This city is ours. Bbc1

I quite fancy it travelsafar. Might give it 2 penn’orth worth tomorrow.
I read a review in the Telegraph about it today which was highly favourable.
I’ll see if I can find it & cut and paste for anyone interested.

We watched it, meant to put Protection on, but put the wrong channel and went with it. Went with it and wow really enjoyed it. Will probably wait until next t week for next episode as it is heavy duty and want to watch both sides which are at the same time and both a bit heavy duty.

Here it is …

Anita Singh

“You’ve got to hand it to Sean Bean: he’s absolutely committed to his own accent. In This City Is Ours (BBC One), he plays the boss of a Liverpool crime family. The show has already been dubbed the Scouse Sopranos, and everyone else in the cast is either a real-life Scouser or has put effort into sounding like one. And then there’s Bean, happily sticking with his South Yorkshire brogue, which is explained in the first scene with a reference to Sheffield steel.

Anyway, of course this isn’t as good as The Sopranos, so let’s dispense with that comparison. But it’s cracking. I binged all eight episodes, and I’m not a fan of dramas about drugs and guns.

It’s a tense crime thriller of betrayals and shifting loyalties, but it’s also about family dynamics and the day-to-day of running a successful business when that business happens to be dealing in shipments of cocaine. This line of work buys nice houses, expensive garden furniture and shiny Range Rovers.

The glamorous WAGs acknowledge where the money comes from and turn a blind eye to the less salubrious aspects. Life can be fun: see the family christening where everyone gets dolled up and, a little surreally, perform a dance routine to House of Bamboo by Andy Williams. This isn’t a humourless drama.

Things have ticked along nicely with Ronnie Phelan (Bean) steering the ship, aided by sidekick Michael Kavanagh (James Nelson-Joyce). Trouble comes in the form of Ronnie’s son, Jamie (Jack McMullen), a loose cannon whose jealousy of Michael sparks a power struggle.

People begin to take sides; do they fall in with Jamie because he’s a Phelan, or stick with Michael, who knows what he’s doing? One of the things that makes this series so strong is the way that supporting players come into their own, from middle-ranking crew members (Mike Noble and Kevin Harvey are especially good) to the troubled wife (Derry Girls’ Saoirse-Monica Jackson).

Bean is the headline name but he’s not the star of the show. That honour goes to Nelson-Joyce, a magnetic actor whose striking features give him the look of a puma on the prowl. Some of the themes are a bit clichéd, but Nelson-Joyce’s performance cuts through and all of the characters behave like real human beings, helped by writer Stephen Butchard’s authentic dialogue.

You can swot up on your Scouse slang as you go: “lemo” is cocaine, a “straightener” is sorting out a dispute through an old-fashioned fight. It all builds to an operatic climax – unlike The Sopranos, there’s no doubt about who lives to fight another day.“

You’re right, dogsmother, it is a bit heavy duty. I’m on Ep 4 and enjoying it. As that review says, Nelson-Joyce is superb. The relationship between him and his girlfriend is interesting - and more to be revealed, clearly.

I really enjoyed it (only watched the 1st episode). I agree that Nelson-Joyce is superb and perfectly cast. His girlfriend however, to me, is miscast. His character is a rough diamond and he has the looks of a really menacing thug, whereas his girlfriend could easily pass as a frumpy librarian (no offence to librarians, but you get my drift). I just can't see them as a couple.

I got totally confused as to who was who? and struggled at times to understand the accent but will stick with it.
The highlight is definitely James Nelson - Joyce what a star in the making, although I looked him up he's been in a lot of high profile programmes.

Curlywhirly

I really enjoyed it (only watched the 1st episode). I agree that Nelson-Joyce is superb and perfectly cast. His girlfriend however, to me, is miscast. His character is a rough diamond and he has the looks of a really menacing thug, whereas his girlfriend could easily pass as a frumpy librarian (no offence to librarians, but you get my drift). I just can't see them as a couple.

I thought that at first, but wait tolyoy’ve watched further episodes…….

Until you’ve

I've always had a bit of a thing about Sean Bean. He was filming a show here, 4 or 5 years ago, in local woods. My poor dog was dragged out for more walks than she was used to.

Didn't catch a glimpse. Interesting to watch how they film though.

I'll try this, thanks for recommendation, I'd not heard of it

travelsafar

New Sunday night series. I'm binge watching. It's complicated but very good. Some old faces, Sean Bean and Julie Graham and some new faces too. If you like gangster type programmes you probably enjoy this.

I am watching it too but so far not as good as Gangs of London and Kin. If you like these kinds of series, then check those two out too.

I’m looking forward to a series which doesn’t include violence, police, gangs and drugs. Too much to ask?

I don't usually like gangster-type dramas but Sean Bean is a great actor and I'll probably give this a go (there goes my resolution to watch less TV!).

Travelsafar

My chaps are all enjoying it.

Unfortunately though I think it rather inappropriate viewing for a Sunday. I recall the theft of a bicycle on 'Heartbeat' being a major crime!!
.

Doesn’t sound like my type of thing despite the good actors/acting.

Love Sean Bean and really like Julie Graham. She was in a very recent drama about a poor family who become rich and she played the grandma really well.

I believe she was also in At Home with The Braithwaites some years ago which I enjoyed.

On our list to watch soon, sounds right up our street. Thanks for the reviews.

Watched the first episode. It was ok. I had a lot of trouble making out the dialogue at times - could have done with subtitles. Not sure atm whether to continue.

glammagran

Watched the first episode. It was ok. I had a lot of trouble making out the dialogue at times - could have done with subtitles. Not sure atm whether to continue.

It gets better!

Is it available to binge watch? With the state of my memory I really need to watch these things in one go!

travelsafar, sorry, I see it's available to binge! I forgot you'd mentioned it.

Rula

I've always had a bit of a thing about Sean Bean. He was filming a show here, 4 or 5 years ago, in local woods. My poor dog was dragged out for more walks than she was used to.

Didn't catch a glimpse. Interesting to watch how they film though.

I'll try this, thanks for recommendation, I'd not heard of it

I always think of him as the gamekeeper in Lady Chatterley's Lover!

Brilliant. The music was good too. Had to put subtitles on, sometimes!.

If you like this you’ll probably enjoy “Kin”, which was excellent.

LucyAnna5 watched episode 2 and it was better.

I watched Kin and thought that was very good.

I watched some of the first series of Gangs of London and thought it was appalling. The violence in it was sickening.