A Thousand Blows

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.

The sets, scenery and costumes are fantastic even the actors who are some of my favourites especially Erin Doherty and Stephen Graham, however something felt off with this series? Not because I'm expecting it to be peaky blinders, absolutely not it's, it's own show, but it felt far too disney if that makes sense? The writing/directing mainly and this doesn't reflect the actors. I guess this is meant to be the part characters are simply introduced to build upon the storyline they've given us as the preview they've shown at the end looks more gripping! I just hope that's the case as I really want to like this more. I just found myself slightly underwhelmed at present.

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.

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.

I don't always enjoy costume drama, but this one is definitely one to watch. Stephen Graham didn't disappoint! He is made for this role. What an amazing performance from his end.

I also loved how the crime syndicate displayed is one with women. Erin Doherty is perfect for the role of Mary Carr.

Throughout great acting, good script and the locations are spectacular. I suspect AI is used for some scenerys but it is done well in this case. I guess what ever keeps the production coats down and free budget for other things like great actors is a plus !

Cliffhanger in the end, meaning there will be a second season and I will definitely watch it.