To set foot in London’s East End in the Victoria era was to enter a dangerous, dirty world. A combination of twisting streets, bad sanitation and the city’s poorest residents made for a potent stew – and was the home of the city’s spectacularly violent boxing scene.
It’s also this world that forms the basis of Steven Knight’s latest TV series, A Thousand Blows. Set during the 1880s, it tells the story of Hezekiah, an immigrant from Jamaica (Malachi Kirby) who heads to London with the dream of starting a new life -- only to find himself sucked into the orbit of retired boxer Sugar Goodson (Stephen Graham).
