Irish actor Kevin Ryan’s US cop series ‘Copper’ has been renewed for a second season after it received the highest ratings ever for a BBC America series debut.
The series, which aired its season finale in the US on Sunday, is the first scripted series for BBC America. The station has now ordered 13 more episodes for a second season.
Kevin Ryan, who Irish audiences may know from RTÉ series ‘Raw’, plays Detective Francis Maguire in the show that follows Irish emigrant cops as they police the streets of 19th century New York. ‘Spooks’ actor Tom Weston-Jones also stars.
The series averaged one million viewers per week in the US, and gained Dublin-born Ryan a talent deal with top agency ICM Partners as well as a management deal with Mosaic.
Irish-themed dramas are hot property in the US right now, with HBO series ‘Boardwalk Empire’ based on Irish emigrants living in Atlantic City, and FX series ‘Sons of Anarchy’ featuring a number of Northern Irish characters residing in the US.
Perry Simon, general manager of channels at BBC Worldwide America, said: “Copper has proven to be a perfect fit for the channel.”
‘Copper’ is produced by Cineflix Studios, and was created by Tom and Will Rokos. Season two will return to US screens in 2013.
