--- title: "This City Is Ours" year: 2025 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/this-city-is-ours" fi1m_id: "this-city-is-ours" imdb_id: "tt31438328" tmdb_id: 255570 wikidata_id: "Q126192641" fi1m_score: 73 critics_score: 62 critics_reviews: 8 published: "2026-09-12" updated: "2026-09-12T20:02:08.751666+00:00" region: "EC" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # This City Is Ours (2025) Created by Stephen Butchard · Drama, Crime ## Identity This City Is Ours - **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/this-city-is-ours - **Type:** Series - **Fi1m ID:** this-city-is-ours - **IMDb ID:** tt31438328 - **TMDB ID:** 255570 - **Wikidata ID:** Q126192641 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31438328/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/255570, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q126192641 **Fi1m score: 73** · Critics 62 from 8 reviews *In a sentence:* A cocaine empire is a poor place to discuss your feelings, which is why we stayed > James Nelson-Joyce makes this Liverpool crime drama worth the familiar gangland manoeuvring. Michael and Diana’s relationship gives it a reason to hold our attention when the business of betrayal starts to feel routine. ## Synopsis In Liverpool, Michael Kavanagh (James Nelson-Joyce) is involved in a cocaine business where family ties and commercial loyalties overlap. His relationship with Diana Williams (Hannah Onslow) brings its own pressures, as the couple face fertility struggles while trying to build a life together. Around them are Ronnie Phelan (Sean Bean), Elaine Phelan (Julie Graham) and Jamie Phelan (Jack McMullen). The criminal dealings run alongside disputes within families and the demands of romantic relationships. Stephen Butchard writes the eight-part crime drama, directed by Saul Dibb and Eshref Reybrouck. ## Review Stephen Butchard’s *This City Is Ours* is worth starting for James Nelson-Joyce, and worth staying with for the relationship at its centre. The Liverpool cocaine business supplies the family tensions, divided loyalties and reasons to suspect almost everyone. We have seen plenty of this before, and the criminal plotting is not consistently fresh enough to disguise it. Butchard gives Michael Kavanagh enough to want in his private life that the next business complication need not carry the whole programme. Michael’s relationship with Diana Williams, played by Hannah Onslow, is where the writing becomes more particular. Their fertility struggles make the prospect of an ordinary family life difficult in a way that criminal influence cannot readily fix. We were moved more than we expected by Michael’s hurt. Nelson-Joyce makes that openness convincing without making Michael’s occupation easier to excuse. Onslow gives Diana enough presence for her stake in their future to matter too. Sean Bean’s Ronnie Phelan provides the threat, and Bean’s authority remains useful even when the situation is familiar. Julie Graham’s Elaine Phelan is another good reason to pay attention to the family scenes; the performance gives them weight that the gangster plotting does not always earn. These are actors who can make us take a character seriously before the script has quite justified it. That helps, but it also makes the less convincing stretches of Butchard’s writing more noticeable. Saul Dibb and Eshref Reybrouck direct, with Joel Devlin’s cinematography giving the criminals’ affluence an appreciable appeal. That matters in a genre that can treat enjoying the money as a lapse in seriousness. Here, the comfort helps explain the attachment to the business and the fear of losing it. The family relationships also benefit from this sense that there is a life being lived between the threats. Sarah Peczek and Andrew MacRitchie’s editing keeps the criminal pressures close to the couple’s private difficulties across eight episodes. That connection is useful: Michael’s worries matter because the programme continues to make room for them alongside the business. Rael Jones’s music supports the tension, though it is the possibility of someone admitting a weakness that holds our attention most securely. We could have used fewer reminders that loyalties in this line of work are unreliable. The limitation is how often the crime story relies on our existing appetite for powerful families behaving badly. Butchard’s dialogue has wit, and the attention to the cocaine trade as a business gives the dealings some substance. Even so, the betrayals do not all feel equally necessary, and familiarity sometimes does the work that a more persuasive chain of decisions should do. Anyone already tired of gangland family disputes and wounded male pride will find stretches that test their patience. Give it a try if you want a crime drama that spends time on what its men struggle to say at home. The price is some plotting that will hold few surprises for regular viewers of this genre. If Michael and Diana do not interest you, eight episodes of the business around them may be more commitment than is sensible. *Fi1m score 73, published 12 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics respond warmly to This City Is Ours, with praise clustering around the performances and the attention paid to family, romance and the business of the cocaine trade. James Nelson-Joyce draws particular notice as Michael, whose emotional conflicts give the crime story weight. The favourable reviews find tension in shifting loyalties, but also value the space given to Michael and Diana’s relationship and to questions of masculinity beyond violence. The spread is wide, with two strongly negative assessments challenging precisely the depth that others admire. The Guardian finds little heart or reason to care about the characters, despite strong performances from Bean and Graham. The i Paper goes further, finding the script implausible and its attempts to emulate The Godfather derivative. Even among the favourable reviews, some early plotting attracts reservations; the disagreement centres on whether these familiar gangland ingredients produce convincing human drama. ## Straight answers **Is This City Is Ours worth watching?** *This City Is Ours* is worth watching for James Nelson-Joyce and for the relationship between Michael and Diana at its centre, and we scored it 73. The Liverpool cocaine plotting is familiar and not every betrayal feels necessary. If the couple's private struggles do not hold you, eight episodes of gangland manoeuvring may be more commitment than is sensible. **Where can I watch This City Is Ours in Ecuador?** *This City Is Ours* is not on any streaming or rental service in Ecuador at the moment. It is available in 14 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is This City Is Ours, and is it suitable for children?