David Farnor | On 18, Jan 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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