| This City Is Ours | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Created by | Stephen Butchard |
| Written by | Stephen Butchard Robbie O’Neill |
| Directed by | Saul Dibb John Hayes Eshref Reybrouck |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Rael Jones |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Simon Maloney |
| Production company | |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 23 March 2025 – present |
This City Is Ours is a 2025 BBC One crime drama television series, set in Liverpool, created by Stephen Butchard. It was produced by Left Bank Pictures and began broadcast on 23 March 2025.
The series centres on crime boss Ronnie Phelan, who's looking to retire, triggering a power struggle between his partner Michael Kavanagh, and his amibitious son Jamie.
The eight-part series was commissioned in February 2024. [1] Andy Harries of Left Bank Pictures served as an executive producer, Butchard is lead writer and Robbie O’Neill is writing further episodes. [2] 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. [3]
This City is Ours has filming locations including Liverpool and Spain with filming underway in May 2024. [4]
| No. | Episode | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | UK viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Episode 1 | Saul Dibb | Stephen Butchard | 23 March 2025 | TBD |
| 2 | Episode 2 | Saul Dibb | Stephen Butchard | TBA | TBD |
| 3 | Episode 3 | Saul Dibb | Stephen Butchard | TBA | TBD |
| 4 | Episode 4 | John Hayes | Robbie O'Neill | TBA | TBD |
| 5 | Episode 5 | John Hayes | Robbie O'Neill | TBA | TBD |
| 6 | Episode 6 | John Hayes | Stephen Butchard | TBA | TBD |
| 7 | Episode 7 | Eshref Reybrouck | Stephen Butchard | TBA | TBD |
| 8 | Episode 8 | Eshref Reybrouck | Stephen Butchard | TBA | TBD |
This City Is Ours premiered on 23 March 2025 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. [5]
Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph awarded the show five stars and praised the performances, especially Nelson-Joyce. [6] 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. [7] Lucy Mangan in The Guardian also praised the performances but awarded the show three stars, finding it rather "generic”. [8] Rachel Cooke for The New Statesman described it as "marvellous and witty" and compared it to a "superior Scouse Dallas". [9] 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. [10] Dan Einav in The Financial Times described it as "solid but unspectacular", noting that the "idiosyncrasies of Liverpudilian speech, clothing and humour are not simply background details — they are made integral to the identity" of the series. [11]