'A Thousand Blows' Season 2 Will Include Multiple Real-Life Events

Steven Knight’s A Thousand Blows didn’t make major waves when Season 1 dropped all at once on Hulu in early 2025 in the U.S. The timing was poor, with multiple high-profile shows arriving in the days before and after. Moreover, though Peaky Blinders has been one of Netflix’s top successes, Hulu’s failure to properly promote the series left it to languish, along with Knight’s other titles that failed to catch on in the U.S., like the MGM+ series Rogue Heroes.

However, the landscape has changed a bit since February 2025. Only a few weeks after A Thousand Blows debuted, Stephen Graham and Erin Doherty became household names for their other major series, Adolescence. For another, the weird American split between Disney's two major streamers – Disney+ and Hulu – is nearly over. Hulu, as a standalone service, has not quite ended, but it has been upgraded to its own vertical within Disney+, with an improved algorithm. (Outside the U.S., Hulu has always been a tile within the Disney+ service, under the name Star.)

Whether or not these factors make a difference for Season 2’s viewership remains to be seen, but the sneak peek and first images for the series promise that those who loved the first season will delight in its return.

Here's the Season 2 synopsis:

One year later, Hezekiah’s a shadow of the man he once was, whilst Sugar Goodson is estranged from his family and drinking himself to death. Just as Wapping is about to sigh its last breath, Mary Carr bursts back into town with her loyal second, Alice Diamond, to reassemble her gang and reclaim her crown. As always, Mary has a plan, one which will involve all those she holds dearest. And this time it’s riskier than ever.

Much like Season 1, Season 2 will draw from real-life figures and historical accounts from London in the 1880s. Returning real-life figures from the show’s debut will include Sugar Goodson (Graham), Mary Carr (Doherty), Treacle Goodson (James Nelson-Joyce), Alice Diamond (Darci Shaw), and Victoria Davies (Aliyah Odoffin), the adopted granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Season 2 will introduce at least one more member of the royal family, with Stanley Morgan (The Serpent Queen) playing the Queen’s grandson, Prince Albert Victor.

Season 2 will also firmly position itself in the pivotal year of 1888, when the Local Government Act was passed, the first law allowing local districts to grant women the vote if they so chose. While it’s doubtful that the landmark moment will make the cut, Knight has confirmed the series will include the famous Matchgirls’ Strike, over working conditions at the Bryant & May match factory, which eventually led to the largest union of women in the U.K. This was also the year Jack the Ripper hit the London scene. His unchecked murder spree will be part of the series’ background events.

Perhaps most importantly, 1888 marked the end of the Little Ice Age, a global cooling event driven by multiple factors, but then compounded by the 1883 Krakatoa eruption. The winter of 1887-1888 was one of the coldest on record in the U.K., with tens of thousands dying from the cold or disease, and the summer nearly non-existent.

The returning cast for Season 2 also includes Hannah Walters (Time) as Eliza Moody, Nadia Albina (Doctor Who) as Verity Ross, Jemma Carlton (The Cleaner) as Belle Downer, Caoilfhionn Dunne (How to Get to Heaven from Belfast) as Anne Glover, Jason Tobin (Warrior) as Mr. Lao, Susan Lynch (The Change) as Jane Carr, Daniel Mays (Moonflower Murders) as Punch Lewis, Gary Lewis (Vigil) as Jack Mac, Robert Glenister (Sherwood) as Indigo Jeremy, Ella Lily Hyland (Black Doves) as Marianne Goodson and no-longer-a-newcomer Morgan Hilaire as Esme Long.

New faces for Season 2 will include Ned Dennehy (Outlander) as Bull Jeremy and Catherine McCormack (Lockerbie: A Search for Truth) as real-life American criminal Sophie Lyons.

Knight penned all six episodes of Season 2 with Season 1 directors Katrin Gebbe (The Empress) and Dionne Edwards (Everything Now) returning to split helming duties. Knight is also an executive producer alongside historian David Olusoga, Graham and Hannah Waters for Matriarch Productions, Damian Keogh & Kate Lewis for The Story Collective, Tom Miller & Sam Myer for Water & Power Productions, and Jonny Richards for Disney+.

A Thousand Blows Season 2 will premiere with all episodes on Friday, January 9, 2026, on Disney+ globally and under the Hulu vertical on Disney+ in the U.S.