Peter Reynolds

Spectacular. If the creative people involved in this are given their head and supported by production and financing this could be the next Sopranos. I can’t say more than that. It’s on the BBC and no doubt will be more widely available soon

It’s thrilling, captivating, contemporary with a great sense of Liverpool and drug gangsterism. It’s also terrifying because it is so realistic. Very well judged, not sensationalist just real.

As Left Bank Pictures explains:

“This City is Ours is the story of Michael, a man who for all of his adult life has been involved in organised crime, working for his friend and the gang leader Ronnie. When Ronnie begins to hint at retirement, Michael too begins to imagine another life. Because, for the first time in his life, Michael is in love. For the first time in his life, he sees beyond the day-to-day, he sees a future: something to win and something to lose – Diana.”

It is above all else a love story and if there isn’t a second series I shall be bereft. Diana is Carmela Soprano dialled up to 11 and Michael is, like Tony, not a very attractive man but powerfully magnetic.

It is the passionate intensity of their relationship that makes this stand out. A masterclass in writing, acting and direction with the best production standards.