‘This City Is Ours’

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Sean Bean To Play Gang Leader In BBC Drama Series ‘This City Is Ours’ From ‘The Crown’ Producer Left Bank

Sean Bean is to star as a gang leader in Stephen Butchard‘s epic Liverpool-set crime series This City is Ours [working title] from The Crown producer Left Bank.

The two-time BAFTA winning Game of Thrones alum will play Ronnie Phelan in the series, which will also feature James Nelson-Joyce (Bird, A Thousand Blows) as Ronnie’s friend, Michael Kavanagh, Hannah Onslow (Empire of Light, This Is Going to Hurt) as Diana Williams, Michael’s partner, and Jack McMullen (Hijack, Ford V Ferrari) as Ronnie’s son, Jamie Phelan. Also joining the cast are Laura Aikman (Archie, Gavin & Stacey) as Rachel Duffy, Kevin Harvey (Treason, Time) as Bobby Duffy, Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Derry Girls, Upgraded) as Cheryl Crawford, Mike Noble (Shardlake, The Long Shadow) as Banksey, Bobby Schofield (SAS Rogue Heroes, The Suspect) as Bonehead, Darci Shaw (Judy, A Thousand Blows) as Melissa Phelan, and Stephen Walters (Slow Horses, Anne) as Davy Crawford.

Created by Butchard (The Good Mothers) and directed by Saul Dibb (The Salisbury Poisonings), This City is Ours follows Kavanagh’s journey working with Phelan as he falls in love for the first time and sees in his future something to win and something to lose, which is set against the backdrop of the disintegration of his gang.

Bean’s previous BBC series was 2022’s Marriage opposite Nicola Walker. That same year he won a BAFTA for BBC prison drama Time. He also featured as Thomas Cromwell in Butchard’s Disney+ series Shardlake.

“It’s a joy to see cameras rolling on This City is Ours with a glorious cast who have made Stephen Butchard’s sublime scripts even more exciting,” said BBC drama boss Lindsay Salt.

The series was unveiled on a 12-strong BBC drama slate featuring another Left Bank series, Dear England, as the indie plots a Crown-less future. Speaking to Deadline in February, Left Bank boss Andy Harries said This City is Ours, which costs between £2.5M ($3.2M) to £3M ($3.8M) per episode and is being deficit financed by Left Bank owner Sony, is reflective of Left Bank’s strategy to make shows at lower price points.

This City is Ours is written by lead writer Butchard with Robbie O’Neill writing further episodes. Producer is Simon Maloney (Peaky Blinders, I May Destroy You). Executive producers are Harries, Rebecca Hodgson and Sian McWilliams for Left Bank, Butchard and Dibb, and Jo McClellan for the BBC. Sony Pictures Television will distribute the series internationally. Additional funding and support comes from the Liverpool Film Office through its Liverpool City Region Production Fund.

https://deadline.com/2024/05/sean-bean-this-city-is-ours-bbc-left-bank-stephen-butchard-1235942250/


BBC announces casting for This City Is Ours (w/t), an epic new drama set and filmed in Liverpool
Sean Bean, James Nelson-Joyce, Hannah Onslow, and Jack McMullen lead the cast in the eight-part series from writer Stephen Butchard

The BBC has announced casting for This City is Ours (w/t), the epic new crime drama now filming in Liverpool and Spain. The eight-part series is created and written by Stephen Butchard (The Good Mothers, The Last Kingdom, Five Daughters), directed by Saul Dibb (The Salisbury Poisonings, The Sixth Commandment), and produced by Left Bank Pictures for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Sony Pictures Television will distribute the series internationally.

Two-time BAFTA TV Award-winning actor Sean Bean (Marriage, Time) will play gang leader Ronnie Phelan, with James Nelson-Joyce (Bird, A Thousand Blows) as Ronnie’s friend, Michael Kavanagh. Hannah Onslow (Empire of Light, This Is Going to Hurt) will play Diana Williams, Michael’s partner, and Jack McMullen (Hijack, Ford V Ferrari) plays Ronnie’s son, Jamie Phelan. Julie Graham (Shetland, Time) will play Elaine, head of the Phelan family alongside her husband Ronnie.

 Set and filmed in Liverpool, This City is Ours is the story of Michael, a man who for all of his adult life has been involved in organised crime, working for his friend and the gang leader Ronnie. When Ronnie begins to hint at retirement, Michael too begins to imagine another life. Because, 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.

