“A lot comes out about his past,” Flynn says of Drake. “He's this wounded boy from the lower class who had a broken childhood, and he's got a lot of demons he picked up from then and from fighting in Egypt in the war. So he's in battle with those parts of himself, and yet there's a real heart to the man, which gets melted by women.”
Flynn’s character has a particular affection for Reid that is tested both by Reid’s attachment to the American Jackson (whom Drake has a great disdain for) and the ghosts of his past rearing their less-than-savory heads.
“He had a Colonel from the army who he served and was extremely loyal to who comes back and tries to get him to cross over to the other side of the law,” Flynn says. “Inspector Reid has become a new father figure, so Drake has got really split loyalties. A lot of the soldiers, as they are now, come back having fought for their Kingdom and risking their lives and are not being looked after, and many end up on the street. A lot of the homeless, as today, come from the army, so that falls on him. He has to face these things that have been festering in him, and what he saw and what he went through in Egypt. As well as the fact that he's fallen in love with this prostitute and he's putting all of his eggs in that basket and setting himself up for a big fall. She kind of plays him along and uses him a bit. It's sad.”
All of the characters will be dealing with unfolding tales of woe, it seems.
“Reid has a painful journey,” Macfadyen says. “He has a lot of anger and sadness that he's bottled up to do with his family, and that's sort of revealed.” Reid has made a “huge error” with his daughter, who has gone missing, and must play that out over the series. There are hints that her disappearance may have something to do with the Ripper, but Macfadyen promises that the series will never offer a trite and manufactured “Ripper reveal.” Jack was never caught, and the premise of the show is to explore how his specter haunts the police and the East End community.
“Also, Jackson's background is fascinatingly dense; there are things that he's hiding from Reid,” The actor says. “Reid really likes him and wants him on his side. He doesn't really care that he's a whoring, untrustworthy American. He just thinks him brilliant. Drake and Jackson, on the other hand, hate each other from the get go. It becomes extremely problematic as the series goes on.”
READ MORE:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/01/26/matthew-macfadyen-and-game-of-thrones-jerome-flynn-talk-ripper-street?abthid=51033677da590bf35100001b
