Gangs of London

Gangs of London launched on Sky Atlantic in April 2020 with nine episodes and was one of Sky's most-watched original commissions that year, drawing over 2.2 million viewers per episode in the UK. It was developed by Gareth Evans and Matt Flannery, the writer-director and cinematographer of The Raid (2011) and The Raid 2 (2014), Evans's Indonesian action films, which had become cult reference points for action cinema around the world. Gangs of London was the pair's first long-form television commission and their first major UK production.

Joe Cole (known for Peaky Blinders) and Sope Dirisu lead the cast, with Lucian Msamati, Michelle Fairley, Paapa Essiedu, Pippa Bennett-Warner and Asif Raza Mir in major roles. Flannery shot it, and Jude Poyer, Evans's regular fight coordinator, oversaw the action choreography. The fights were what everyone talked about: a single take of over six minutes through a butcher's shop, a long pub sequence with mounted weapons, and a siege, all built on the long-take action grammar Evans had worked out in Jakarta.

The series ran for three seasons through 2025 on Sky Atlantic and, in the U.S., on AMC's Plus streaming service. It was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Series in 2021 and won several Royal Television Society awards. It now turns up in academic writing on contemporary urban crime television alongside Top Boy, Peaky Blinders and The Wire.