This City is Ours is the story of Michael and Diana's love affair, set against the disintegration of Michael’s crime gang. For years, together with Ronnie, Michael has successfully been bringing cocaine into the City and beyond, directly from Columbia; but when a shipment goes missing, he knows their Kingdom is under attack.

This City is Ours 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.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2024/this-city-is-ours-casting


Sean Bean leads cast of The Last Kingdom writer's new crime drama
This City Is Ours is filming now in Liverpool and Spain.

Sean Bean will star in an epic new crime drama, This City Is Ours (working title), where he'll play gang leader Ronnie Phelan, who begins eyeing retirement just as a rival organisation prepares to attack.

Created and written by Stephen Butchard, who penned the first three seasons of historical drama The Last Kingdom, the series is billed as "a story about family, and love destroyed and corrupted by ambition, pride and greed".

James Nelson-Joyce co-stars as Ronnie's longtime friend and right-hand man Michael Kavanagh, who is tempted by the prospect of following his boss out of a life of crime after falling in love with a woman named Diana (Hannah Onslow).

This City Is Ours will consist of eight hour-long episodes filmed in Liverpool and Spain, which will air on BBC One and iPlayer at an as-yet-unspecified time.

This City Is Ours is coming soon to the BBC.

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/sean-bean-this-city-is-ours-last-kingdom-writer-newsupdate/

Produced by Left Bank Pictures, the series began filming this week, bringing together a stellar cast including Sean Bean (“Time,” “Marriage”), James Nelson-Joyce (“Bird,” “A Thousand Blows”), Hannah Onslow (“Empire of Light,” “This Is Going to Hurt”), and Jack McMullen (“Hijack,” “Ford V Ferrari”).
The 14-week filming schedule will span various locations across the Liverpool City Region, supported by the Film Office through the LCR Production Fund.

https://theguideliverpool.com/new-bbc-crime-drama-this-city-is-ours-begins-filming-in-liverpool/


https://www.televisual.com/news/sean-bean-to-lead-left-banks-this-city-is-ours/

This City Is Ours
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31438328/?ref_=nm_flmg_unrel_6_act

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New Sean Bean drama will 'support scouse talent'

Filming has started in Liverpool for a new BBC TV crime drama set in the city.
This City is Ours is the story of Michael, played by Liverpudlian James Nelson-Joyce, a man who for all of his adult life has been involved in organised crime, working for his friend and the gang leader Ronnie Phelan, played by Sean Bean. When Ronnie begins to hint at retirement, Michael too begins to imagine another life.
The eight-part series will be filmed over 14 weeks and is part-funded by the Liverpool Film Office through its Liverpool City Region (LCR) Production Fund.
Head of Liverpool Film Office, Lynn Saunders said the project supported "scouse talent" and would boost the local economy.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw006e9e831o




Sean Bean Cast as Gang Leader in New BBC Drama 'This City Is Ours'
Sean Bean returns in a riveting new BBC drama

Renowned actor Sean Bean is set to dominate the small screen once again, this time portraying the formidable gang leader Ronnie Phelan in the much-anticipated BBC drama series  "This City is Ours."
 With a working title that hints at gritty urban narratives, this series is being produced by Left Bank, the creative force behind the acclaimed series "The Crown." In "This City is Ours," Bean’s character, Ronnie Phelan, navigates the difficult landscapes of Liverpool’s criminal underworld."This City is Ours" is part of a broader initiative by Left Bank, under the leadership of Andy Harries, to craft impactful dramas at more sustainable budgets. With an episode cost ranging between £2.5 million and £3 million, the series reflects a strategic shift in television production economics, supported by Sony's deficit financing.

 The production also benefits from additional funding and support from the Liverpool Film Office through its Liverpool City Region Production Fund. Sony Pictures Television will handle international distribution, ensuring that Bean’s latest venture reaches a global audience eager for high-quality British drama. 

https://www.celebtattler.com/news/news/celebrities/37051/sean-bean-cast-as-gang-leader-in-new-bbc-drama-this-city-is-ours-/

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Bean, pictured, along with his co-stars Stephen Walters and James Nelson-Joyce are in the city to film the new BBC drama ‘This City is Ours’

Despite the trouble from Friday night, the actor looked in good humour on Wednesday afternoon

https://tv2club.com/news/exclusivemoment-game-of-thrones-actor-sean-bean-65-pushes-bouncer-who-told-him-off-for-vaping-before-actor-is-wrestled-to-the-floor-and-dragged-out-of-bar-during-night/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13496849/Moment-Sean-Bean-pub-bouncer-dragged-Liverpool-bar-vaping-video.html

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BBC drama 'This City Is Ours' starring Sean Bean to film in Haydock

Described as a "compelling story of crime, loyalty, and love", the BBC's newest drama 'This City Is Ours' began filming around Merseyside and Spain in recent weeks.

