The First Images From 'A Thousand Blows' Take Us Into the World of Victorian Boxing

Steven Knight's wildly popular Peaky Blinders changed the period drama genre, adding gritty realism and unapologetic violence to the world of a Birmingham gang family's rise to power in 1920s England. The show was so successful it ran for six seasons and has spawned a feature film that's slated to start filming later this year. Now, Knight is hoping to do the same for the world of illegal Victorian boxing with his next series, A Thousand Blows. The Hulu drama is set in 1880s London and follows the story of two friends from Jamaica who find themselves drawn into the violent world of East London's underground bare-knuckle boxing scene.

Malachi Kirby (Wicked Little Letters) stars as Hezekiah Moskow, an immigrant whose success in the ring draws him into a dangerous rivalry with a veteran boxer named Sugar Goodson. Hezekiah's skills will also apparently catch the eye of international thief Mary Carr, the leader of the infamous girl gang The Forty Elephants, whose members were known for their skill in shoplifting and fencing stolen items.

Hulu has released a trio of first-look photos from the upcoming drama, which show off three of the series' main characters: Kirby's somewhat wide-eyed Hezekiah, Stephen Graham's (Bodies) grizzled prizefighter Sugar, and Erin Doherty's (The Crown) colorful thief Carr. The atmosphere of the images feels like peak Steven Knight, and though the series is set a few decades earlier than Peaky Blinders, none of these characters look as though they'd be out of place in that series' Birmingham. (Take from that what you will.)