In the grimy underworld of 19th-century London, a bare-knuckle boxer dreams of making a name for himself, while an all-female gang of thieves terrorises the West End. This is the world of Steven Knight’s vision of Victorian London A Thousand Blows, the latest historical drama from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, which lands on Disney+ this week.
Starring Stephen Graham, Small Axe’s Malachi Kirby, and The Crown’s Erin Doherty, the series is a brutal, fast-paced tale of Victorian London’s underground fight scene, entwined with the exploits of The 40 Elephants – a notorious all-female crime syndicate. While much of the drama is fictionalised, both the gang and the enigmatic boxer at its heart, Hezekiah Moscow, are rooted in real history.