Written by Stephen Butchard, directed by Saul Dibb and John Hayes, and produced by Left Bank Pictures, the highly-anticipated series will be filmed inside and outside Haydock Laundry on Sherlock Avenue next week.

Residents around the area received letters from the BBC to inform them that filming will take place from around 3pm to midnight on Wednesday, July 10, with tech vehicles planned to be parked around Sherlock Avenue and Hall Road.

Starring Sean Bean, James Nelson-Joyce, Hannah Onslow, Jack McMullen, Kevin Harvey, Saoirse Monica Jackson, Stephen Walters, and more, the crime series is set in Liverpool and follows the story of Michael, who has been involved in organised crime for his entire adult life.

With Michael (James Nelson-Joyce) working for gang leader Ronnie (Sean Bean) in successfully bringing cocaine from Columbia into the city, the story follows the disintegration of the gang as Ronnie hints at retirement and Michael also begins to imagine another life.

Michael has bold ideas to modernise the gang but things start to go wrong as he falls in love and a shipment goes missing. The fallout begins to intensify as Ronnie's son Jamie (Jack McMullen) decides he wants to inherit the drug empire without Michael.

The drama is described as being "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."

James Nelson-Joyce says: "It's an absolute honour to be a part of this exciting show. I knew from reading the first episode that I had to take on this compelling story of crime, loyalty and above all, love.”

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, says: “It’s a joy to see cameras rolling on This City Is Ours with a glorious cast who have made Stephen Butchard’s sublime scripts even more exciting. Under the skilful direction of Saul Dibb, BBC viewers are in for one hell of a ride.”

Andy Harries, CEO of Left Bank Pictures and Executive Producer says: “Stephen Butchard is a master storyteller, and his scripts are sharp, fast-paced and brilliantly observed. He throws us in at the deep end with fascinating, multi-faceted characters and we have put together a top tier cast to bring them to life. This City is Ours is going to blow the bloody doors off.”

https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/24428210.bbc-drama-this-city-ours-starring-sean-bean-film-haydock/?ref=socialflow&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR07D-fIyuAjBys_7YKXr7Fu-fkNYHbv20SKer-Pyccb_1tscbQ3e2MG5hk_aem_PXl5FOARuwBksF-yJMdbTA

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BBC drama This City Is Ours starring Sean Bean to film in Haydock

A NEW BBC crime drama starring Sean Bean is set to film in Haydock today.

 As reported by the Star, residents in Haydock received letters from the BBC last week to inform them that filming will take place around Haydock Laundry on Sherlock Avenue from 3pm until midnight on Wednesday, July 10.

The filming is part of a star-studded eight-part series called 'This City Is Ours', which will be filmed across the Liverpool City Region over a 14 week period.

https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/24442357.bbc-drama-city-starring-sean-bean-film-haydock/

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Film crews spotted filming new BBC series in Wallasey

This City Is Ours is a new BBC crime drama created by writer Stephen Butchard (The Good Mothers, The Last Kingdom, Five Daughters) and made by Left Bank Pictures (The Crown, Quiz, Sitting in Limbo).

The project, which began filming last month, and will star Sean Bean (Time, Marriage), James Nelson-Joyce (Bird, A Thousand Blows), Hannah Onslow (Empire of Light, This Is Going to Hurt) and Jack McMullen (Hijack, Ford V Ferrari).

Film crews have been spotted in Marine Point car park by Bubble’s World of Play and Morrison’s in Wallasey as well by The Ferry Pub in Egremont.

A spokesperson from Liverpool Film Office said: “We can confirm that BBC series This City Is Ours is filming in the Wallasey area following investment from the LCR Production Fund.

This City is Ours will also film in and around Liverpool, with additional filming in Spain, later this year.

https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/24501369.film-crews-spotted-filming-new-bbc-series-wallasey/

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Film crews spotted filming new BBC drama in city centre
This City is Ours is set in the "very real, chilling; but mostly unseen universe of organised crime" in Liverpool

  A BBC film crew were spotted filming in the city centre this afternoon for a new series. It is understood the eight-part series is for BBC Studios and directed by Saul Dibb.

Several flower stalls were set up in front of office buildings in St Paul's Square. Actors were seen strolling casually, or standing around in conversation. Merseyside, and Liverpool in particular, has become a popular filming destination in recent years.

