The Gentlemen

(Netflix)

The 12th Duke of Halstead is dying. Sensing that his father, Archibald Horatio Landover Horniman’s “goose is well and truly cooked” after a nasty fall, oldest child Freddy (Daniel Ings) has summoned his more sensible sibling Edward (Theo James) home.

However, not even his UN peacekeeping training can prepare the latter for what is about to unfold. Everyone expected the 15,000-acre estate, wine cellar, art collection, yoghurt farm, dairy, village of Heatheringham and property in the South of France would go to Freddy. But after his lawyer announces that the Duke is leaving loyal gatekeeper Geoffrey (Vinnie Jones) his cottage, wife Sabrina (Joely Richardson) an annual allowance and his beloved labrador Lulu and daughter Charlotte a boat and a trust fund, the will reading takes an unexpected turn when “Eddie” not “Freddy” is given the keys to the kingdom.

The news sends Freddy into a frenzy as he reveals to his brother that he was relying on his inheritance to get him out of a sticky situation. A

£4 million debt to scouse cocaine dealer Tony Dixon (Peter Serafinowicz) has spiralled out to £8 million, thanks to “criminal compound interest” and needs paying off by the end of the week. Despite feeling an obligation to bail him out, Eddie discovers that might not be so easy.

If this tale of British-based crime, populated by a rogue’s gallery of eccentric and eclectic characters sounds familiar, that’s probably because it is. An eight-part spin-off of Guy Ritchie’s 2019 crowd-pleasing cinematic crime-comedy of the same name, The Gentlemen might lack the star power of Matthew McConaughey, Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant and Jeremy Strong, but there’s plenty of banter, batterings and bad behaviour to keep fans of the man who gave the world Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and, um, Revolver happy.