Season 1
Copper is an American period drama television series created by Tom Fontana and Will Rokos which revolves around Kevin Corcoran, an Irish immigrant policeman trying to keep the peace in the historical Five Points neighbourhood in 1860s New York City while searching for information on the disappearance of his wife and death of his daughter.
It explores the aftermath of the American Civil War as well as the social stratification involving New York's aristocracy and African American population.
The series aired in the USA on BBC America from 19 August, 2012 to 22 September, 2013. There are 23 hour-long episodes in two seasons.
Copper originally aired in South Africa on StarSat's (formerly TopTV) FOX FX channel from 15 October, 2012 to 3 February, 2014. It later aired on FOX Crime (DStv and StarSat). See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 1 originally aired on FOX FX from 15 October to 17 December, 2012, on Mondays at 20h30. New episodes broadcast weekly.
Season 1 premiered on FOX Crime on Tuesday 4 March 2014, at 21h25. New episodes broadcast weekly. There are 10 episodes in the first season.
Season 1
From Academy Award winner Barry Levinson and Emmy Award winner Tom Fontana, Copper is a gripping crime drama series, set in 1864 New York City, filled with intrigue, corruption, mystery and murder.
Kevin Corcoran (Tom Weston-Jones), an Irish-American former boxer turned cop, returns from the Civil War to find his wife missing and his daughter dead. Corcoran seeks justice for the powerless in the notorious immigrant neighbourhood of Five Points.
Bonded by battle to two Civil War compatriots – the wayward son of a wealthy industrialist and an African-American physician who secretly assists the forensic investigations – Corcoran is thrust into the contrasting worlds of elegant and corrupt Fifth Avenue, and the emerging African-American community in Northern Manhattan.
The three men share a secret from the battlefield that inextricably links their lives forever.
Most of Copper's action takes place in the teeming Irish immigrant neighbourhood of Five Points, but the series also frequents the Upper East Side/Fifth Avenue mansions of the aristocracy and the emerging neighbourhood of Harlem, founded by New York's burgeoning African-American population.
Copper features well-crafted, close-ended police investigation mysteries with twists, turns and surprises. Set in the 1860s, plot lines relating to the Civil War permeate the series while it also explores themes of power, politics and race in a country and community wrestling with rapid social change.
Kevin Corcoran, played by Tom Weston-Jones (Spooks), is a rugged and confident Irish cop who patrols the streets of Five Points and tries to follow his moral compass despite the blunt realities facing his turbulent community.
Each week, we join him on his emotional and relentless quest to learn the truth behind the disappearance of his wife and the death of his daughter.
Sharing a unique friendship with two men from two different walks of life who fought with him in the Civil War, Corcoran must navigate the contrasting worlds of Fifth Avenue and Harlem.
Corcoran's compatriot and friend Morehouse, played by Canadian Kyle Schmid (Blood Ties, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants), is the son of a wealthy New York industrialist residing on Fifth Avenue; Freeman, another veteran, is an African American physician/forensics expert who lives in Harlem and is not afraid to question white authority.
Rounding out the cast are leading ladies Anastasia Griffith (Royal Pains, Damages), as the sophisticated and spirited Elizabeth Haverford and Franka Potente (The Bourne Supremacy, Run Lola Run) who plays Eva Heissan, a shrewd businesswoman and the Madam of Eva's Paradise.
The series is created by Tom Fontana (Oz, Homicide: Life on the Streets, St. Elsewhere) and Will Rokos (Monster's Ball, Southland).
Among the executive producers are Barry Levinson (Good Morning Vietnam, Rain Man), Christina Wayne (Broken Trail and executive in charge of Mad Men), Fontana and Rokos.
Seasons
Season 1 (10 episodes)
Channel: FOX FX | Premiere: 15 Oct 2012 | Finale: 17 Dec 2012 | Mon, 20h30
Channel: FOX Crime | Premiere: 4 Mar 2014 | Finale: 6 May 2014 | Tue, 21h25
Season 2 (13 episodes)
Channel: FOX FX | Premiere: 11 Nov 2013 | Finale: 3 Feb 2014 | Mon, 20h30
Channel: FOX Crime | Premiere: 13 May 2014 | Finale: 5 Aug 2014 | Tue, 21h20