This City is Ours stars a huge cast, including Sean Bean, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Jack McMullen and many more. Although we didn't catch a glimpse of the film stars today as it appeared to be extras on set.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/gallery/film-crews-spotted-filming-new-29712908

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Thanks to beanland.de

This city is ours 🎬🎥
(Spain) @palma_pictures

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAV3DayiSCz/

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Once again thanks to beanland.de

https://www.instagram.com/p/DAu9-aWI36I/

Sean Bean during filming the Spanish part of "The City is Ours" in the NOSSO Summer Club Marbella @ https://nosso.es/ 

https://www.facebook.com/beanland.de/posts/pfbid02cGRvodRVEkjJiq5QAsPss2G4KrdAimjwA4u2SX118542YujNr425Zyz5hcQar5sl

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BBC releases first look at This City is Ours, the epic new crime drama starring Sean Bean
Set and filmed in Liverpool, This City Is Ours premieres on the BBC in spring 2025

The BBC has released first look pictures of This City is Ours, the brand-new crime drama from Stephen Butchard (The Good Mothers, The Last Kingdom, Five Daughters), directed by BAFTA award-winning Saul Dibb (The Salisbury Poisonings, The Sixth Commandment), John Hayes (Nightsleeper, Dublin Murders), and Eshref Reybrouck (Undercover).

Set and filmed in Liverpool, the eight-part series is made by Left Bank Pictures for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Worldwide distribution is handled by Sony Pictures Television.

The new pictures give a first look at the This City Is Ours ensemble, including two-time BAFTA award-winner Sean Bean (Marriage, Time) as gang leader Ronnie Phelan, James Nelson-Joyce (Bird, A Thousand Blows) as Ronnie’s friend, Michael Kavanagh, Hannah Onslow (Empire of Light, This Is Going to Hurt) as Diana Williams, Michael’s partner, Jack McMullen (Hijack, Ford V Ferrari) as Ronnie’s son, Jamie Phelan, and Julie Graham (Shetland, Time) as Elaine, head of the Phelan family alongside her husband Ronnie.

Set and filmed in Liverpool, with additional filming in Spain, This City is Ours is the story of Michael, a man who for all of his adult life has been involved in organised crime, working for his friend and the gang leader Ronnie. When Ronnie begins to hint at retirement, Michael too begins to imagine another life. Because, 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.

This City Is Ours is coming soon to BBC iPlayer and BBC One UK in the Spring. Sony Pictures Television will distribute the series internationally.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2025/this-city-is-ours-first-look



Sean Bean as gang leader in first look at new crime drama This City Is Ours

The BBC has released first-look images from its upcoming crime drama This City Is Ours, taking us inside the dangerous world of a powerful crime family based in Liverpool.

Sean Bean plays family patriarch and gang leader Ronnie Phelan, who runs his criminal enterprise shoulder-to-shoulder with his wife, Elaine (played by Julie Graham).

After a successful, if thoroughly illegal, career, the duo are eyeing retirement when we find them in This City Is Ours. 

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/sean-bean-this-city-is-ours-first-look-newsupdate/

[patch]

Island to appear in Sean Bean TV show

A TV crime drama partly filmed on the Isle of Man will be shown later this year.

The BBC's This City Is Ours stars Sean Bean and James Nelson-Joyce, and follows the story of a Merseyside crime family.

The eight episodes are 60 minutes long and will air in the BBC later this spring.

Part of one episode was filmed in Douglas last year.

https://www.three.fm/news/isle-of-man-news/island-to-appear-in-sean-bean-tv-show/

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The London TV Screenings Hot List: The Lowdown On The Sales Houses Selling ‘Suits: LA’, Kevin Costner’s Doc & ‘A Prophet’ Remake

Welcome to Deadline’s London TV Screenings list, our definitive look at next week’s buzzy event taking Soho by storm. Hundreds, if not thousands of buyers will be in town between Sunday, February 23 and Friday, February 28, and if you’re wondering who’s exhibiting and what’s on offer and want to dive deeper into the sellers’ strategies, we’ve done the work for you, presenting profiles from more than 30 exhibiting sales houses. Below, check out profiles for all the Americans and companies from the rest of the world exhibiting at the London TV Screenings bar Disney, which declined to take part. We strived to get three picks from each distributor as and where possible. Read on, and find all our London TV Screenings content here.

