Paramount+ Finally Reveals the Plot of 'MobLand'

The rush to get MobLand out by the end of March so that the finale would air before the 2024-2025 Emmy nominations eligibility period ended on June 1 has been edging on desperate. No one wants to admit defeat in the streaming wars, nor do they want to be swept out when a new regime comes in this summer after the Skydance-Paramount merger closes. (Despite some setbacks, that is still expected to happen in the next 90 days or so.) A hit show right before the deal wraps up would most likely save one, though probably not all three, of the current CEOs* when the new owners want to see the financials, and MobLand has all the ingredients to be one. 

(*Yes, Paramount has three CEOs. No, don't ask. Just do us all a favor, and don't call them the Pep Boys.)

Considering the series had all of 30 days of marketing before its debut, it took years to get to this point. The show was first conceived by Showtime in 2019 as a spinoff of the network's 2010s era hit, Ray Donovan, about an Irish mob fixer. Somewhere along the way, director Guy Ritchie was hired to create the new series, which would be about the rest of the Donovan clan back in the U.K. 

However, you don't hire an auteur writer-director like Ritchie to recycle old series into new ones, especially in a genre where he is considered one of the premiere voices. Perhaps if the show had hired Ray Donovan creator Ann Biderman to return, we might have gotten what Showtime was after. Instead, he first tossed the Donovan framework for his original story, then, being Guy Ritchie, he hired some of the biggest names in British movies and TV (as one does) and started shooting. Due to that workflow, it's taken until now for the production to develop a proper synopsis... five days before the show premieres.

Finally, here is the show's synopsis, which follows the same outlines as when this show was The Donovans (and then briefly called The Associates). However, it gives a sense of the scope of the series' ambitions and hints at who the family is facing.

Power is up for grabs as the Harrigans and Stevensons, two warring London crime families, clash in a kill-or-be-killed battle that threatens to topple empires and ruin lives. Caught in the crossfire is Harry Da Souza, the street-smart ‘fixer’ as dangerous as he is handsome, who knows too well where loyalties lie when opposing forces collide. As kingdom goes up against kingdom, lines will be crossed - and the only saving grace is a bet-your-life guarantee: family above everything.

Tom Hardy (Peaky Blinders) stars as Harry Da Souza, a professional conciliator on behalf of the Harrigan family; Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey) is Harry's wife, Jan. Pierce Brosnan (James Bond), and Helen Mirren (The Queen), are his employers, Conrad and Maeve Harrigan. Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon) co-stars as Harrigan heir, Kevin; Lara Pulver (Sherlock) is Kevin's wife, Bella; Anson Boon (Pistol) is their son, Eddie.

Supporting cast includes Jasmine Jobson (Top Boy), Geoff Bell (His Dark Materials), Mandeep Dhillon (The Good Karma Hospital), Daniel Betts (After the Flood), Lisa Dwan (Blackshore), and Emily Barber (Industry).

Ronan Bennett (Day of the Jackal) and Jez Butterworth (The Agency) penned all ten episodes, with Ritchie directing all installments. All three serve as executive producers along with Hardy; the rest of the executive team includes Keith Cox, Nina L. Diaz, David C. Glasser, Kris Thykier, Ivan Atkinson, Hardy, Dean Baker, Ron Burkle, David Hutkin, and Bob Yari.

MobLand will premiere on Paramount+ on Sunday, March 30, 2025, and stream weekly on Sundays through the end of May.