This City Is Ours ending explained: Michael and Jamie feud explodes - but who dies?

Primarily set in Liverpool and to a killer soundtrack, the plot follows the Phelan crime family, commanded by kingpin and patriarch Ronnie Phelan (Sean Bean), but as is often the case with gangsters and dynasties, the question becomes more focused on who will succeed Ronnie to the throne.

The two prime candidates to replace Ronnie are his unreliable son Jamie Phelan (Jack McMullen) and his cold and calculating top lieutenant Michael (James Nelson-Joyce).

However, Michael has begun to question his life choices as he looks to start a family with his devoted girlfriend Diana (Hannah Onslow).

As the feud between Jamie and Michael escalates, the eight episodes build to a dramatic showdown in a highly tense finale full of twists and turns that also pose a lot of questions for whether the show will return for a second season.

This City Is Ours stars James Nelson-Joyce and Jack McMullen spoke to RadioTimes.com this week about the key moments in the season 1 finale for their characters – read on for their full explanation of the dramatic ending. Spoiler alert!

This City Is Ours ending explained: James Nelson-Joyce and Jack McMullen on tense finale

This City Is Ours season 1 ends with rivals Jamie Phelan (Jack McMullen) and Michael Kavanagh (James Nelson-Joyce) taking their feud to a new extreme – by abducting those most precious to each other.

The nail-biting sequence of events follows a roundtable where Elaine Phelan (Julie Graham) and her family come to a compromise with Michael, which is intended to put a stop to the civil war that risks tearing their business to the ground.

Among the proposed terms are the installation of Elaine's nephew-in-law Bobby Duffy (Kevin Harvey) and Michael's right-hand man Banksey (Mike Noble) as new co-leaders of the gang, taking over from murdered patriarch Ronnie (Sean Bean).

It's an outcome that most of the attendees can accept, but Jamie and his cousin, Rachel (Laura Aikman), are left fuming by their essential removal from positions of authority – and set about plotting a coup.

As far as Rachel is concerned, this only involves swapping suppliers from their longtime Colombian business partner to an Albanian gang, but little does she know that Jamie also hopes to get rid of Michael by kidnapping his girlfriend, Diana (Hannah Onslow).

The ransom for Diana's safe return is enormous: Jamie demands that Michael take his own life, in a move he views as both retribution for his father's murder and a removal of his prime competitor.

Michael's own ruthlessness is turbocharged when he learns that Diana is pregnant with his baby – conceived through an arduous IVF journey – and he retaliates in a most shocking way: abducting Jamie's baby son, Alfie.

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Would Michael Kavanagh have really harmed Alfie Phelan?

By using Cheryl (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) as his Trojan horse in the Phelan family home, Michael gets hold of Alfie and takes him to a high-storey car park, threatening Jamie that they will jump off together unless Diana is returned safely.

Yet, would Michael have committed such a barbaric act? James Nelson-Joyce tells RadioTimes.com that Michael is "capable of anything" when his beloved girlfriend and his unborn child are at stake.

"Anything could have happened at that moment. I do believe that with Michael," he explained. "You see his morals at the beginning of the show... [But] Jamie's reckless – he doesn't care and will do anything to win. When you're up against that, you've got to fight fire with fire, haven't you?"

Ultimately, Jamie takes his ultimatum very seriously, as he swiftly organises a hostage swap at that same car park in what initially appears to be another loss for Ronnie's wayward son – until he snatches one major victory from the jaws of that defeat.

Why does Michael confess to Ronnie's murder?

According to actor James Nelson-Joyce, Diana encourages Michael to confess to Ronnie's murder as she realises that Jamie will never leave them alone otherwise, but likely wouldn't have the guts to kill them in that moment.

He told RadioTimes.com: "She's seen in him that he's dangerous and he's distant, but he hasn't got that killer instinct. He could have done me on the ferry; should have done me in the car; was saying he was going to do Diana – but he doesn't have that [ruthlessness].

"For her to be saying to Michael, 'Trust me, just tell him'... He'll always forever chase us, basically, is what she's saying. He will always haunt us, until you confess. So that's what Michael does because he's brave, ultimately."

Bearing some responsibility for her abduction, Michael's admission of guilt is also something of a reconciliatory gesture to Diana: "It's kind of [Michael] going, I'll do this for you... that's the reason why he does it, I believe," added Nelson-Joyce.

Diana's assessment is a sound one, as Jamie ultimately stops short of killing Michael (for the third time, no less), with even Jack McMullen admitting that the character isn't quite the tough man he views himself as.