** *This City Is Ours* is an adult crime drama about a Liverpool cocaine business, and it is not made for children. It carries no certificate, so we can only go on its subject: drug dealing, threat between criminal families, betrayal, and a couple's fertility struggles. Teenagers used to the genre will manage; younger viewers have no reason to be there. **How does This City Is Ours compare to The Long Good Friday?** *This City Is Ours* and [*The Long Good Friday*](https://film.one/film/the-long-good-friday) both follow a criminal businessman finding out how little his prosperity protects him, but the older film is the tighter and sharper of the two. Bob Hoskins gives it a fury and comedy that the series does not attempt. Choose *This City Is Ours* if you want time spent on a relationship over eight episodes; choose *The Long Good Friday* for a single evening that stays with you. **What should I watch after This City Is Ours?** After *This City Is Ours*, try [*The Long Good Friday*](https://film.one/film/the-long-good-friday) (1980, Fi1m 88): A criminal businessman discovers how little control prosperity has bought him. Then [*The Sopranos*](https://film.one/tv/the-sopranos) (1999, Fi1m 94): Family obligations and wounded male pride keep intruding on criminal business; and [*Animal Kingdom*](https://film.one/film/animal-kingdom) (2010, Fi1m 84): An Australian crime family makes belonging feel dangerous long before loyalties shift. ### Reviews we read (8) - **The Telegraph**, Anita Singh (80/100, inferred): The critic praises it as a superb steely gangland drama and tense crime thriller of betrayals and shifting loyalties, highlighting strong performances especially from Nelson-Joyce. They single out the family dynamics and business elements of the cocaine trade. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/this-city-is-ours-bbc-one-review/) - **The Times** (75/100, inferred): The critic notes the witty and authentic dialogue and refreshing modern take showing criminals enjoying their affluence. They single out the focus on family dynamics, romantic love and the human condition alongside the violence. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/this-city-is-ours-review-sean-beans-grit-graces-this-merseyside-mob-tale-rmnckm892) - **Radio Times**, David Craig (70/100, inferred): The series is a thrilling watch with fascinating characters and surprises, though the predictable early death of Sean Bean's character is a missed opportunity for impact. Praises the tense drama delivered in the remaining episodes and the standout performances. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/this-city-is-ours-sean-bean-death-comment/) - **The Independent**, Phil Harrison (70/100, inferred): The critic finds moral ambivalence elevates it above average crime drama, viewing modern masculinity through the lens of a cocaine empire. They single out the conflicted emotional openness of the central character Michael. [Read](https://independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/this-city-is-ours-review-bbc-b2718639.html) - **The Guardian** (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the series lacking emotional depth and heart despite strong performances from Bean and Graham, calling it generic and empty at its core. They single out the performances as tempering the emptiness but note no one to root for. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/mar/23/this-city-is-ours-review-there-is-zero-emotional-depth-to-sean-bean-new-gang-drama-bbc) - **The i Paper**, Ed Power (20/100, inferred): The critic finds the series derivative and embarrassing in its attempt to emulate The Godfather, with an implausible and turgid script that even Sean Bean's charisma can't save. The one thing singled out is Bean's reliable sinister performance. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/this-city-is-ours-review-godfather-embarrassing-3597471) - **Digital Spy**, Janet A Leigh (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the series more nuanced than a typical gangster drama, particularly in its exploration of masculinity through the protagonist's fertility struggles and relationship. It singles out the central relationship between Michael and Diana for praise as providing high stakes. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a64272165/this-city-is-ours-bbc-review/) - **NME**, Ralph Jones (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the Liverpool crime drama gripping due to its layered storylines beyond violence, particularly the personal struggles of characters like Michael and Diana, and praises the strong performances, especially James Nelson-Joyce as Michael. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/tv-reviews/this-city-is-ours-review-sean-bean-james-nelson-joyce-3847558) ## Details - **Created by:** Stephen Butchard - **Creator:** Stephen Butchard - **Director:** Saul Dibb, Eshref Reybrouck - **Writer:** Stephen Butchard - **Cinematography:** Joel Devlin - **Editor:** Sarah Peczek, Andrew MacRitchie - **Music:** Rael Jones - **Producer:** Simon Maloney - **Cast:** James Nelson-Joyce as Michael Kavanagh; Hannah Onslow as Diana Williams; Julie Graham as Elaine Phelan; Mike Noble as Banksey; Laura Aikman as Rachel Duffy; Jack McMullen as Jamie Phelan; Leanne Best as Lesley Williams; Kevin Harvey as Bobby Duffy - **Release (Ecuador):** 23 March 2025 - **Genres:** Drama, Crime - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9irsgS7DEUI ## Where to watch in Ecuador Not streaming, renting or buying in Ecuador at the last check. Also available in: AU, BG, CA, CZ, DE, GB, HR, HU, IN, PL, RO, RS, SI, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Long Good Friday* (1980), Fi1m 88: A criminal businessman discovers how little control prosperity has bought him. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-long-good-friday.md) - *The Sopranos* (1999), Fi1m 94: Family obligations and wounded male pride keep intruding on criminal business. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-sopranos.md) - *Animal Kingdom* (2010), Fi1m 84: An Australian crime family makes belonging feel dangerous long before loyalties shift. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/animal-kingdom.md) - *Gomorrah* (2008), Fi1m 84: For a harsher account of organised crime and the people sustaining it. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/gomorrah.md) - *Pusher* (1996): Street-level drug dealing turns ordinary obligations into reasons for mounting panic. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/this-city-is-ours