The New Hulu Series Every Peaky Blinders Fan Needs To Watch

If you were ever wondering what a blank check earned off the success of a show as popular as “Peaky Blinders” can buy you, the answer is a new streaming series as thrilling and well-crafted as “A Thousand Blows.” Creator Steven Knight, the prodigious screenwriter behind movies such as “Locke,” “Spencer,” and the recent biopic “Maria,” could’ve gone in any number of directions after crafting the Cillian Murphy-starring story about a gang of criminals making their way up from the slums of Birmingham to the very seat of power in early 1900s England. The fact that he chose to stay in roughly the same lane, this time set in 1880s London and following a gang of female thieves crossing paths with a pair of aspiring boxers from Jamaica, is precisely what makes this next effort so intriguing to watch. Write what you know, the old adage goes, and Knight has somehow managed to put a uniquely fresh stamp on material that could’ve felt old and stale by now. The results are as invigorating as any of the highest highs of “Peaky Blinders.”

If it wasn’t already apparent by now, “A Thousand Blows” makes a bulletproof case for why fans should be willing and able to follow Knight wherever he goes next. Other than the great character actor Stephen Graham (who plays the hulking main antagonist of the series, Henry “Sugar” Goodson), the ensemble cast is made up of relative unknowns who are nonetheless perfect in their roles. The hard-hitting subject matter of an illegal boxing ring and the griminess of Industrial-era London makes it easy to imagine Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes in the background of any given scene, putting the moves on some overmatched opponent and smiling while he does so. Make no mistake, however: This is miles better than either of Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock” movies — and several degrees grittier and more clever, too. 

And as viewers get sucked into this incredibly well-realized world overflowing with colorful characters and compelling backstories, they’ll understand a simple truth. For those craving the same feeling that “Peaky Blinders” delivered year in and year out (and will hopefully achieve once again with the upcoming Netflix movie), your search is at an end with the boxing drama at the heart of “A Thousand Blows.” Here’s why.

First impressions only come once, but luckily “A Thousand Blows” delivers one that sets the tone for everything that’s to come in the season’s six total episodes. Any new series has to figure out a way to reel in viewers with an opening scene that establishes what’s at stake, who our main characters are supposed to be, and what we can expect moving forward. In creator Steven Knight’s and his creative team’s hands, the Hulu series finds the most ideal way into this world of righteous thieves, immigrant boxers, and a tiny biosphere in the middle of London that feels like the most important place in the entire world.

Once we’re introduced to our main point-of-view characters Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) and his childhood friend Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall), fresh off the boat from Jamaica and intent on starting a whole new life for themselves in the most bustling city in the Western world, it takes little time at all to realize they’re on a collision course with an all-female criminal gang known as the Forty Elephants, led by the indomitable Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), that could stand toe-to-toe with any of the Peaky bleedin’ Blinders themselves. The series admirably decides to foreground the blatant racism and prejudice two such figures would’ve inevitably had to endure, but the real magic comes in the thematic underpinnings that bring Hezekiah and Alec into contact with Mary and her underestimated cohorts (including Jason Tobin as Mr. Lao, a Chinese national who plays an impressively key role in the plot) — arguably the only people in that stinking, festering dump of a city who could possibly understand what they’re striving against every second of every day.

What could’ve been a series about little more than an underground boxing ring and the unusual collection of rabble profiting off the literal blood, sweat, and tears of its fighters instead takes on far deeper layers. All of these individuals, in one way or another, are considered the dregs of society as a result of their class, the color of their skin, or their sex. By throwing them together into one expectation-defying melting pot, “A Thousand Blows” feels vital and urgent in a way few shows ever do.

If all that isn’t enough to grab you by the collar and throw you in front of your nearest screen, may we direct your attention to what may go down as one of 2025’s greatest and most complicated TV villains? Stephen Graham anchors “A Thousand Blows” as the intimidating Henry “Sugar” Goodson, a heavyweight brawler with a build that would even make Tom Hardy’s Bane in “The Dark Knight Rises” think twice and an utterly unpredictable demeanor to match. Essentially the local kingpin of this little world, Sugar wields considerable influence over Mary and her Elephants. Unfortunately, he also serves as gatekeeper to the promised land where Hezekiah and Alec ultimately need to go. Linked by trauma and tragedy (though not all of them would ever admit this), the motley crew that makes up the cast of the series all have more in common than not, which lends an incredibly effective sense of momentum to this relatively brief season. And, at the center of it all, Sugar acts as an agent of chaos who’s as fiercely loyal to his closest allies as he is utterly ruthless and bloodthirsty against his opponents — both within the ring and without.

All of this adds up to one of the most talented, well-cast ensembles in any recent television show and a wonderful array of potential for each and every character. Fueled by a lively, energetic score by Federico Jusid and never a single dull frame by the cinematography team of Milos Moore, Catherine Derry, and Rasmus Arrildt, “A Thousand Blows” instantly stands out as a series well worth your time and investment in a streaming era with, frankly, more choices than most even know what to do with. Be warned, the season builds to a climax that will leave you desperate for more … though, intriguingly, not before ending with a brief teaser of completed footage for what certainly looks like a second season (which has already been greenlit). We’ll be waiting with fists at the ready for wherever this story takes us next. We have a feeling you will be, too.

All six episodes of “A Thousand Blows” are now streaming on Hulu.