Sean Bean swaps swords for guns as Liverpool gang boss in new British
crime drama This City is Ours
From ancient Westeros to the mean streets of modern-day Liverpool, veteran British actor
Sean Bean (best known to South African audiences as “good guy” Ned Stark in Game of
Thrones) stars as a gang leader in the gritty new crime series This City is Ours.
This much-anticipated epic crime drama is set to premiere in the UK in the British spring,
and South Africans can look forward to seeing it on our screens in the near future.
Two-time BAFTA-winning actor Sean Bean (Time, Broken) plays Ronnie Phelan, a Liverpool
gang leader who, for years, has been successfully bringing cocaine into the port city from
Colombia. When Ronnie starts hinting at retirement, his friend and fellow gangster Michael
Kavanagh (Liverpudlian actor James Nelson-Joyce – Bird, A Thousand Blows) also begins
to imagine another life far removed from organised crime.
This change of heart is because for the first time in his life, Michael is in love – but then
again, as Shakespeare said, the course of true love never did run smooth (especially in the
criminal underworld!).
Ronnie’s son Jamie (Jack McMullen – Hijack, Ford v Ferrari) has his sights set on inheriting
their criminal kingdom and modernising the gang – and is prepared to battle Michael for
control of it. But Michael’s biggest battle will be to save Diana (Hannah Onslow – Empire of
Light, This Is Going to Hurt), the woman he loves, and the child he has always yearned for.
This City is Ours is an engrossing story of unlikely love, set against the disintegration of a
criminal gang. Set and filmed on the streets of Liverpool, it’s a powerful tale about family,
and about love destroyed and corrupted by ambition, pride and greed. Much like Game of
Thrones, it’s a cautionary tale about power: what people will do to secure and keep it.
Bean, also known for his illustrious roles in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Troy and countless
other films and TV series, heads up a strong cast with a distinctive Liverpudlian flavour. This
adds authenticity to this eight-part series that the Liverpool Film Office says highlights
“Scouse talent” and is a boost to the local economy.
Look out for appearances by Laura Aikman of Gavin & Stacey fame, Derry Girls’ Saoirse-
Monica Jackson and Julie Graham from Shetland as Elaine, who heads up the Phelan crime
family alongside her husband Ronnie.
Created and written by Stephen Butchard (The Good Mothers, The Last Kingdom, Five
Daughters), and co-directed by BAFTA award-winner Saul Dibb (The Salisbury Poisonings,
The Sixth Commandment), John Hayes (Nightsleeper, Dublin Murders) and Eshref
Reybrouck (Undercover), This City is Ours is distributed globally by Sony Pictures
Television. Watch this space for SA release dates!