The writer’s love for Liverpool and his bond with Scouse actor Stephen Graham ahead of the release of A Thousand Blows season two
12:49, 30 Dec 2025Updated 13:41, 30 Dec 2025
Steven Knight is one of the most prominent voices in film and television(Image: Dave Benett/WireImage)
Steven Knight is one of the most prominent voices in television. The 66-year-old is the brains behind shows as varied as Peaky Blinders and Who Wants to be a Millionaire and he is showing no signs of slowing down as he expands his creative vision.
2026 promises to be another busy year as the showrunner is currently writing the next James Bond movie and is excited for fans to see the second instalment of A Thousand Blows, which arrives on Disney+ on January 9. Steven reprised his partnership with Scouse actor Stephen Graham for the period drama, which explores the world of underground boxing in 19th century London.
Stephen plays feared bare knuckle boxer Henry Sugar Goodson in the show – and the next season will pick up events a year after the first, when Sugar is at his lowest ebb. Stephen’s onscreen counterpart is estranged from his brother Treacle, played by James Nelson-Joyce, and is drinking himself to death.
Although Stephen has put in some of the most acclaimed performance in British TV history, including on this year’s Adolescence, writer Steven thinks his portrayal of Sugar is among the best of his career.
He said: “I’ve worked with Stephen on several things and he’s always astonishing, and he’s always great to write for. In the first series of A Thousand Blows, I held off having the audience see him until the end of the first episode, because then when you do see him, it’s worth the wait. You can guarantee that.”
Stephen is part of a star-studded cast that also includes Erin Doherty and Malachi Kirby. When asked if Stephen, Malachi and Erin’s performances are the best of their careers, he said: “I would completely agree. I don’t know what their opinion would be, but I completely agree and it feels like they’ve found a suit that fits perfectly.
“They’ve found characters that just fit, and sometimes that isn’t a consequence of craft or effort, it just happens. The fact it’s happened three times with all of them is very lucky for us indeed.”
Malachi reprises his role as Hezekiah Moscow in the new season and Erin plays leader of the Forty Elephants gang of thieves, Mary Carr. Steven said the central focus of the next instalment will be the love triangle between the two characters and Sugar.
He added: “The second series, perhaps even more than the first series, is a triangle between Hezekiah, Mary and Sugar, and it’s sort of a love triangle, because there’s unrequited love in there. The second series is the story of how these three progress after the events at the end of the first series.”
He added: “The consequences of the things that happened in the first series have come home to roost, and so Hezekiah and Sugar in particular are in a bad way but, without giving anything away, they’re on the road to being redeemed.
“For Mary, it’s about dealing with her change of emotions. When we first met her at the start of the first series, she was switched off inside. She had no trust of emotion, neither love nor hate, she just believed in practicalities. Then during series one, something emotional was switched back on again, and now she’s having to deal with that, even though she doesn’t want to. That’s the journey she goes on, as someone who doesn’t want to feel anything.”
A Thousand Blows arrival is just one of a number of massive projects from Steven that will be arriving on screens in the first part of 2026. The film adaptation of his most celebrated show, Peaky Blinders, will arrive on screens on March 6 before landing on Netflix on March 26.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man looks set to be the final chapter of the Tommy Shelby story as it will follow the gangster, played by Oscar winner Cillian Murphy, as he returns from his self imposed exile to face his most explosive reckoning yet.
While the world of Peaky Blinders is set in Steven’s native Birmingham, Liverpool is a spiritual home for the drama as much of the filming took place in this city. Steven previously spoke to the ECHO in an exclusive interview as he told us how the city’s unique aesthetic was vital in bringing his vision to life.
Steven knew Liverpool was the perfect place to film the show on his first day on set the moment he laid eyes on the interior of the Tobacco Warehouse at Stanley Dock. He told the ECHO: “The size and the scale of that great big warehouse was absolutely amazing and makes you feel as though you’re in New York. I’d written it with that sort of scale in mind and then suddenly, to be in a place, a geographical location, that is almost encouraging you and is saying ‘yeah, go for it’.
“We could have started shooting in a muddy field somewhere but we started shooting there and it was just great because it gave everybody that feeling, that swagger that we can do this. This is something that we’re doing on a big scale.”
Steven regularly returns to the city as another of his shows, House of Guinness, was filmed here earlier this year. The writer said the landscape of Liverpool is like no other when he spoke about the special place the city has in his heart.
He added: “There’s a load of locations in Liverpool that you can’t find anywhere else that evoke the 20s and 30s. [For Peaky Blinders] we shot a lot of stuff in the street where Ringo Starr was born. That street was amazing.
“The people of Liverpool are similar to the people of Birmingham. Having a laugh, wanting to have a laugh, self deprecating, aware of their own absurdity, enjoying a drink.
“It feels like there’s a commonality. Not just with Liverpool and Birmingham, but the East End of London and all of those other cities where the important thing is the attitude of the people, which makes the whole thing work.”
Steven remains busier than ever as he looks forward to the next chapter of his glittering career and spinning multiple plates of huge creative projects. Although he’s part of launching the new era of James Bond under the control of Amazon MGM Studios, he is not leaving behind the stories close to his heart as he has recently announced a Peaky Blinders spin off for BBC, telling the story of a new generation of Shelbys.
He is also not finished with A Thousand Blows, as the real life story of Hezekiah Moscow continues to fascinate him. The Jamaican immigrant, played by Malachi in the show, arrived in Britain with plans to be a lion tamer but instead become a celebrated boxer.
His real life story is shrouded in mystery as he disappeared without a trace, but Steven said there is accounts of what happened to him which he could weave into TV material into the future.
He said: “It’s not giving anything away for this series, but there’s actually a lot of evidence that someone bumped into him in New York working on the docks, about ten years after this series is set. He was in a pretty bad way, apparently. His wife put an ad in the boxing journal asking if anybody had seen him.
“So yes, I would have the freedom to do something with those intervening ten years. The mystery of it is really interesting. It wouldn’t be that easy for him to disappear in England at the time because he was Black – he couldn’t have just gone to Derby or something. London was the only place they’d have had many Black people, so there is scope for us, perhaps, taking the story to New York one day.”
A Thousand Blows arrives on Disney+ on January 9