Steven Knight and Stephen Graham have reunited again for A Thousand Blows, Disney's new boxing drama set in Victorian London.
It turns out that Graham was instrumental in the initial idea behind the new show, with the Peaky Blinders boss revealing to Digital Spy what inspired the series.
"Stephen Graham contacted me with the idea of the Hezekiah Moscow story, the story of two friends who come to London from Jamaica in the 1880s," Knight explained ahead of the release of A Thousand Blows.
"And the hero, Hezekiah, with a desire to become a lion tamer, then becomes a boxer. And I did some research into the real story, because it was a real person, and it was absolutely fascinating."
The creator went on to share that he had "wanted to tell the story of the Forty Elephants for a long time", explaining that they were "a gang of all-female burglars and thieves who actually did operate in London at that time".
"And I just felt it was possible to bring those two true stories together and see what happened," he added.
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Knight also shared that the crew built a reconstruction of 1880s London as part of the set, which he said was like walking "into a time machine".
As the place could actually be inhabited, the immersiveness really helped to make everything feel real, he said.
A Thousand Blows' leading cast includes Graham, who plays East End boxing legend Sugar Goodson, Malachi Kirby (who takes the role of Hezekiah Moscow) and Erin Doherty (who plays the character of Mary Carr of the Forty Elephants).
Daniel Mays (Moonflower Murders, Code 404) and Hannah Walters (Boiling Point, Whitechapel) also star. Matriarch Productions, which is an entertainment production company founded by Stephen Graham and Hannah Walters, played a key role in the series.
A Thousand Blows will release on Disney Plus on February 21, 2025. A second season has already been confirmed.
TV Editor, Digital Spy Laura has been watching television for over 30 years and professionally writing about entertainment for almost 10 of those. Previously at LOOK and now heading up the TV desk at the UK's biggest TV and movies site Digital Spy, Laura has helped steer conversations around some of the most popular shows on the box. Laura has appeared on Channel 5 News and radio to talk viewing habits and TV recommendations. As well as putting her nerd-level Buffy knowledge to good use during an IRL meet with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laura also once had afternoon tea with One Direction, has sat around the fire pit of the Love Island villa, spoken to Sir David Attenborough about the world's oceans and even interviewed Rylan from inside the Big Brother house (housemate status, forever pending).
