Stephen Graham, Malachi Kirby, and Erin Doherty lead an intense drama inspired by a true story of boxing and crime.
Plot: Inspired by the true life stories of a group of characters battling for survival in the brutal East End of London in the 1880s. Hezekiah Moscow and Alec Munroe, best friends on the run from Jamaica, find themselves thrust into the criminal underbelly of London’s thriving bare-knuckle boxing scene. As Hezekiah finds fortune and fame through the art of pugilism, he attracts the attention of the infamous Queen of the Forty Elephants, Mary Carr, who sets about exploiting his talents to further her criminal enterprise. Meanwhile the menacing and self-declared emperor of the East End boxing world, Sugar Goodson, determines to destroy Hezekiah whose ambitions to fight in the West End threatens everything he has built. What ensues is a battle of the old world against the new.
Review: Steven Knight has a very broad resume of projects ranging from post-apocalyptic sci-fi (See) and co-creating Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? to Charles Dickens adaptations (A Christmas Carol) and World War II action (SAS: Rogue Heroes). Knight’s most recognizable project is his British period crime drama Peaky Blinders, a pop culture phenomenon since debuting in 2013. Some of Knight’s subsequent series have followed the Peaky Blinders template, none more than his new Victorian-era drama A Thousand Blows. Reuniting with some veterans from prior projects, Knight has taken another unique look at a popular setting for films and series, presenting it from a unique perspective rarely used on screen. Based on real historical figures and presented with a brutal, violent, and sexy style, A Thousand Blows changes period dramas forever with a blend of sports, crime, and historical fiction.
A Thousand Blows opens in the late 19th Century with the arrival of Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) and his best friend Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall). Hezekiah promises a job as a lion tamer, and the pair quickly comes into contact with Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), leader of the all-female gang known as the Forty Elephants. Mary leads complex schemes and plots from her home base in London’s seedy East End, mainly from a hotel run by Mr. Lao (James Tobin). As Hezekiah and Alec search for a way to make money, they are enticed to step into the bare-knuckled boxing world, where they face off with Treacle Goodson (James Nelson-Joyce) and his notorious older brother, Sugar Goodson (Stephen Graham). As Hezekiah’s skills become apparent, the conflict rises between him and the Goodsons while balancing with Mary Carr and the Forty Elephants plotting their biggest capers to date.
The six episodes that comprise the first season of A Thousand Blows chronicle the rise of Hezekiah’s fame as a fighter and how that clashes with those he encounters through the East End. The series provides a balanced narrative of the boxing side of things, focused on both Hezekiah and Sugar Goodson, two men on opposite ends of their fighting careers who clash for many reasons beyond the color of their skin. Stephen Graham has played many characters similar to Sugar, ranging from Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire to key roles in the Steven Knight series Taboo, Peaky Blinders, and A Christmas Carol. Graham portrays Sugar as a fundamentally flawed man whose decisions are bound to shock and surprise audiences. Malachi Kirby, a standout in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe, imbues Hezekiah with a powerful strength in his line delivery as much as in his physical presence in the ring. Graham and Kirby share some intense scenes together, including throwing punches, which builds a realistic tension between Hezekiah and Sugar that also factors in the other main character, Mary Carr.
Erin Doherty, best known for playing Princess Anne in The Crown‘s third and fourth seasons, steals every scene she is in as Mary Carr. As Queen of the Forty Elephants, we first meet Mary, a powerful presence who confidently rules over her gang and masks her own insecurities. But Mary is a brilliant strategist who comes up with plans that require her gang members, played by Ziggy Heath, Nadia Albina, Jemma Carlton, and more. The narrative focused on the Forty Elephants alone would have made for a fantastic drama series of its own. Still, the balance of the intertwined storylines gives us a broader look at the various ethnicities and genders stuck in the lower classes of London and looked at as degenerates and how they tried to rise above their social limits. Doherty, Graham, and Kirby all have substantial screen presence and complement each other through this series, leaving a lot of room for the supporting players to shine.
Steven Knight serves as showrunner on A Thousand Blows and scripted the series alongside Ameir Brown, Insook Chappell, Harlan Davies, and Yasmin Joseph. Directing duties fell to Ashley Walters, Dionne Edwards, Katrin Gebbe, Nick Murphy, Tinge, and Coky Giedroyc. The production values of A Thousand Blows rival any of the prior period dramas from Knight and show the investment from Disney in the series. A Thousand Blows airs on Disney+ internationally and Hulu domestically, a shift for Knight from his previous work with FX and Netflix. The look and feel of this series are as mature as possible without shying away from violence, profanity, or nudity. However, none of those are used as crutches, and they all support the historical accuracy of the storytelling. The boxing scenes are brief but choreographed well, with each bare-fisted punch landing hard and felt through the screen. From the opening credits and score by Federico Jusid, A Thousand Blows is very entertaining.
I am confident fans of Peaky Blinders will take to A Thousand Blows instantly. The series ends with a cliffhanger that teases the second season of six episodes filmed simultaneously with the first. The propulsive momentum of the series will leave fans wanting more, and I am hopeful the next six chapters will either wrap up the series worthwhile or pave the way for future chapters in this tale. A Thousand Blows opens up a world that may look familiar at first glance but is, in fact, full of layers we have never seen adapted for television or film. With Malachi Kirby and Erin Doherty making a mainstream debut that will surely garner them more roles in the future and Stephen Graham once again proving why he is such a solid character actor, A Thousand Blows will be a popular word-of-mouth hit that I hope connects with a larger audience.
A Thousand Blows premieres on February 21st on Hulu.
