Sky Atlantic's British gangster drama starring The Lazarus Project's Paapa Essiedu and Peaky Blinders' Joe Cole is now available to watch on Netflix.
Gangs of London's debut kicks off with the murder of crime boss Finn Wallace. His recent assassination leaves the once-powerful Wallaces scrambling to regain control of the streets of London from enemies who strive to fill the vacuum Finn's death leaves behind.
Cole stars as Sean, Finn Wallace's eldest son, who is tasked with stabilising the Wallace empire and unmasking his father's killer, while Essiedu plays the role of Wallace ally Alex Dumani.
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The hard-hitting thriller debuted in 2020, attracting an audience of 2.23 million over seven days for its first episode and becoming Sky Atlantic's second-biggest original drama launch.
It was followed up with a second season in 2022 and has been greenlit for a third season, which is currently in production.
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The show's extremely violent tone has garnered mixed reaction. A few years ago, Paste's review said that the "grotesque ultra-violence... serves no real purpose and completely annihilates any investment in the story".
On the other hand, The Guardian felt that the "explicit" brutality is not mindless, but rather a way of bringing the story to life in a palpable way.
Speaking to Metro, creator Corin Hardy broke down his reasoning behind Gangs of London's grisly tone.
"It's part of the show's DNA," he said. "You're existing in a world of criminals. Everyone in gangs is a criminal, and there is something interesting to watch where you can relate to the characters because they are family members."
He continued: "There's this quandary of, 'Can you have a life of family and crime in a big way? Can you make that work?'
"It comes with sacrifices, and it comes with dilemmas, and those dilemmas spill into becoming involved in some kind of violence."
"I personally like to explore that in a lot of detail in a cinematic way. That can be visual and can be thrilling."
"It might be a bit gruesome at times, but it's also propelled by these characters and their relationships and their emotions and survival [instinct]."
Gangs of London seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream now on Sky, NOW and Netflix
TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
