Steven Knight devotees know that he’s currently hard at work on the Peaky Blinders movie, which began filming this week. We don’t know when Tommy Shelby and his fam will grace TV screens again as set in World War II, but before Cillian Murphy is swaggering through Small Heath again, Knight’s mind has already produced another gangster series that has finished production on a first season. After all, if the man who embodies Tommy can have multiple projects coming at once, so can one of his key collaborators.
A Thousand Blows will, much like Peaky Blinders, be based upon the lives and times of a historically reigning gang with what sounds like realer-life figures (sorry, Tommy Shelby, but you weren’t real) central to the story. As Knight describes in a press release, this new series “is based on the lives of real people who lived extraordinary lives in extraordinary times.” He added, “The love and care that went into this thrilling production is evident on screen from the first moment,” so let’s unfurl that old-new gang and what to expect.
Plot
A Thousand Blows springs from screenplays written by Knight, who created and executive produces the series that presents characters “embroiled in an epic fight for power in Victorian London.” More specifically, the show is “set in the perilous world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London,” and if you are thinking about a certain Peaky Blinders boxing match, you are not alone.
Essential to that endeavor in this series will be Stephen Graham, who will surely keep everybody thinking even more about Peaky Blinders, although his new character will be quite different than his disarming (to Arthur Shelby) Hayden Stagg. Hulu has released some photos of key characters, but first, Hulu has provided a series description:
Malachi Kirby [stars] as Hezekiah Moscow [who] finds himself thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End from Jamaica. Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the thriving boxing scene, he meets Mary Carr, played by Erin Doherty, leader of The Forty Elephants – the notorious all-female London gang – as they battle for survival on the streets. As Hezekiah sharpens his new skills, he comes up against Sugar Goodson, played by Stephen Graham, a seasoned and dangerous boxer and the two are soon locked into an intense rivalry that spills out way beyond the ring.
A few more new stills:
Cast
In addition to Stephen Graham, Malachi Kirby, and Erin Doherty in their aforementioned roles, the cast will include the following:
– Francis Lovehall as Alec Munroe, best friend to Hezekiah
– Jason Tobin as Mr Lao
– James Nelson-Joyce as Edward “Treacle” Goodson
– Susan Lynch as Jane Carr
– Gary Lewis as Jack Mac
– Adam Nagaitis as the Earl of Lonsdale
– Daniel Mays as William “Punch” Lewis
– Tom Davis as Charlie Mitchell
– Robert Glenister as Indigo Jeremy
The Forty Elephants members will be portrayed as follows:
– Hannah Walters as Eliza Moody
– Morgan Hilaire as Esme Long
– Darci Shaw as Alice Diamond
– Nadia Albina as Verity Ross
– Jemma Carlton as Belle Downer
– Caoilfhionn Dunne as Anne Glover
Release Date
A Thousand Blows will arrive in 2025 on Hulu in the U.S. and on Disney+ in several other countries.
Trailer
We should see a teaser trailer soon, but for now, let’s relive Stephen Graham making his entrance in Peaky Blinders as Hayden Stagg.