This City Is Ours, BBC One's new drama about "family and love destroyed and corrupted by ambition, pride and greed", has landed now as a box set on BBC iPlayer and is being screened on Sundays on BBC One.
Created by writer Stephen Butchard, whose previous work includes The Good Mothers, The Last Kingdom and Five Daughters, the eight-part series follows Michael, a drug-trafficker who reconsiders his life after falling in love.
Sean Bean (Game of Thrones) plays Michael's boss, gang leader Ronnie Phelan, who begins eyeing retirement just as a rival organisation prepares to attack. Ronnie is married to Elaine (Julie Graham). Julie tells us: "I'm a huge fan of Stephen Butchard, the writer, and even though it's about gangsters, what it’s really about is family, which we're endlessly fascinated by – it all comes down to loyalty, love and betrayal."
Michael (James Nelson-Joyce) dreams of following his boss and leaving his life of crime behind, but faces opposition from Ronnie's ruthless son Jamie (Jack McMullen), who doesn't want to share his father's criminal empire.
Set in Liverpool, the eight-part drama will be directed by Saul Dibb (Journey’s End, The Sixth Commandment) and produced by Simon Maloney (Time, I May Destroy You). Filming began in Liverpool and Spain in Spring 2024.
“This City is Ours is character-driven crime drama that demands to be seen," says Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama. "Stephen Butchard’s vibrant and propulsive scripts offer a new take on the genre, mixing power politics with the brutality of gang life. It’s drama at its most tense!”
Note we have recaps of each episode but of course, they contain spoilers!
Here's everything we know about the gangster drama...
This City Is Ours release date
This City Is Ours starts on BBC One on Sunday, March 23 2025 at 9 pm with all eight episodes now available as a box set on BBC iPlayer.
Episodes will also air weekly on Sundays at 9 pm on BBC One.
Sony Pictures Television will distribute the series internationally and we'll update with any US channel and air date.
This City Is Ours plot
A BBC statement reads as follows..
"This City is Ours is the story of Michael, a man who for all of his adult life has been involved in organised crime... but for the first time in his life, Michael is in love. For the first time in his life, he sees beyond the day-to-day, he sees a future: something to win and something to lose — Diana.
"The eight-part series tells the story of Michael and Diana's love affair, set against the disintegration of Michael’s crime gang. For years, together with his friend Ronnie, Michael has successfully been bringing cocaine into the City and beyond, directly from Columbia; but when a shipment goes missing, then he knows their Kingdom is under attack.
"The drama explores what happens when Ronnie’s son Jamie decides he wants to inherit their kingdom and that there is no longer a place for Michael at the table. Both Michael and Jamie have bold ideas to modernise the gang and they will battle for control of it. But Michael’s biggest battle will be to save the woman he loves and the child he has always wanted.
"This is a story about family and love destroyed and corrupted by ambition, pride and greed. It’s a story about power: what we will do to secure and keep it."
This City Is Ours cast
James Nelson-Joyce (The Family Pile) will lead the cast as Michael Kavanagh, while Jack McMullen (Hijack) plays his friend and Ronnie's son, Jamie. It's not the first time to the two actors from Merseyside have appeared alongside each other and co-starred in Time and Little Boy Blue.
Sean Bean, who plays gang boss Ronnie Phelan, also starred in Time (see below) and has also enjoyed a celebrated career on the big and small screen, including appearances in fantasy epics The Fellowship of the Ring and Game of Thrones. In recent years he's won an International Emmy for his role in Accused and BAFTAs for Time and Broken, both of which aired on BBC One.
Hannah Onslow (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, This Is Going To Hurt) will play Michael's girlfriend, Diana
This City Is Ours co-stars Julie Graham (Shetland) as Elaine, Ronnie's wife and family co-leader, Laura Aikman (Archie, Gavin & Stacey) as Rachel Duffy, Kevin Harvey (Treason, Time) as Bobby Duffy, Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Derry Girls, Upgraded) as Cheryl Crawford and Mike Noble (Shardlake, The Long Shadow) as Banksey
Elsewhere, Bobby Schofield (SAS Rogue Heroes, The Suspect) plays Bonehead, Darci Shaw (Judy, A Thousand Blows) plays Melissa Sullivan,and Stephen Walters (Slow Horses, Anne) plays Davy Crawford.
Is there a trailer for This Is Our City?
Yes! The trailer sees the drama unfolding as Ronnie realises he has a rat in his gang. You can watch below...
