New BBC Series “Copper” Focuses on Five Points Era of New York

Let’s face it – the Brits (i.e. BBC) have some of the best, most forward-thinking original programming on the planet.  So much so, that us Yankees try to import the television concepts stateside and wind up squandering the premise.  Remember the short-lived Life on Mars?  Exactly.

Now the Beeb is knee-deep in a new period crime drama based on the oft-romanticized lore of 19th Century Gotham city.  Copper, as the freshman series is known, focuses on the historical sweet-spot of the “Gangs of New York” era. According to recent press materials, the series centers on the character Kevin Corcoran (played by Tom Weston-Jones), an Irish-immigrant cop who works the beat of the Five Points.

COPPER is a gripping crime series set in 1860s New York City, and centers on Kevin Corcoran, an intense, rugged Irish-immigrant cop working the city’s notorious Five Points neighborhood. Corcoran is struggling to maintain his moral compass in a turbulent world, while on an emotional and relentless quest to learn the truth about the disappearance of his wife and the death of his daughter. His friendship with two Civil War compatriots – the wayward son of a wealthy industrialist and an African American physician who secretly assists Corcoran with his work – takes him to the contrasting worlds of elegant Fifth Avenue and rural Harlem. The three men share a secret from their experience on the battlefield that inextricably links their lives forever.

From top down, Copper boasts quite the production pedigree.  The show itself was created by Tom Fontana (Oz, St. Elsewhere) and Will Rokos (Monster’s Ball, Southland); co-executive producers include Barry Levinson (Good Morning, Vietnam, Rain Man) and Christina Wayne, President of Cineflix Studios (Mad Men).  However, the Five Points will be recreated in Toronto…

This image has been archived or removed.

The series premieres on BBC America sometime in the summer of 2012.