This City Is Ours is a British crime drama television series created by Stephen Butchard for BBC One. Set in Liverpool, it was produced by Left Bank Pictures and premiered on 23 March 2025. In May 2025, it was renewed for a second series.
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Synopsis
The series centres around Liverpudlian crime boss Ronnie Phelan, whose desire to retire from criminal life, after one last major drug deal, triggers an intense power struggle between his long-time right-hand man, Michael Kavanagh, and Phelan's impetuous son Jamie.
Cast and characters
Sean Bean as Ronnie Phelan, leader of the gang
James Nelson-Joyce as Michael Kavanagh, Ronnie's right-hand man
Hannah Onslow as Diana Williams, Michael's girlfriend, a restaurant manager
Jack McMullen as Jamie Phelan, Ronnie's son and a senior gang member
Darci Shaw as Melissa Sullivan, Jamie's fiancée and mother of his baby son
Julie Graham as Elaine Phelan, Ronnie's wife and Jamie's mother
Laura Aikman as Rachel Duffy, Jamie's cousin and the gang's accountant
Stephen Walters as Davey Crawford, a senior gang member
Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Cheryl Crawford, Davey's wife
Mike Noble as Banksey, Michael's right-hand man and enforcer
Bobby Schofield as Peter "Bonehead" Murphy, Jamie's right-hand man and enforcer
Kevin Harvey as Robert "Bobby" Duffy, Rachel's husband and a senior gang member
Daniel Cerqueira as Ricardo Guzman, a senior representative of 'the Amigos', the Colombian cartel from which the gang buys its cocaine
Leanne Best as Lesley Williams, Diana's mother, serving a life sentence for the murder of Diana's father
Adam Abbou as Freddie, Banksey's son who helps the gang in their activities
Production
The eight-part series was commissioned in February 2024. Andy Harries of Left Bank Pictures served as an executive producer, Butchard is lead writer and Robbie O’Neill is writing further episodes. In May 2024, Sean Bean was confirmed in the lead role and the cast also includes James Nelson-Joyce, Hannah Onslow, Jack McMullen, Julie Graham, Laura Aikman, Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Darci Shaw.
This City is Ours has filming locations including Liverpool and Spain with filming underway in May 2024. Filming of the second series commenced in October 2025.
Broadcast
This City Is Ours premiered on 23 March 2025 on BBC One with all the episodes made available on BBC iPlayer.
On 5 March 2026, the series began streaming in the United States on AMC+.
Reception
Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph awarded the show five stars and praised the performances, especially Nelson-Joyce. Carol Midgley in The Times awarded the show four stars and praised the "modern, witty and authentic" dialogue, as well as the on-screen chemistry between Nelson-Joyce and Sean Bean. Lucy Mangan in The Guardian also praised the performances but awarded the show three stars, finding it rather "generic”. Rachel Cooke for The New Statesman described it as "marvellous and witty" and compared it to a "superior Scouse Dallas", with "its unfeeling, brutish men" and "its ruthlessly ambitious women". Phil Harrison for The Independent gave the show four stars, commenting that the moral complexities and depth of the characters raised the drama from cliche. Dan Einav in The Financial Times described it as "solid but unspectacular", noting that the "idiosyncrasies of Liverpudlian speech, clothing and humour are not simply background details — they are made integral to the identity" of the series.
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 93% approval rating based on 14 critic reviews.
Accolades
The series was nominated for Best Drama at the 2026 British Academy Television Awards, with Nelson-Joyce nominated for acting. The series was nominated for Best Drama at the 2026 Royal Television Society Programme Awards.