Brit Heavyweights Steven Knight, Stephen Graham Team for Disney+/Hulu Boxing Drama Series ‘A Thousand Blows’ (Exclusive)
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight and Peaky Blinders star Stephen Graham, two of the biggest and most respected names in British TV, are reuniting for a Disney+ U.K. original series set in the perilous world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London, The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.
With the working title A Thousand Blows, the 12-part series will premiere on Disney+ globally, Star+ in Latin America and Hulu in the U.S., and is being produced by The Story Collective in a co-production with Matriarch Productions and Water & Power Productions.
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Based on real-life figures and stories, the series will follows Hezekiah and Alec, two best friends from Jamaica who find themselves thrust into the vibrant and violent melting pot of post-industrial revolution London’s East End. Drawn into the criminal underbelly of the thriving boxing scene, Hezekiah meets Mary Carr, leader of The Forty Elephants — the notorious all-female London gang — as they battle for survival on the streets. As Hezekiah sharpens his new skills, he comes up against Sugar Goodson, a seasoned and dangerous boxer (played by Graham in his second stint as a pugilist after 2015 feature Orthodox), and the two are soon locked into an intense rivalry that spills out way beyond the ring.
A Thousand Blows is created, written and executive produced by Knight, whose screenwriting credits — alongside Blinders — also includes the likes of Spencer, Taboo and the upcoming series SAS: Rogue Heroes. As well as starring in the series, Graham — recently seen on TV in Help, Time (both of which landed him BAFTA TV nominations) and the sixth and final season of Blinders — will executive produce alongside Hannah Walters for Matriarch Productions, the company recently set up by the husband-and-wife duo (A Thousand Blows marks its first TV project). Also executive producing are Damian Keogh and Kate Lewis for The Story Collective, launched last year with backing from Endeavor Content, and Tom Miller and Sam Myer for Water & Power Productions, behind the recent Sony Classics feature The Phantom of the Open, starring Mark Rylance and Sally Hawkins.
“I’m really thrilled to be working on this project with Stephen as well as the very talented production team and group of writers,” said Knight, who leads a team of writers including Ameir Brown, Insook Chappell, Harlan Davies and Yasmin Joseph. “I always love to delve into untold history, and this is a story that really deserves to be told. We are recreating an amazing world and telling a remarkable true story.”
Adding some academic pedigree to A Thousand Blows, award-winning broadcaster and historian Professor David Olusoga — who gave the keynote MacTaggart Lecture at the 2020 Edinburgh TV Festival — will act as executive producer on the series. Meanwhile Tinge Krishnan, whose impressive list of TV credits includes episodes of WeCrashed, Mosquito Coast, Industry and Little America, will serve as lead director and executive producer. The original series is executive produced by Lee Mason, director of scripted content EMEA for Disney+.
“To be able to work with Steve again and the talented team of writers we have for this project is truly wonderful, and to tell the story of these incredible characters during this period of time in London is a joy,” said Graham, who earlier this year landed his first BAFTA film nomination, for the acclaimed one-shot kitchen drama Boiling Point, Matriarch’s debut production.
“Aside from having the privilege of bringing the role of Sugar Goodson to life, I am also extremely proud that Matriarch is co-producing this show whilst helping to create opportunities for people in front of and behind the camera, instilling the ethos of providing training within production that otherwise would be difficult for some to pursue as a career,” he continued. “‘Don’t count the days… Make the days count’ — Muhammad Ali.”
Added Disney+’s Mason: “It’s a privilege to work with this extraordinary group of talent, helmed by our fearless creator Steven Knight. A Thousand Blows tells a story that we rarely get to see on screen, and we are delighted to have the inimitable Stephen Graham and visionary Tinge Krishnan help bring this incredible world of richly diverse characters to life.”
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