Key Shows
This City is Ours – An epic new crime drama series filmed in Liverpool and Spain and starring Sean Bean as gang leader Ronnie Phelan. Created and written by Stephen Butchard (The Good Mothers) for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

 Sony’s London TV Screenings will be a mix of EP-led presentations on some of new dramas, and looks across its full non-scripted and formats slate. Clients will get an early glimpse at some of the major titles heading for local screenings and the LA Screenings later in the year. Left Bank Pictures’ This City is Ours will get its worldwide premiere, as well as giving clients their first look at Eleven’s Lord Of The Flies adaptation. On the non-scripted, it will be launching new Japanese family gameshow format 100 Choices, and unveiling an innovative new twist on the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? format.

Screening: 5-7pm showcase, Picturehouse Central; 7-9pm cocktail party, Ham Yard Hotel; both Thursday.
 

https://deadline.com/2025/02/london-tv-screenings-2025-suits-la-kevin-coster-doc-1236278916/

[patch]

Game of Thrones actor stars in new Liverpool gangster series shot in Malaga province
Two mansions in Marbella, the port of Malaga and El Torcal in Antequera are among the locations that appear in the BBC drama This City Is Ours

The UK's fascination with the Costa del Sol knows no bounds and the recent boom in TV series being filmed in Malaga province reflects this love affair. The latest series to soon feature on the small screen is This City Is Ours, a crime drama starring Liverpool gangsters and featuring the actor Sean Bean, who played Ned Stark in Game of Thrones. The BBC drama was filmed last year in Marbella, Antequera and Malaga city.

The first images from the series, which will premiere in the spring, shows Malaga as a holiday destination in a story of shootings, power struggles and love. When the kingpin (Bean) of the gang considers leaving the front line, his right-hand man and son vie for control of the organisation. Although the central story is set in Liverpool, Marbella also plays a major role in the plot.

Two luxury mansions on the Costa del Sol were the focus of filming, although scenes were also filmed on the seafront in Marbella and Malaga city's port also appears. This is the second international production to use the port, as it also appeared in The Girlfriend (Amazon MGM Studios), directed by Robin Wright (House of Cards). The other Malaga location for this latest BBC series was El Torcal in Antequera.

https://www.surinenglish.com/malaga/the-most-fleeting-star-game-thrones-stars-20250220074218-nt.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3ibzrLE4ysH8RfDOJV670zs81Bdo-j38ZQWR2jeso7-mIw85B2EuURx_c_aem_blYXYNKgRhl6VHhJs5ytXg




Hot Picks: This City Is Ours

“How could you do Macbeth?” says Wayne Garvie of the idea behind This City Is Ours, Left Bank Pictures’ Liverpool-set drama about succession, ambition, pride, greed and corrupted love.

Garvie, president of International Production at Sony Pictures Television (SPT), says the Stephen Butchard-penned 8 x 60-minute series for BBC1 is the type of modern crime thriller he had been “hoping for a long time” an SPT label would make.

“I’ve realised what really works for all great dramas is that they are family-based – whether it’s Breaking Bad, The Sopranos or Ozark. It’s always about dynamics that go around family and people who do terrible things because they’re trying to do the right thing,” he says.

Outside of the criminal element of the story, Michael and Diana’s relationship touches on the reality that many young couples face in trying to conceive, which becomes a driving force behind the pair’s actions. Garvie adds: “It’s got tension, it’s got an emotional thump to it and makes you care about people who do bad things.”

What sets This City Is Ours apart from similar crime-centred fare in the market is its realism, according to the Sony exec. “There are a lot of heightened thrillers out there that I enjoy, like Black Doves and Gangs Of London, but they’re high-octane entertainment that take the world and imagine it in a different way.

“This City Is Ours feels absolutely believable as a piece of drama and with characters that you root for and believe in.”

While SPT has only just launched the title in the market, Garvie says early reaction has been encouraging, with Latin American buyers expressing keen interest. And while crime usually resonates among male audiences, Garvie reckons This City Is Ours will prove popular among women too, due to the strong female characters and plots.

Garvie anticipates that it will be of interest across a broad spectrum of buyers, not just obvious destinations like the streaming majors, where crime series have thrived.

He adds: “It’s on BBC1, a mainstream UK channel, and if it works there, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work for mainstream commercial channels. It’s a compelling piece of work.”

https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/broadcast-international/this-city-is-ours/5202147.article




IN CONVERSATION WITH JAMES NELSON JOYCE

We’ll also be seeing you In ‘This City Is Ours’, where you’re reuniting with Sean Bean after working together on ‘Time’. What was it like working alongside him again, and what can viewers expect from the intense new gangland drama?

