VOD News | On 11, Oct 2025

Disney+ has officially renewed A Thousand Blows for a second season, and we won’t have to wait long for the drama’s next bout, with Season 2 set for a January 2026 release.

Created by Steven Knight, the series is 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 (Malachi Kirby) and Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall), best friends 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 (Erin Doherty), 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 (Stephen Graham), determines to destroy Hezekiah whose ambitions to fight in the West End threaten everything he has built. What ensues is a battle of the old world against the new.

“A cracking cast and swaggering style make this Victorian bare-knuckle boxing drama a knockout romp,” we wrote in our review of Season 1.

Fans can expect more plots of revenge, scheming, and redemption as Malachi Kirby (“Small Axe”) returns as Hezekiah Moscow, reuniting with Erin Doherty (“Adolescence”) as Mary Carr, and Stephen Graham (“Adolescence”) as Sugar Goodson. One year later, Hezekiah’s a shadow of the man he once was whilst Sugar Goodson is estranged from his family and drinking himself to death. Just as Wapping is about to sigh its last breath, Mary Carr bursts back into town with her loyal second, Alice Diamond, to reassemble her gang and reclaim her crown. As always, Mary has a plan; one which will involve all those she holds dearest. And this time it’s riskier than ever.

Returning cast for Season 2 also includes James Nelson-Joyce as Edward “Treacle” Goodson, Darci Shaw as Alice Diamond, Hannah Walters as Eliza Moody, Nadia Albina as Verity Ross, Morgan Hilaire as Esme Long, Jemma Carlton as Belle Downer, Caoilfhionn Dunne as Anne Glover, Jason Tobin as Mr. Lao, Susan Lynch as Jane Carr, Daniel Mays as William ‘Punch’ Lewis, Gary Lewis as Jack Mac, Aliyah Odoffin as Victoria Davies, and Robert Glenister as Indigo Jeremy.

Ned Dennehy and Catherine McCormack join the ensemble cast for Season 2 as Bull Jeremy and Sophie Lyons respectively.

You can see them in action on 9th January, when all six episodes arrive on Disney+ UK at the same time.

 

Trailer: Stephen Graham stars in Disney+ drama A Thousand Blows

18th January 2025

Stephen Graham is heading to Disney+ next month, and a new trailer gives us a first look at the period boxing drama A Thousand Blows.

The six-part series is set in the perilous world of illegal boxing in 1880s East London. Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) and Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall), best friends 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 (Erin Doherty), 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 (Stephen Graham), determines to destroy Hezekiah whose ambitions to fight in the West End threaten everything he has built. What ensues is a battle of the old world against the new.

From screenwriter Steven Knight, and starring and executive produced by Graham, the episodes are also written by a group of new voices including Ameir Brown, Insook Chappell, Harlan Davies and Yasmin Joseph. The series is directed, and executive produced by Tinge Krishnan and Nick Murphy, alongside Ashley Walters and Coky Giedroyc.

The series premieres on Disney+ UK on 21st February. Here’s the trailer:

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