Returning to Amazon Prime Video for its final season, Ripper Street brought back one of its most formidable antagonists – the terrifying Jebediah Shine.
Joseph Mawle reprised his part as Reid's amoral nemesis – having last played the character back in 2013.
"There was unfinished business as far as Shine was concerned, for sure," Mawle told Digital Spy. "But I had no sense that [a return] would happen, or come round at that time.
"It was a long time later obviously that the producer Will [Gould] kindly called and they thought it'd be fun to have him back."
Last seen engaging in a brutal boxing bout with Drake (Jerome Flynn), the spectre of Shine returned to haunt Whitechapel in the fifth and final season of Ripper Street.
Mawle told us that while he was satisfied with the character's final arc, he still feels that there's more to do with Shine.
"I think Shine is endlessly fascinating and there are a lot more places you could take him," he enthused. "For instance, it'd be amazing to explore his childhood, and what happened to him. I do not believe he's a psychopath. I do not believe he's a sociopath, I believe he's a product of his environment.
"I felt he was incredibly human, particularly this series, and that was the big difference from the first series he appeared in, where he felt he was immortal and a kind of God.
"This time, there are certain things that've happened to him that've created a very different person, and he feels very different about himself and his identity in the world."
In the intervening years between his two stints as Shine, Mawle took on roles in many other big-budget, high profile series – including Sense8 on Netflix and The Last Panthers on Sky Atlantic – and reprised another major part, returning to Game of Thrones as Benjen Stark.
"The scale of the work that goes into any of these shows is phenomenal and well beyond what most people would imagine," he said.
"Even if it's a kitchen-sink drama, there's a hell of a lot of work that goes into creating that kitchen sink!
"So whether it be I, Daniel Blake or whether it be Ripper Street or whether it be Game of Thrones, everybody's putting their all in.
"It is a real family, Ripper Street, and you get looked after incredibly well... and everybody is just bloody nice to be honest, so it's quite hard to be the brutal bastard every day on set. You have to fight against your desire to be part of the posse!"
The cast of Ripper Street – including Matthew MacFadyen and Jerome Flynn – hinted back in January that the show's fifth season would be its last, with Amazon confirming the news in March.
But while fans may be heartbroken, Mawle insists that ending the series now is absolutely the right decision to make.
"I think it's much better to leave everybody wanting a little bit more, and also to wrap it up the way you want to wrap it up.
"They got to finish the show they wanted, the way they wanted to finish it, and that was due to mass public support. It's amazing to be in a society now which can say, 'We want more of this!' - that's really exciting, I think. A little bit dangerous, but really exciting!"
The fifth and final season of Ripper Street is available to watch now on Amazon Prime Video.
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