Gangs Of London
1 THE PUB FIGHT
Chris Hewitt: For the first halfhour or so of the feature-length opening episode, Gangs Of London doesn’t feel like it’s from the director of The Raid. But as Elliot (Sope Dirisu) barrels into a pub in the middle of a brawl between crime lord Finn Wallace’s (Colm Meaney) men and some Albanian lackeys,
Gareth Evans also makes his entrance. The next five minutes are sheer mayhem, as Elliot fights his way through the maelstrom, using a dart in a way that Michael van Gerwen would frown upon. It’s brutal, and a declaration of intent that the action in this show is going to make Line Of Duty look like Countdown.
2 THE MEAT CLEAVER FIGHT
Chris Hewitt: If the pub fight hadn’t already announced Sope Dirisu’s arrival, the gruelling death match that ends episode one leaves us in no doubt that this previously unknown actor is the real deal. Elliot’s desperate face-off with Len (Lee Charles), a large man who’s armed with only two things — Y-fronts and a rusty meat cleaver
— is extraordinarily tense, and a wonderful melding of Evans’ acuity with action and his love of pitch-dark horror. And that ending is a showstopper.
Gareth Evans: That was a tonal shift. It’s not allowed to be fun. We shot it like a horror film — the pace is different, it’s a lot slower. There’s that feeling of being trapped, and not knowing how Elliot is going to get out. It’s all horror beats, and as a result it feels nastier. The finale is pretty grisly, but there’s never a fat close-up of a blade in a throat.
Chris Hewitt: In episode four, the first action sequence on the show not directed by Evans is a spiralling, ultra-intense, out-of-control nightmare, as Sean Wallace (Joe Cole) and his men find themselves at the mercy of an assassin with a high-powered sniper rifle. How high-powered? It blows people’s heads clean off, in a spectacular showdown that nods to director Corin Hardy’s horror background. And it doesn’t end there. Delivered at a frenetic pace, soundtracked by M83, it’s just about the most suspenseful ten minutes of television this side of, well, the next episode.
4 THE SIEGE
Nick de Semlyen: The show’s fifth episode, perhaps its most electrifying, leaves London entirely to become ‘Gangs Of Wales’, following fugitive Darren (Aled ap Steffan), the guy who kicked off the mayhem by offing Finn Wallace, as he tries to escape by boat. First you’re perplexed as it dawns on you that none of the major characters or locations will feature. Then you’re thrilled as it turns into an astonishing action set-piece, Danish mercenaries strafing a tooled-up farmhouse as the besieged fight for their lives. Finally, you’re moved, as Darren and his dad are mown down on a pier in a gut-puncher of an ending.
Gareth Evans: Ep five was me being able to play with a Western, in a way. And we knew that it was going to be one pretty heavy-duty, sustained set-piece that was going to unfold as soon as the first shot was fired. So the opening half had to be a slow-burn. Ultimately, it was all about a father — Kinney (Mark Lewis Jones) — trying to get and protect his boy.
5 SHAUN OF THE DEAD
Director Corin Hardy is an old
Nick de Semlyen: pal of Edgar Wright’s. Hence Wright’s comedyhorror popping up on a TV being watched by a security guard in episode three. This being Gangs Of London, there’s soon actual blood on the screen.
6 ELLIOT VS SEAN
Chris Hewitt: There are many reasons why the first season should end with Elliot killing Sean Wallace (self-preservation, protecting his family), but the last episode throws in a new twist: Elliot is essentially ordered to kill Sean and keep Alex (Paapa Essiedu) alive, at the behest of some hugely powerful bigwigs we hadn’t seen before. Sean’s murder coming so soon after he had essentially made peace with Elliot is morally interesting. Has Elliot turned to the dark side? Or has he decided to go undercover in an even more dangerous way in Season 2?
Corin Hardy: ‘Elliot vs Sean’ was planned all the way from the start, but I wanted it to be unexpected. If you watch the show again, you can understand everything about what goes on in that moment. Ultimately, it’s Elliot’s only way out. I’m super-proud of that sequence, and wanted it to be a different sort of set-piece, very still, and intense, and emotional.
7 THE FINAL SCENE
Chris Hewitt: Gangs’ first season doesn’t end with Elliot, but with Marian (Michelle Fairley), the Wallaces’ matriarch. Last seen shot at pointblank range by old friend Ed (Lucian Msamati), and slumped on a cemetery bench, the episode reveals that Floriana (Arta Dobroshi), the mistress of Finn Wallace, has come to the aid of the woman who has more reason than most to want her dead. It’s a development that raises plenty of questions, which hopefully Season 2 will answer.
Corin Hardy: With Floriana, she’s in the background when Marian and Ed are having their conversation. So she happens to be there when Marian is shot, and thinks, “Maybe this is the time I can help Marian Wallace.” Who knows what will happen?