On the ropes

Seconds out... Victorian boxers Stephen Graham and Malachi Kirby face a bruising return to the East End

- SEAN MARLAND

Stephen Graham smiles as he casts his mind back to the time he spent immersed in a world of Victorian bare-knuckle boxing while filming hit Disney+ drama A Thousand Blows.

The Emmy-winning actor met up with TV&Satellite Week on set to talk about his return to Steven Knight's gritty gang drama set in London – and the Adolescence star can't wait for people to see the next chapter.

'A Thousand Blows is a fictitious story, but many of these characters actually existed and Steven has woven real historical events into the piece brilliantly. It's a beautiful tapestry,' he tells us. 'It's honestly a dream job to work on. You should see the sets – I haven't seen anything like it since Gangs of New York.'

The six-part second season takes us back to the East End during the 1880s, where Graham's character, real-life brawler Henry 'Sugar' Goodson, is down on his luck.

As we rejoin the story, Sugar has been living on the streets for a year after beating his brother 'Treacle' (James Nelson-Joyce) to a pulp in their tavern, The Blue Coat Boy.