Working with Sean is easy. He just is a gentleman and always up for a laugh. We would sit at lunch talking about football and how we were missing English TV while we were shooting in Spain. ‘This City is Ours’ is about the pursuit of power, and then choosing between love and power. I’m really excited for this new drama to hit everyone’s screens in the Spring and I couldn’t be prouder of how it’s turned out.

https://www.numeronetherlands.com/in-conversation-with/in-conversation-with-james-nelson-joyce

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RTS NW Presents: 'This City Is Ours' - exclusive FREE screening

 Thursday, 13 March, 2025   6pm Arrivals / 7pm Screening / 8pm Q&A session   

 Location
Picturehouse at FACT
Liverpool
L1 4DQ
United Kingdom

Centre Event
Join RTS NW for a FREE exclusive preview screening of episode one of This City Is Ours, the brand-new crime drama from Stephen Butchard (The Good Mothers, The Last Kingdom, Five Daughters), directed by BAFTA award-winning Saul Dibb (The Salisbury Poisonings, The Sixth Commandment), John Hayes (Nightsleeper, Dublin Murders), and Eshref Reybrouck (Undercover).
There will be a Q&A session with members of Cast and Production immediately after the screening.

https://rts.org.uk/event/rts-nw-presents-city-ours-exclusive-free-screening



The Graham Norton Show

Together on guest host Claudia Winkleman's sofa are:
  Northern Irish actor Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Erin from Derry Girls), in new BBC drama series This City Is Ours; 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0028dnj

Derry Girls star Saoirse-Monica Jackson tells all about her latest role in the new BBC drama series, This City is Ours, 

https://www.donegallive.ie/news/national-news/1740312/shake-up-on-the-cards-this-week-as-graham-norton-replaced-as-host-of-own-bbc-one-show.html





https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0028dnj

The Graham Norton Show Season 32 Episode 20 (Feb 28, 2025) FULL EPISODE HD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOnQuK5VTdA

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The must-see TV to watch this spring: from Doctor Who to The Residence

This City is Ours

Any excuse to have a little more Sean Bean in our lives is a good one – so with that in mind, his upcoming BBC show should be a good one. Bean stars as an ageing mobster, who wants to step down and leave the running of the business (as it were) to loyal aide Michael Kavanagh (James Nelson Joyce). Only issue? Their son, Jamie, feels it’s his birthright. And the entire thing is set in Liverpool.

BBC, out March 23

https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/must-see-tv-to-watch-spring-doctor-who-the-residence-b1215722.html

This City Is Ours
Season 1
Watch this Sunday, March 23 on BBC1 at 10:00 p.m. the program "This City Is Ours" produced in England in 2025. Lasting 60 minutes, this program is suitable for all audiences.

https://www.mon-programme-tv.be/television/1096347810/this-city-is-ours.html

[patch]

Sean Bean crime drama This City Is Ours release date confirmed by BBC

The Last Kingdom writer Stephen Butchard's new drama, This City Is Ours, has now got an official release date, and viewers don't have long to wait.

The crime drama, which stars the likes of Sean Bean, James Nelson-Joyce, Michael Kavanagh, Hannah Onslow, Jack McMullen and Julie Graham, will officially start airing at 9pm on Sunday 23rd March on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/this-city-is-ours-confirmed-newsupdate/



This City Is Ours
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00292v7

Trailer available soon

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0ktpdxh

[patch]

This City Is Ours - launch date and trailer released for epic new crime drama starring Sean Bean

The BBC has released the trailer for This City is Ours, the brand-new crime drama from Stephen Butchard (The Good Mothers, The Last Kingdom, Five Daughters), directed by BAFTA award-winning Saul Dibb (The Salisbury Poisonings, The Sixth Commandment), who serves as Lead Director, John Hayes (Nightsleeper, Dublin Murders), and Eshref Reybrouck (Undercover). Set and filmed in Liverpool, the eight-part series is made by Left Bank Pictures for BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Worldwide distribution is handled by Sony Pictures Television.

All episodes of This City is Ours launch on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Sunday 23 March, with the series beginning its weekly 9pm BBC One transmission that night.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2025/this-city-is-ours-trailer



https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0028mhs

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0kxws4g


This City is Ours | Official trailer - BBC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9irsgS7DEUI

[patch]

Sean Bean on the ‘Scouse Sopranos’: ‘It’s a love story for now’
The actor plays a family man who happens to be a gang boss in the new Merseyside mafia drama This City Is Ours

The Liverpudlian actor James Nelson-Joyce is explaining why Sean Bean from Sheffield is an “honorary Scouser”. It seems to boil down to the fact that Bean, despite his talent and critical acclaim, remains normal, grounded and not puffed with self-importance like, let’s face it, some actors can be. (Pomposity, I can attest as one who lives in Liverpool, is a heinous crime here, punishable by relentless mockery.)

