Three seasons in, Gangs of London hasn't lost any of its dark grandeur, with the British crime drama still delivering a potent mix of white-knuckle action and brooding pathos.
At its centre are characters navigating a foreboding urban landscape where brutality is as prized as ambition.
British-Nigerian actor Sope Dirisu, who plays undercover officer turned mob enforcer Elliot Finch, describes the series’ sprawling scope – involving warring multicultural criminal syndicates battling for control of London’s underworld – as positively Shakespearean.
“When I first met with Gareth [Evans, series co-creator] almost seven years ago, he spoke about the operatic nature of the series. And I think it's a very small step between opera and grand theatre, which is Shakespeare,” Dirisu tells The National.
Dirisu, who began his career with stints with London’s Royal Shakespeare Company, sees Elliot as a figure drawn from that tradition – torn between duty, survival and loss.
“Looking at the entire city through that kind of lens means you need characters who can stand on that stage and carry the story,” he says. “Elliot, being front and centre from the beginning of the series, needs to have a certain gravity – but also the ability to hold silence. If the whole series was just big explosions, it wouldn’t be as gripping.”
That balance of grit and gravity continues to shape Gangs of London. The action in the new episodes is as kinetic as ever, but often grounded by the unfolding drama of morally complex characters.
For Iranian-German actress Narges Rashidi, who plays Kurdish militia leader Lale, the show’s moral tension is what keeps the series compelling.
“We rarely see drama and action combined so well,” she says. “If it's action-heavy, usually there is not much emotionality or depth. I feel like we’ve managed to achieve that balance.”
As Lale is one of the show’s most fully realised characters – an idealist using criminal activity to serve a wider political goal – Rashidi approached the role methodically. “That complexity makes her special but, as an actor you do research. I studied the London crime scene extensively, the Kurdish crime scene in particular. But then the show allows you to go to places where you just jump in and trust your instincts,” she says.
From her tightly coiled emotional restraint to sudden bursts of violence, Rashidi compares Lale to a jaguar. “There’s this profound stillness in her. But what I love about the character is when this animal emerges, it’s not pretty any more and not silent. It’s just an unleashed force,” she says.
The same can be said of Gangs of London’s extraordinary action sequences, whose bloody and balletic style evokes the work of classic Hong Kong filmmakers John Woo and Tsui Hark.
Dirisu credits Evans – who announced himself with the acclaimed 2011 Indonesian action film The Raid – with setting the tone for the show’s signature visual mayhem.
“I think it's very clear that he has a wonderful East Asian cinema influence in his own filmmaking,” Dirisu notes. “And I think he would be delighted as a Welshman to be continuing the strong history of East Asian cinema throughout the world.”
While hyper-stylised, the action is meant to up the emotional stakes as opposed to being purely escapism, Dirisu says.
“I think it's easy to create action heroes who just storm into a bar and beat up seven guys and then they're seen as invincible. Whereas what was really important about this character is that he's actually just a human being. He's not a superhero and he is not Batman,” he adds.
“So he's not going to come through unscathed through everything. There have to be moments of jeopardy for us to care about whether or not he's going to survive this sequence. Otherwise, it just becomes something that we can sit back and let wash over us.”
That eclectic style extends to both the multicultural plotline and production team. Gangs of London reflects the city's cosmopolitanism through a network of rival criminal factions.
While Dirisu and Rashidi share the screen with standout performances from Pakistani actor Asif Raza Mir, British-Tanzanian actor Lucian Msamati and British-Albanian actor Orli Shuka, half of the third season’s eight episodes are directed by South Korea’s Kim Hong-sun, known for Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area.
Rashidi says the international continent is essential to the success of the series.
“London is incredibly diverse with so many cultures, languages, people from every background. Our producers understand this is London’s reality, and it’s crucial we reflect that both behind and in front of the camera,” she says. “Everyone behind the camera brings something from their culture, their background, making it more authentic.”
Dirisu says the series has already cemented its legacy through its scale and visual ambition. “There have been a lot of series that have tried and done very well to emulate the action design that we have achieved in Gangs of London,” he says. “And it’s a wonderful little gentle competition to keep the quality high and to do something again that people haven’t seen before.”
This raises the question of whether a fourth season is on the way. “Whenever I come to the end of a really good story, I’m always asking: ‘What’s next?’” Dirisu says. “Give us some time to cook it up, so we can make sure it’s good.”
Gangs of London is available to stream on OSN
