'Gangs of London' Lands Season 4 Commission

There are very few long-running shows one could call victims of the streaming era. Most shows from the last few decades that ran smack into the headwinds of the oversaturated TV market simply never made it to Season 2. A few managed to eke out enough renewals to break through finally; Industry, for example, was heading towards long-running oblivion until someone at HBO pulled their head out of the sand and remembered that to get people to watch new series, you have to market them. Thus far, Gangs of London has also managed to persevere, with the show renewed for Season 4 even though Season 3 has yet to be released in the US, and it is unlikely to perform well when it does. 

In the era before streaming, Gangs of London would have been a significant part of AMC's linear channel or a massive hit for BBC America. The series' top-line actors include Game of Thrones' Michelle Fairley, Star Trek's Colm Meaney, and Slow Horses' Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù. The original showrunner, Gareth Evans, was known for his heightened, violent dramas that appeal to Americans. However, Season 1 was released on the newly launched and deeply under-subscribed-to AMC+ when it first crossed the pond, and the reality is that it has never recovered from that.

Sky and AMC have attempted multiple times to address what is actually a marketing and reach issue by rearranging the deck chairs behind the scenes. Season 2 was handed to Corin Hardy (The Nun); when that didn't magically fix it, Season 3 went to Kin's Peter McKenna, who wound up paired with South Korean filmmaker Kim Hong-Sun. It will come as no surprise that the two are not included in the Season 4 announcement.

A lack of a creative team or direction for Season 4 also means a lack of a synopsis. However, Season 4 will also walk in with a lack of leading men. Both Joe Cole (The Ipcress File) and Lucian Msamati (a fellow Game of Thrones alum), who have been major players in the show's first three seasons, and who should have, by rights, become far better known in America for their turns in it, exited at the end of Season 3.

However, with those characters departing, the show's producer, Hugh Warren, one of the few people not in front of the camera involved in every season, has said fans should "expect the unexpected."  

“We have some great things in mind, because we don’t want to disappoint people," he told Variety after the Season 3 finale aired on Sky. "There’s a clue in the title: Gangs of London is plural. The original concept was always that it could be a rolling theme and that the gangs would be different. We are thinking through all those issues around the next season. There’ll be some new characters and some new surprises.”

Turning Gangs of London into a semi-anthology series after its first three seasons isn't a bad move, especially if you're hoping to pull it from a failing streaming service to soft reboot elsewhere. Moreover, at least a few faces will probably carry over for continuity. Dìrísù and Fairley remain significant characters in the show, and Andrew Koji (of Koji & Kath) has evolved into a substantial figure. Other actors who could reprise their roles include Pippa Bennett-Warner (Moonflower Murders), Brian Vernel (The Last Kingdom), and Season 3 additions Richard Dormer (COBRA) and T'Nia Miller (Years & Years).

Dìrísù's character will likely also continue to survive, as he's an executive producer on the series, alongside Thomas Benski, Michael Eagle-Hodgson, Vikki Tennant, Hugh Warren for Pulse Films, Adrian Sturges for Sky Studios, and Noel Manzano for AMC+. Writers and directors will hopefully be announced before filming commences on Season 4. Hey, maybe Season 3 will even have arrived on AMC+ by then.

Gangs of London Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on AMC+, Season 3 is still TBD. Season 4 is expected to start filming before the end of the year and debut on Sky in late 2026 or early 2027.