Nelson-Joyce says Bean has the same attitude that is “ingrained in us” of “not taking everything too seriously. He’ll kill awkward moments with a joke. He’s not flash. There’s no ego.”

The Scouse comment is pertinent because they are about to star in a sharp, fresh, dark and extremely bingeable Sunday night BBC series set in Liverpool. It is officially titled This City Is Ours, but is being called the “Scouse Sopranos”. That’s quite the mantle to carry, but I can see the parallels.

It is about an affluent northern drugs boss, Ronnie (Bean), who is balancing his family life in a lovely house with running a criminal gang and all the violence that goes with it. This is a man who does terrible things, but we see his human side too. He is contemplating retirement with his wife (played by Julie Graham), but a rival drugs operation seems to be moving onto his turf. Bean says it is one of the most enjoyable series he has worked on, calling it “profound, funny, shocking and sinister” — and interesting because it is told from the villains’ perspective, not that of the police.

“I think we all have conflicting natures to some degree,” Bean says. “Ronnie’s veers wildly from almost paranoid brutality to the comforting tunes of Matt Monro and Andy Williams quite naturally. I’m convinced it will become a classic piece of drama.” When I email to ask how a Yorkshireman feels about being called an honorary Scouser he is delighted. “I’m very chuffed,” he writes. “High praise indeed.”

Today, I’m watching the series being filmed in an upmarket restaurant in Liverpool city centre with its writer, Stephen Butchard (The Last Kingdom, Shardlake). He tells me he envisaged it primarily as a love story with the drugs and gangster stuff secondary. “In my head as well I had Macbeth,” he says. “It was that kind of struggle.”

There are, indeed, strong Shakespearean parallels with themes of vaulting ambition, pride and even spots of blood symbolising guilt. Imagine that dynamic, but set within the world of organised crime and with golf courses. It is directed by Saul Dibb, who directed The Salisbury Poisonings and The Sixth Commandment.

Bean knew immediately when he saw Butchard’s script for This City Is Ours that he wanted to play Ronnie. “I could picture him and this was by only page nine,” he says. Bean, if you ask me, is the master of the pregnant silence (as demonstrated in the brilliant Marriage). “I do like silences and pauses,” he says. Although he adds: “Someone once wrote that my many silences, where I said nothing, spoke volumes. They didn’t realise that those were moments where I was just trying hard to remember my lines.”

His character’s trusted second-in-command is Michael (Nelson-Joyce), who has benefited from the spoils of crime, but is conflicted because he’s in love with his girlfriend, played by Hannah Onslow (who is from Essex, but watched Desperate Scousewives to perfect her accent) and wants the normality of domesticity as they try for a baby.

The tension comes from these two worlds, domestic and criminal, colliding in a drama that dwells less on the seedy side of the drugs underworld and more on the glamorous side of fancy clothes, nice hair-dos, gorgeous Spanish holiday villas and aspirational houses on the Wirral. But with a dark shadow always hovering.

The other star of the series is the city of Liverpool. You may not realise when you enjoy drama series and films that you are often watching Liverpool. It’s the second most-filmed city in the UK after London. The Liverpool Film Office says 301 film and TV productions were shot there in 2023 and over the past five years there have been 1,564, which has been a huge boost to the local economy.

ITV’s new detective series Protection, starring Siobhan Finneran, was made in Liverpool, as was Netflix’s forthcoming House of Guinness, starring James Norton. Directors like it for the versatility of the landscape and the historic architecture. The Georgian streets often double for London while the gothic buildings have been used to depict Moscow, such as in Fast and Furious 6.

The River Mersey waterfront is frequently used to portray New York (but far more cheaply) and stood in as part of Gotham City in The Batman. There is countryside and a coastline all within easy reach and two cathedrals to choose from. It’s sometimes less hassle to film “authentic” London 200 miles north of it. Peaky Blinders was not filmed in Birmingham, as many may expect, but mostly in Liverpool — its streets, docklands and surrounding areas (Tommy Shelby’s mansion was Arley Hall in nearby Cheshire).

