaths. 

She faced death by hanging but Jackson (Adam Rothenberg) was determined to save her so that she could raise their son Connor with him. 

Dr. Carlyle Probyn (Ed Hughes) offered the former army surgeon advice on how to help her escape by faking her death. 

She headed to the gallows and could be seen being hanged but once she was taken to her grave, Jackson cut her out of the bag she was to be buried in and it was revealed that she had survived. 

Rose and Bennet Drake take custody of Jackson’s son Connor

Following Susan’s incarceration, Rose (Charlene McKenna) suggested to her husband Bennet Drake (Jerome Flynn) that they take custody of Connor (Kye and Kahl Murphy) and raise him as their own. 

While Drake was initially surprised by the suggestion, the couple finally invited the youngster into their home. 

But Rose’s plan didn’t go too well when she struggled to bond with their newly adopted son and was even more distraught when she learned that Susan had escaped her fate.

At the end of the series, Susan and Jackson are forced to go on the run – will they reunite with their son in series five?

Bennet Drake is killed by the ‘Whitechapel Golem’

In the dramatic season finale, Drake and Reid hunt down the Whitechapel Golem, a serial killer who has been causing trouble across East London by ripping their victims apart. 

The duo were convinced that Augustus Dove (Killian Scott) was somehow implicated in the case when they found he was one of two young boys attacked by wolves whilst travelling from their Jewish community with the murdered rabbi. 

They hunted down both Dove and his brother Nathaniel (Jonas Armstrong) who headed to underground tunnels to hide but they were separated.

Drake confronted Nathaniel and they viciously fought, but the detective was bitten on the neck, which mortally wounded him and he died in the arms of Reid, Jackson and Susan.

Reid, Susan and Jackson go on the run

Immediately following the death of Drake, the trio found that they were wanted by the police for the murders across Whitechapel. 

Furthermore, Dove found Theodore Swift (Ian McElhinney) dead and lying next to a message which read: “Edmund Reid Did This.”

Reid, Susan and Jackson are forced to go into hiding to give them time to plan on how they can prove their innocence and reveal the truth about Dove and his long-lost brother. 

Ripper Street returns to BBC Two on Monday at 9pm. 

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