Bold opener: A hidden gem in the TV landscape shines just as brightly as its more famous peers, and you’re likely missing it.
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This year brought audiences a raw, unflinching one-shot drama series called Adolescence, led by Emmy-winning star Stephen Graham and produced on a level that nods to the prestige of Netflix’s famous single-take approach. Yet another title earlier in the year shares much of the same creative DNA and arrives with similar intensity. Graham not only stars but also serves as a co-producer, and the project was brought to life by Steven Knight—the mastermind behind Peaky Blinders—which helps explain the shared, hard-hitting vibe.
Enter A Thousand Blows, a historical drama from Knight that travels further back in time to London’s East End. The story centers on Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby), a Jamaican immigrant who lands in London and quickly gets drawn into the city’s gritty, underground world of bare-knuckle boxing. As with classic underdog sagas, Moscow’s toughest adversary is the undefeated champion—Sugar Goodson, a powerfully built figure portrayed by Stephen Graham—who perceives a real danger in the young challenger. Yet what sets the series apart is a parallel narrative that runs alongside the main ring action, delivering an even more gripping and surprising arc.
A Thousand Blows is a show about fighters and thieves.
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If you cast your mind back to Adolescence, you might recall one standout episode where Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) sits down with psychologist Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty). Though that performance came in a single episode, it drew widespread critical praise. In A Thousand Blows, Doherty’s talents are given even more room to shine. She portrays Mary Carr, the real-life head of The Forty Elephants, an all-female criminal gang that ruled London in the 1880s as exceptionally skilled pickpockets.
Graham and Kirby direct their rivalry on screen, but Doherty steals every scene with the command she brings to Mary Carr. In Knight’s universe—following in the footsteps of Peaky Blinders and Taboo—it's refreshing to see a female character become a driving force rather than a mere romantic foil, even as a romance brews between Hezekiah and his world. With such compelling personalities and intriguing historical layers, A Thousand Blows invites viewers to step into its ring with confidence.
A Thousand Blows Season 2 premiered earlier this year
Hulu
It’s heartening when a show arrives with the ambition to continue, and A Thousand Blows delivered with a Season 2 launch on Hulu and Disney+ on January 9. The new episodes deepen Sugar Goodson’s battered, stubborn resilience while keeping the action brisk and the stakes high.
Now that Adolescence has earned well-deserved awards recognition, Graham’s other bruising, hard-edged series may finally find the broader audience it previously missed. That silence was never a reflection of quality. A Thousand Blows remains a standout period drama, balancing intense fight choreography with grounded performances and a convincing sense of time and place.
Would you consider this lesser-known counterpart a stronger entry in Graham’s body of work, or do you prefer the more widely celebrated projects? Share your thoughts in the comments.
