A Thousand Blows (2025)

If you think of Victorian-era shows, you probably think more of PBS’s Miss Scarlet or HBO’s The Nevers. But A Thousand Blows is another Victorian London set historical drama focused on the Forty Elephants, an all-female crime syndicate involved in the world of illegal bare-knuckle boxing in the 1880s London and on two immigrants from Jamaica. Historically-minded, and yet surprisingly female focused a lot of the times, A Thousand Blows is fast-paced, thrilling, bloody and an interesting look at a time period that we often only see through a very differ

Created by Steven Knight and a spiritual sibling to his earlier work on Peaky Blinders, the critically acclaimed A Thousand Blows blends a crime thriller with a time-period sports drama to great effect. The show follows three figures in late 19th-century London: newly arrived Jamaican boxer Hezekiah Moscow, his unlikely rival Sugar Goodson, and the street-level criminal mastermind Mary Carr. The brilliantly acted character drama remains compelling even when the attention shifts focus to the boxing ring or a heist against the British crown, underscoring the true dramatic heft of the show.