The cast of new Disney+/Hulu drama A Thousand Blows don’t so much introduce themselves as smash their way onto the screen – almost literally in the case of Shoreditch boxers Sugar and Treacle Goodson, and Hezekiah Moscow and Alec Munroe, the two young fighters from Jamaica who take the East Enders on in the backroom boxing ring of pub The Blue Coat Boy. And then there are the show’s women: not genteel, fainting Victorian ladies, but a gang of savvy pickpockets and con artists with ambitions far beyond what life has afforded them. Led by Mary Carr, The Forty Elephants were a force to be reckoned with, and like Sugar, Treacle, Hezekiah and Alec above, were a real part of late 19th century London history. cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});Below, meet the A Thousand Blows characters and the actors – including stars from The Crown, Peaky Blinders, and many more – who play them.Erin Doherty as Mary CarrInspired by a real-life character of the same name, Mary Tarr is the Queen of The Forty Elephants, the all-female gang of thieves who picked the pockets of the East End and raided the new department stores of London’s West End. A Thousand Blows‘ version of Tarr makes her a workhouse survivor who’s fought her way to criminal supremacy, and made enemies and devotees along the way. Which category though, does Sugar Goodson fall into? Carr is played by Erin Doherty, who won acclaim for the role of Princess Anne in two seasons of Netflix royal drama The Crown, as the lead in 2022 BBC thriller Chloe, and in several stage roles. Doherty will soon be seen alongside A Thousand Blows‘ Stephen Graham in Netflix drama Adolescence.Malachi Kirby as Hezekiah MoscowBased on a real Jamaican boxer who emigrated to London in the 19th century, A Thousand Blows‘ Hezekiah Moscow comes to the East End to train as a lion tamer, but is drawn into the boxing world and into the orbit of Mary Tarr and Sugar Goodson. He’s played by Malachi Kirby, who’s been acting since he was a teenager, with small roles in Silent Witness, EastEnders, Doctor Who and many more, but who won acclaim for playing civil rights activist Darcus Howe in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe, and for leading Black Mirror episode “Men Against Fire”, playing Kunta Kinte in the 2016 Roots remake, and in 2020, for the role of Oliver in Devils, and Tony in Boiling Point (with A Thousand Blows‘ Hannah Walters and Stephen Graham). Kirby also plays the dual roles of Charlie/Spider in Prime Video’s Anansi Boys adaptation, the status of which is up in the air in the wake of serious allegations made against creator Neil Gaiman.Stephen Graham as Henry “Sugar” GoodsonAlso inspired by a real historical person, Sugar Goodson is a vicious fighter known as “The East London Gladiator”. In A Thousand Blows he’s the owner of The Blue Coat Boy pub, in which he and his younger brother Treacle take on chancers willing to pay for an opportunity to take a pop at the best.He’s played by an actor so well-known and beloved that he really needs no introduction. Since playing Combo in Shane Meadows’ This Is England film and TV continuation, and winning international acclaim as Al Capone in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, Graham has been acknowledged as one of the UK’s finest. Seen recently in Boiling Point (along with his wife and co-producer Hannah Walters), Graham will soon appear in the Peaky Blinders movie and Netflix’s Adolescence.James Nelson-Joyce as Edward “Treacle” GoodsonThough a fierce boxer himself, Sugar’s younger brother Treacle Goodson is also a family man, and a pragmatist. He’s played by James Nelson-Joyce, a film actor who’s also appeared in multiple TV crime dramas including Innocent, The Responder, The Gold, A Town Called Malice, Strike, and Jimmy McGovern prison drama Time, as well as playing “Spider” in BBC comedy-drama The Outlaws. He’ll soon be seen opposite Sean Bean in BBC gangster series This City Is Ours.Francis Lovehall as Alec MunroeAlec Munroe is another real figure recorded in 19th century London history, and the character inspired by him is played here by Francis Lovehall, a stage and screen actor who appeared in Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile Poirot movie, as well as having television roles in Apple TV+ series Masters of the Air and Criminal Record, BBC fantasy His Dark Materials, and playing Laurent in Channel 4’s adaptation of Candice Carty-Williams’ Queenie.Jason Tobin as Mr LaoMr Lao is a local hotelier who becomes the landlord to members of The Forty Elephants and other key players in A Thousand Blows‘ story. He’s played by Hong-Kong British actor Jason Tobin, who has a long career on screen and is probably best known for the role of Young Jun in historical action series Warrior, and as Earl in The Fast and the Furious franchise.Hannah Walters as Eliza MoodyEliza is a member of The Forty Elephants with a fierce loyalty to “Queen” Mary Tarr that becomes tested as the series plays out. She’s played by actor-producer Hannah Walters, whose Matriarch Productions (founded with husband Stephen Graham) is behind A Thousand Blows. Walters appeared across the This Is England series, in Jimmy McGovern’s prison drama Time, and in Boiling Point (both the film and its excellent TV continuation) and in hospital drama Malpractice.Daniel Mays as William “Punch” LewisWilliam “Punch” Lewis is another name from East End history folded into this story. He runs The Blue Coat Boy pub, the back room of which is a hub for illegal bare-knuckle boxing matches. He’s played by screen stalwart Daniel Mays, who came to fame in Mike Leigh’s award-winning 2004 film Vera Drake and hasn’t been off screens since. He’s played coppers galore in Moonflower Murders, The Long Shadow, Des, Line of Duty, and alongside Stephen Graham in Sky comedy Code 404, to name just a few roles. He’s soon to appear in the adaptation of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club and Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.ALSO APPEARING– Happy Valley and Save Me’s Susan Lynch plays the ruthless matriarch Jane Carr.– King Gary, The Curse and Murder in Successville’s Tom Davis plays boxing MC and quack Charlie Mitchell.– The Bay and The Irregulars‘ Darci Shaw plays Forty Elephants new recruit Alice Diamond. – The Terror, The Agency and The Responder actor Adam Nagaitis plays boxing enthusiast peer the Earl of Lonsdale– Billy Elliot, The Bay, Vigil and Rig 45’sGary Lewis plays illegal distiller Jack Mac.– Fifteen Love and Black Doves’ Ella Lily Hyland plays Treacle’s wife Marianne Goodson.– Sherwood, Strike and Suspicion’s Robert Glenister plays the fearsome Elephant gang leader Indigo Jeremy.– Stage and screen actor Nadia Albina (Doctor Who, Great Expectations, The Bastard Son and the Devil Himself) plays Forty Elephants member Verity Ross.– Queen Victoria’s goddaughter Victoria Davies (a fictionalised version of a real historical person) is played by Everything I Know About Love’s Aliyah Odoffin.– Actor-producer-director Ashley Walters (Top Boy, Missing You) has a cameo role as ‘Switch’ in A Thousand Blows’ flashback scenes to Jamaica.A Thousand Blows series one is streaming now on Disney+ in the UK and on Hulu in the US.The post A Thousand Blows Cast: Meet the Characters of the Historical Boxing and Crime Gang Drama appeared first on Den of Geek.