"He's living this life of a gangster, but he's not ready, really," McMullen told RadioTimes.com. "I could see the child in him and that was kind of my way into understanding why he does the things that he does.

"I think, at the core of it, he's just a boy who's seeking approval from his parents... He just wants to be loved and accepted – and that drive can can push somebody to do terrible things."

While Jamie's plan is a failure that spirals wildly out of control, there is an upside to the risky scheme: the confession leaves Michael ejected from the Phelans' inner circle and sees Elaine turn her back on him for good.

After so many misjudgements and outright blunders throughout the first season, it was a much-needed win for Jamie.

"I was really pleased when I read the ending, to be honest, because I felt like he needed that moment of resolution," McMullen continued. "I think that's one of the things that really drives him through the series.

"He's the only one who works out what happened to his dad and he's gaslit all the way through the series. I think he just wants to be proven right. He feels like he's going crazy, and to have that moment at the end... that really gives him some sort of resolve, so he can start grieving."

Can Jamie and Melissa Phelan's marriage survive his behaviour?

Melissa (Darci Shaw) is notably absent from the hostage exchange, with Elaine taking her place and claiming that Jamie's wife would have "throttled" him on sight for putting their baby in harm's way.

Throughout the season, it would be fair to say that Jamie and Melissa's union isn't the most loving of on-screen relationships, especially considering how he essentially ignores her appeals to tone down hostilities against Michael. So, what's going on there?

McMullen told RadioTimes.com: "[Melissa] kind of plays the part of not being involved in the business, but then in these private moments with Jamie, I feel like she's a real mentor and she's playing the game.

"I think there is probably love there. We don't get a lot of moments with them – there are some, but I guess they're in crisis from the very beginning. So I think people in those situations can become a little bit fraught."

Why does Michael Kavanagh provoke Jamie Phelan at the car park?

Given Jamie's reputation for dangerous outbursts, it really wasn't wise for Michael to start hurling insults after their hostages had been safely exchanged – including one cutting remark mentioning his late father (or 'arl fella', to use the scouse slang).

On the rare instance of Michael losing his cool, Nelson-Joyce said: "Michael's been brought up through Ronnie ['s rules]: You don't snatch women off the street, you don't kill your mates...

"Everything's happened because of Jamie's f**k-up, for lack of a better word, and I think he's just had enough. He's tired, he's worn out; everything he sees his future to be could have been gone in the blink of an eye with Diana getting snatched."

He continued: "[Jamie] can do no wrong in his mum's eyes. It's like a little slap on the wrist every time he does something wrong... And I think it's Michael just putting him in his place.

"No one's ever challenged Michael like that before. [It's] the absolute disrespect: You've turned up at my house, you've smashed my house up, I beat you in a fight and then you still stab me – it's a build-up of things."

Nelson-Joyce added: "Michael wants out, and he says, 'You can have the business, you can do what you want, just leave me and Diana alone.' But yet, still Jamie's chipping away and chipping away; if Michael could get his hands on him there and then, it would be game over for him."

How does Ricardo's murder set up a potential season 2?

After the nerve-wracking sequence atop the car park, This City Is Ours drops another bombshell on viewers with the shocking murder of Colombian cocaine supplier Ricardo (Daniel Cerqueira) by Michael's closest ally, Banksey (Mike Noble).

The killing is retaliation after Ricardo planted a bomb in Banksey's car, which very nearly detonated with himself and his teenage son, Freddie (Adam Abbou), still inside the vehicle.

Nelson-Joyce was firmly in favour of ending the show with the impulsive gesture from Banksey, who he describes as the "straight-talking right-hand man everyone wants".

He said: "I think such a clever way to end it. You see Ricardo walking out, strolling along. Is he on his way to Michael? Is he on his way to Jamie? Where's Ricardo off to? And then, boom! You know where he's off to.

"It's lovely that it finishes on Banksey, because Mike Noble is a brilliant actor... I love it."

Co-star McMullen says that it leaves plenty of ground to cover in a potential second season, as Ricardo's death is just one of several unstable elements left in play by creator and screenwriter Stephen Butchard.

"He set it up so nicely," he said. "They've made a deal with another group, so they want to fulfil that. There's been a murder of the [leader of the] previous group – and now there's this rift in the gang.

"So yeah, I'm so interested to see what will happen next, and hopefully I get to read those scripts from Stephen soon, because we've got no idea."

This City is Ours is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Episodes air Sundays on BBC One.

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