AMC+ Gives First Look At 'Gangs of London' Season 2
The critically acclaimed first series became the biggest Sky Original drama launch on Sky Atlantic of the past five years. Set one year after the tumultuous events of series one, Gangs of London series two charts London’s map and soul being redrawn. Since the collapse of the Wallace Dumani empire, order is lacking, and the energy and chaos of a gold rush threatens the city with gangland anarchy. The Investors are viewing the city as a place of ruin and decide to intervene. Licensing a new gang to restore stability, drama instead ensues. This brutal enforcer brings a new kind of authority, coldly designed to terrorise the other gangs into submission. Anyone doing business in the city must now go through them, and our gangs must decide where their loyalties lie if they are to survive. Who will win the battle for the soul of London?
© 2021 Sky UK Limited / AMC LLC.
AMC+ is still part of the upstart set of services that arrived in the second wave of the streaming wars. However, its niche seems to be British-set dramas, fantasy shows about vampires, and the occasional insistence The Walking Dead is still relevant. (Spoiler alert, not so much on that last one.) One of the streaming services' biggest hits has been Gangs of London, a sprawling gangland series based on a video game of the same name.
Season 1 was a Sky Atlantic production, done in conjunction with HBO before the sale of WarnerMedia to AT&T. But after moving the series from the HBO brand to the wastes of Cinemax, the network decided to ditch the production entirely. AMC Networks then picked up the series for its new streaming service and took control of the American half of Season 2. The new set of episodes finally got underway last June but has been beset by shutdowns and delays.
The first season was a ten-part series centering on the Wallace Family vs. the Dumani Family, along with the London Police attempting to keep the peace. The series also featured the Wallace Crime Syndicate members, the Albanian and Nigerian Mafia, Kurdish Militants, a Pakistani Heroin Ring, a couple of Danish Assassins, and a few Welsh Travellers. Though many of those characters were offed, Season 2 promises to be just as complex.
Here's the show's synopsis:
Set one year after the tumultuous events of series one, the second season charts London's map and soul being redrawn. Since the collapse of the Wallace Dumani empire, order is lacking, and the energy and chaos of a gold rush threatens the city with gangland anarchy. As The Investors step in, a new gang leader is tasked with restoring the status quo.
Season 2 promises the return of stars Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù (Humans) and Paapa Essiedu (Anne Boleyn). Other returning co-stars include Lucian Msamati (Game of Thrones), Michelle Fairley (The White Princess), Orli Shuka (Save Me), Pippa Bennett-Warner (Sick Note), Brian Vernel (The Last Kingdom), Narges Rashidi (Under the Shadow), Asif Raza (Khalish), and Valene Kane (The Fall).
New faces for the series replacing those like Joe Cole and Colm Meaney (whose characters were killed off in Season 1) include Waleed Zuaiter (The Spy), Fady El-Sayed (A Private War), Salem Kali (Dealer), Aymen Hamdouchi (Criminal: UK), and newcomer French rapper Jasmine Armando.
The series was one of Sky Atlantic's best debuts of the past five years, and its arrival on AMC+ just as the streamer launched as part of the initial driver for subscriptions. The show currently stands as one of AMC+'s most successful series to date.
Gangs of London Season 2 will return in 2022 to both Sky and AMC+. The series is expected to also premiere on AMC's linear cable channel, but it remains to be seen if it will be a months-long delay like Season 1 or a concurrent weekly release schedule.
