Stephen Graham reveals how A Thousand Blows came about – with a hint of Peaky Blinders bartering

Explaining the process, Graham said: "I’d love to take the credit for that but that’s not the case. I pass it now to Hannah [Walters]. We got sent this beautiful photograph of Hezekiah and he looked so regal, just so full of humility and dignity. It was a fantastic photograph.

"There were two paragraphs about Sugar and Treacle and it got sent to us through Tom [Miller for Water & Power Productions], one of our other producers, and he said: 'I’d really love you to be involved, I’d really love you to play Sugar if we can get it off the ground and, you know, we really want you and Hannah to come onboard and produce it with us.'

"Immediately, Hannah read it and went, 'Oh, this is going to be really good.' I was like, 'Do you think so? Do you think there’s anything there?' and she was like, 'Yeah, I’m going to ask Steve Knight to write it.' I was like, 'Don’t be ridiculous, love.' And she was like, 'No, trust me – I’m talking to Julie, she’s his assistant and they want you for Peaky Blinders and I’ve been chatting to her so I’ll make this happen.'"

Graham added: "Literally four days later, she was like 'Oi'. I was in the kitchen, I’ll never forget it – she went, 'Oi, come here and have a look at that,' and he’d emailed back and said, 'I love it, I really want to get involved.'"

Of course, Graham previously starred in the sixth season of Knight's Peaky Blinders as Hayden Stagg, having previously worked on Taboo together too.

Graham is also set to reprise his role in the upcoming Peaky Blinders film, alongside the likes of returning Cillian Murphy and new stars Tim Roth, Rebecca Ferguson and Barry Keoghan.

Read more:

• Stephen Graham is threatening in thrilling trailer for Peaky Blinders creator's new drama
• Stephen Graham in first look at Peaky Blinders creator's new drama A Thousand Blows

Also speaking about how the idea for A Thousand Blows came about, Knight told RadioTimes.com: "I’ve wanted to do the Forty Elephants story for so long because it’s just an incredibly compelling story that has so much resonance with modern times.

"There were always 40 of them, they were all women, they had a queen who was their leader and they made a living out of robbery, cons, tricks and all kinds of deceptions.

"I just thought, why has nobody done this? Why has nobody put this on the screen? I was then approached by Stephen [Graham] and Hannah [Walters] with the idea of the true story of somebody called Hezekiah Moscow, who was a Jamaican boxer who actually came to London with his friend to become a lion tamer.

"I just felt that, because it took place in the 1880s in London, that was an opportunity to tell that fantastic story of hardship and triumph and marry that with the story of the Forty Elephants and put those two things together."

The new series sees Graham take the lead as Sugar Goodson, a revered boxer in the East End of London who soon enters into a bitter rivalry with newcomer Hezekiah Moscow, played by Malachi Kirby.

Also intercepting in the story is Erin Doherty's Mary Carr, the queen of the Forty Elephants, a notorious all-female gang who also comes into contact with Sugar and Hezekiah in their world of bare-knuckle boxing.

The show's wider cast includes Francis Lovehall (Criminal Record), Jason Tobin (F9), James Nelson-Joyce (The Gold), Hannah Walters (Boiling Point), Darci Shaw (Brassic), Nadia Albina (Passenger), Morgan Hilaire, Jemma Carlton (The Cleaner) and Caoilfhionn Dunne (Industry).

Other cast members also include Susan Lynch (Daddy Issues), Daniel Mays (The Long Shadow), Adam Nagaitis (The Responder), Gary Lewis (Vigil), Tom Davis (Wonka) and Robert Glenister (Grace).

A Thousand Blows comes to Disney Plus from 21st February. You can sign up to Disney Plus from £4.99 a month now.

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