Michael Kavanagh (JAMES NELSON-JOYCE) in This City Is Ours. (© BBC/Left Bank Pictures/James Stack)

Michael Kavanagh (JAMES NELSON-JOYCE) in This City Is Ours. (© BBC/Left Bank Pictures/James Stack)

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This City Is Ours: What To Expect

2 hours ago

We can’t wait to binge this Scouse crime drama

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Announced just over a year ago, we finally have a release date for This City is Ours, the BBC’s brand new star-studded crime drama set and filmed in Liverpool. Here’s what you need to know.

Diana Williams (HANNAH ONSLOW), Michael Kavanagh (JAMES NELSON-JOYCE) in This City Is Ours. (© BBC/Left Bank Pictures/James Stack)

This City Is Ours: Plot, Cast, Release Date & More

This City Is Ours was created, written and executively produced by Stephen Butchard, who is known for his work on Baghdad Central, The Good Mothers, The Last Kingdom and Shardlake. When his series was first announced in February 2024, Butchard said he was ‘so excited’. ‘Set in the very real, chilling, but mostly unseen universe of organised crime, This City is Ours is a story of love, greed, ambition and power – and what we will do to seize and hold on to that power,’ Butchard summarised.

Through This City Is Ours, Butchard is reunited with Sean Bean, who previously starred in Shardlake.

Ronnie Phelan (SEAN BEAN) & Elaine Phelan (JULIE GRAHAM) in This City Is Ours. (© BBC/Left Bank Pictures/James Stack)

What Is It About?

In a sense, This City is Ours is a love story. We centre on Michael (James Nelson-Joyce), a man who for his entire adulthood has led a life of crime. Organised crime, to be precise. But now, Michael is in love. He has fallen for Diana (Hannah Onslow), and for the first time, he begins to look beyond the everyday, towards the future.

Michael and Diana’s love story is backdropped by the crumbling Phelan crime gang, headed up by leader Ronnie (Sean Bean). For years, Michael and Ronnie have successfully imported cocaine into Liverpool directly from Columbia, but when a shipment goes missing, they know they are under attack. Meanwhile, there’s ructions inside the house: Ronnie’s son Jamie (Jack McMullen) suddenly decides he wants to inherit his father’s kingdom, and he and Michael have different, bold ideas on how they want to modernise their operations. But Michael’s largest battle, of course, is for Diana – and the child he has always wanted.

The Trailer

This City Is Ours Cast

Sean Bean as Ronnie Phelan, gang leader
James Nelson-Joyce as Michael Kavanagh, Ronnie’s friend
Hannah Onslow as Diana Williams, Michael’s partner
Jack McMullen as Jamie Phelan, Ronnie’s son
Julie Graham as Elaine, head of the Phelan family alongside husband Ronnie
Laura Aikman as Rachel Duffy
Kevin Harvey as Bobby Duffy
Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Cheryl Crawford
Mike Noble as Banksey
Bobby Schofield as Bonehead
Darci Shaw as Melissa Sullivan
Stephen Walters as Davy Crawford

‘It’s an absolute honour to be a part of this exciting show,’ says James Nelson-Joyce, you might recognise from Little Boy Blue, Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant or, most recently, A Thousand Blows. ‘I knew from reading the first episode that I had to take on this compelling story of crime, loyalty and above all, love.’

Jamie Phelan (JACK McMULLEN), Bobby Duffy (KEVIN HARVEY), Rachel Duffy (LAURA AIKMAN), Ronnie Phelan (SEAN BEAN), Elaine Phelan (JULIE GRAHAM), Banksey (MIKE NOBLE), Michael Kavanagh (JAMES NELSON-JOYCE) & Diana Williams (HANNAH ONSLOW) in This City Is Ours. (© BBC/Left Bank Pictures/James Stack)

Where Was It Filmed?

As well as being set in Liverpool, This City Is Ours was filmed in Liverpool, thanks to support from the Liverpool Film Office. Additional filming took place in Spain.

‘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,’ Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, said when filming got underway. ‘Under the skilful direction of Saul Dibb, BBC viewers are in for one hell of a ride.’