The new trailer for Stephen Graham's upcoming show A Thousand Blows has been released and the powerhouse actor looks absolutely fantastic.
We're not just talking about his performance here, since Graham's performances are so good that his presence in a show can pretty much be taken as a marker of quality, but the body transformation he's gone through for this is seriously impressive.
Check out the trailer:
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, another marker of quality in the books of many TV viewers, A Thousand Blows follows the journey of Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) as he journeys to London with his friend Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall).
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As you can probably tell from the trailer, there's an awful lot of boxing involved as Hezekiah gets into the ring and has to contend with the big bad guy Henry 'Sugar' Goodson (Graham).
Meanwhile, there seems to be all sorts of criminal machinations going on around Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), the leader of London's largest all-female gang the Forty Elephants.
As if this all didn't sound juicy enough, A Thousand Blows is based on a true story as Hezekiah Moscow, Mary Carr and Sugar Goodson were all real people and the Forty Elephants was a real criminal gang.
The historical foundation makes it a particular treat for Knight, who has spoken glowingly of all the work that went into making the show.
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He said: "The love and care that went into this thrilling production is evident on screen from the first moment.
"What makes the story we tell all the more compelling is that it is based on the lives of real people who lived extraordinary lives in extraordinary times."
Meanwhile, the release of the trailer has given us the first chance to see Stephen Graham's muscular frame in motion.
He's playing a Victorian boxer so you'd expect him to look big and burly, but Graham has really outdone himself in preparing for this performance.
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Over one pec, he's got a tattoo of a lady and on the other one a bird is inked, while he's wearing those high-waisted trousers one would expect a pugilist of the past to have on.
All in all, the show looks like it's going to be quite the treat when it becomes available to stream next month, so it's time to start planning when you're going to sit down and watch A Thousand Blows.
A Thousand Blows will release on Hulu via Disney+ on 21 February.
Topics: Stephen Graham, TV and Film, Disney Plus
Joe Harker