BBC's This City Is Ours: A Crime Drama with Real-World Politics

BBC’s new crime series This City Is Ours has landed with a thud — and not just from the gunshot that opens the show. The drama, set in Liverpool, kicks off with a Colombian cartel boss being run over for failing to check both ways before crossing the road ^[1].

The tone is bleak from the start, focusing on the grief of women widowed by gang violence. Julie Graham plays Elaine, haunted by the ghost of her late husband Ronnie (Sean Bean), drinking red wine until she sees him at the kitchen counter ^[1]. Meanwhile, Saoirse-Monica Jackson’s Cheryl is on a harrowing journey — discovering her husband’s rotting corpse in Spain, playing Ave Maria over his grave, and then being kidnapped by the drug lord’s brother.

The show’s dark comedy emerges in a standout scene: henchman Ando (Theo Nate), a thick drug dealer so dull even sniffer dogs would ignore him, is shot twice by rival gangster Banksey (Mike Noble) after asking if his vest is bulletproof — a line delivered with casual disdain ^[1].

The real-world hook? Shaun Evans joins the cast as Ozzie, an ex-jailbird returning to the streets. Everyone knows him, but no one expected to see him — a direct nod to Labour’s controversial early release scheme, which is said to be unsettling even hardened criminals ^[1].

Ozzie hasn’t yet met Michael Kavanagh (James Nelson-Joyce), the brooding head of Banksey’s gang, but their clash is poised to ignite a season-long war. For now, Michael must appease the Colombians, who are holding his pregnant girlfriend Diana (Hannah Onslow) hostage ^[1].

The series also makes a bold musical choice, adopting Matt Monro’s On Days Like These as its theme — a track previously associated with The Italian Job, though this claim has not been confirmed ^[1]. The story was first reported by Daily Mail Showbiz and Daily Mail.