Sean Bean To Play Gang Leader In BBC Drama Series ‘This City Is Ours’ From ‘The Crown’ Producer Left Bank

Max Goldbart
·2-min read

Sean Bean is to star as a gang leader in Stephen Butchard’s epic Liverpool-set crime series This City is Ours [working title] from The Crown producer Left Bank.

The two-time BAFTA winning Game of Thrones alum will play Ronnie Phelan in the series, which will also feature James Nelson-Joyce (Bird, A Thousand Blows) as Ronnie’s friend, Michael Kavanagh, Hannah Onslow (Empire of Light, This Is Going to Hurt) as Diana Williams, Michael’s partner, and Jack McMullen (Hijack, Ford V Ferrari) as Ronnie’s son, Jamie Phelan. Also joining the cast are Laura Aikman (Archie, Gavin & Stacey) as Rachel Duffy, Kevin Harvey (Treason, Time) as Bobby Duffy, Saoirse-Monica Jackson (Derry Girls, Upgraded) as Cheryl Crawford, Mike Noble (Shardlake, The Long Shadow) as Banksey, Bobby Schofield (SAS Rogue Heroes, The Suspect) as Bonehead, Darci Shaw (Judy, A Thousand Blows) as Melissa Phelan, and Stephen Walters (Slow Horses, Anne) as Davy Crawford.

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Created by Butchard (The Good Mothers), and directed by Saul Dibb (The Salisbury Poisonings) and John Hayes (Nightsleeper), This City is Ours follows Kavanagh’s journey working with Phelan as he falls in love for the first time and sees in his future something to win and something to lose, which is set against the backdrop of the disintegration of his gang.

Bean’s previous BBC series was 2022’s Marriage opposite Nicola Walker. That same year he won a BAFTA for BBC prison drama Time. He also featured as Thomas Cromwell in Butchard’s Disney+ series Shardlake.

“It’s a joy to see cameras rolling on This City is Ours with a glorious cast who have made Stephen Butchard’s sublime scripts even more exciting,” said BBC drama boss Lindsay Salt.

The series was unveiled on a 12-strong BBC drama slate featuring another Left Bank series, Dear England, as the indie plots a Crown-less future. Speaking to Deadline in February, Left Bank boss Andy Harries said This City is Ours, which costs between £2.5M ($3.2M) to £3M ($3.8M) per episode and is being deficit financed by Left Bank owner Sony, is reflective of Left Bank’s strategy to make shows at lower price points.

This City is Ours is written by lead writer Butchard with Robbie O’Neill writing further episodes. Producer is Simon Maloney (Peaky Blinders, I May Destroy You). Executive producers are Harries, Rebecca Hodgson and Sian McWilliams for Left Bank, Butchard and Dibb, and Jo McClellan for the BBC. Sony Pictures Television will distribute the series internationally. Additional funding and support comes from the Liverpool Film Office through its Liverpool City Region Production Fund.

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