BBC1 is turning to Victorian crime drama with a new series set in Jack The Ripper’s East End – just months after the controller said there had been “too much crime” on the station.

Channel bosses have ordered an eight-part series set in 1889, during the aftermath of the unsolved Whitechapel murders.

Earlier this year BBC1 controller Danny Cohen said BBC1 was at risk of having too many male detectives and crime.

Ripper Street will be set in the Metropolitan Police’s H Division, the section of the force keeping order on the crime-ridden streets targeted by the notorious serial killer.

It has been created by writer Richard Warlow who has worked on series such as Mistresses and Waking The Dead. The BBC said the drama examines “the characters trying to recover from the Ripper’s legacy”.

Mr Cohen said: “Ripper Street is a gripping new drama for BBC1.

“Set against the backdrop of a fevered historical London, I be-lieve it has the quality and intensity to be a hit with BBC One viewers.”

Filming will begin in the spring.