A Thousand Blows

Set in London in the 1880's it is apt that this Historical drama that includes Jamaican immigrants, one of which is fluent in Chinese, who become boxers, both bare knuckle and the gloved noble art variety, the forty elephant all female gang of robbers, they really existed too, and small time hoodlums, one played superbly as always, by Stephen Graham, as it is without any doubt on a par totally with Taylor Sheridan's 1883. Stephen Knight's story and characters are also on a par with his characters in SAS Rogue. But whether they will become as iconic as his Peaky Blinders characters, only time will tell.

Great program gets you reeled in . Definitely one of best at the moment. Lots of great performances with twists and turns throughout the whole series . Short and sweet with only 6 to watch so doesn't feel like it's been dragged out to the death . The characters could do a tweak here and there but sure that's down to getting to know them and been introduced to each of their roles . Hope a second series comes up . Would like to see more of The pub characters eg the brother , punch and the Tom Davies part . Plenty to like and more to love about this showcase of London in a different time of Victorian England.

A Thousand Blows is a Hulu original series based off the real life stories of a group of people battling for survival in the most brutal part of East London in the 1880's. Two best friends, Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) and Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall) on the rum from Jamaica find themselves thrown into the criminal world of London's bare-knuckle fighting scene. As Hezekiah continues to win and find fame and fortune, he attracts the attention of the Queen of the Forty Elephants, Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), who then works with Hezekiah to further her criminal empire. Then there's the boss of the East End boxing world, Sugar Goodson (Stephen Graham), who is determined to destroy Hezekiah because he's threatening everything Sugar has built. What happens next is a battle between the two of them. This is one of the early surprises of 2025 so far.

I ended up enjoying A Thousand Blows much more than I expected to. I've been looking forward to it ever since I first saw the trailers. I'm a fan of this genre so I was going to give it a chance no matter what. It ended up not only meeting my expectations but exceed them. This series is created by Stephen Knight, the same guy who created great shows like Peaky Blinders, See, Rogue Heroes, All the Light We Cannot See, etc. The writing is very good but what makes this series work so well is the acting. The three leads, Malachi Kirby, Erin Doherty and especially the ridiculously underrated Stephen Graham are what makes this series a must watch. Graham is such a good actor, you might know him from Boardwalk Empire, Peaky Blinders, Gangs of New York, The Irishman, Band of Brothers, Taboo, Pirates of the Caribbean, Bodies, Venom and so many other great movies/shows. He was great in all of those. I can't say enough about what an underrated actor Graham is. If you're a fan Stephen Knight's other work then give this a chance... I promise you won't be disappointed.

Stephen Graham just keeps knocking out these dark, gritty roles that he pulls off really well. Binge watched this series tonight after watching the trailer on tiktok over the last week or so.

The main characters are engaging, you find yourself cheering for the "bad guys" more often than not to get out of situations and scenarios they have found themselves embroiled within.

Glad to see its been renewed for a season 2 and look forward to seeing what other stories are in the pipeline. It has a peaky blinders feel to it that i didnt realise how much i'd missed. I'd definitly recommend giving it a watch.