This City Is Ours marks the first time that Bean and Nelson-Joyce have acted together since Jimmy McGovern’s Time in 2021. In that prison drama Bean played a mild-mannered teacher jailed for killing someone while drink-driving and Nelson-Joyce his psychopathic tormenter in superb scenes that felt so real they were painful to watch. Their relationship here is very different — almost like father and son, but with Ronnie’s son Jamie (Jack McMullen) also wanting the keys to the kingdom when Ronnie retires to his villa. Let’s just say violence is never far away, even among friends.

Nelson-Joyce, 35, who grew up in working-class Walton and whose talent was spotted at school by his English teacher, says he has learnt from observing Bean. He grew up watching him on TV “so he’s someone that I’ve always known. He’s always been there, you know, like James Bond.” He says that just like his close friend Stephen Graham, with whom he recently appeared in A Thousand Blows, “there’s just an ease and a friendliness that they bring to the set”.

Some of the filming took place in Marbella and a friend of Nelson-Joyce’s was flying from Britain to visit. When Bean heard this he said — here Nelson-Joyce slips into a Yorkshire-accented impression — “Can he do us a favour? Will he bring us two tubs o’ Bisto gravy?”

“We would never sit there and talk about, you know, the industry this and the industry that,” he says. “We’d be talking about football. Or Sean would be saying how he’s missing life back home.”

Nelson-Joyce’s magnetic screen presence is increasingly in demand (he has also appeared in The Gold as Brian Reader, in Bird alongside Barry Keoghan and will soon appear in Black Mirror). So far, he has played mostly working-class characters and largely villains. Would he like the chance to play middle or upper-class characters, perhaps wearing a period frock coat? He would. He admits to a frustration that middle-class actors frequently get to “play down” a class, but working-class ones less frequently get to “play up” one.

It’s true. You don’t see many working-class Geordies or Scousers playing the lord of the manor or donning britches to play a gent in Bridgerton. Here Nelson-Joyce wants me to make it clear that he’s not whingeing, so I will. “I don’t begrudge middle-class or upper-class people getting a chance to play down. I’d just like to see more opportunities for working-class actors,” he says. “And I’m not going, ‘Oh, I’m better than you.’ I’m just saying, give me the opportunity to let me see if I am.”

He adds he is actually sensitive in real life (this “hardman” has two chihuahuas), so “it’s a compliment when people meet me out and about and expect to see this horrible person. It’s proof that I’m hopefully doing a decent job in playing characters [who are] sometimes so far removed from me.”

It’s true that drugs gangs are an overused subject in TV drama, but This City Is Ours isn’t all about that. It’s also about psychology, greed, power and love. “At the end of the day, it’s a love story, but [it’s] not your usual romance,” Bean says. “It’s a brand new love story for now.”

This City Is Ours is on BBC1 and iPlayer from Mar 23

https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/sean-bean-game-of-thrones-this-city-is-ours-nbnm3nlk9

[patch]

Gavin & Stacey star feared co-star was 'alien' as they 'exploded' on-screen
Laura Aikman, who played Sonia in the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special, stars in new BBC drama This City Is Ours alongside Sean Bean - and she was left fearing her co-star.

Laura Aikman, who recently captivated viewers as the scheming bridezilla Sonia in the Gavin & Stacey finale, is set to grace our screens once more, this time as a villainous character.

Fresh off her role that left fans agog when she turned up as Smithy's unexpected bride on Christmas Day, Laura Aikman is now taking on the part of Rachel Duffy in the gritty new BBC One drugs drama This City Is Ours.

While Sonia was what Laura fondly dubs a "rotter", her new character Rachel is steeped in darkness, harbouring dreams of climbing the ranks within Liverpool's murky drug trade.

The show also features Sean Bean as the formidable gang boss Ronnie Phelan and Julie Graham as his spouse Elaine, with Laura's Rachel being their ambitious niece.

Sharing the set with the esteemed Sean Bean, 65, was a surreal experience for Laura, who was mesmerised by how he could switch from being "lovely and sweet" off-camera to a ferocious gangster Ronnie at a moment's notice.

Laura marvels at his talent, saying, "It was so amazing on the days when we did see him turn and get really angry," which served as a stark reminder of his acting prowess, given how different it is from his real-life persona.

https://www.ok.co.uk/tv/laura-aikman-feared-sean-bean-34864676

Working with TV legend Sean Bean, 65, also left Laura star-struck and she was in awe at how the Sharpe star could be so “lovely and sweet” one minute then explode as gangster Ronnie for the cameras the next.
“It was so amazing on the days when we did see him turn and get really angry,” says Laura. “It just reminds you how brilliant an actor he is because it’s just so alien from the man you’re with all the time.”

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/laura-aikman-shocked-sean-bean-34864079