Gangs of London: A slick stylised violent thriller

Gangs of London is the creation of Gareth Evans, who had taken an unusual route to the top via hugely-successful Indonesian action film The Raid.

The last time many people saw Michelle Fairley, she was getting her throat sliced in one of the most memorable scenes of Game of Thrones.

Catelyn Stark and the violence of the Red Wedding may have shocked many viewers, but be warned, that all looked like an episode of Spongebob compared to some of what you’ll witness in this new show, writes Des O'Driscoll

Gangs of London ain’t for the faint-hearted.

Exhibit A: A young man writhing on the end of a rope as petrol is poured over him and a vengeful gangster gleefully sets him alight.

Another guy gets his cleaver stuck in a wall during a brawl, and has his throat pushed onto it by his opponent. Claret everywhere.

Co Derry-born Fairley plays the grieving widow of a major crime boss played by Colm Meaney.

He had forged an alliance of ethnically-based drug organisations and funnelled the profits into building high-rises on the London skyline. Everybody was happy. But now he’s dead, and the former allies are turning on each other.

Colm Meaney and Michelle Fairley star in Gangs of London

Irish, Kurds, Gypsies, Albanians, and Local Geezers are among those being stirred up in the UK capital’s melting pot. Godfather-style sitdowns give way to epic bar-room battles or full-on shoot-outs.

It looks great, even if at times you’ll need to suspend your powers of logic and just go along for the wild ride.

Nobody seems to care about leaving DNA or fingerprints at crime scenes, or is bothered that a volley of machine gun fire just might attract the attention of the Old Bill.

Gangs of London is the creation of Gareth Evans, who had taken an unusual route to the top via hugely-successful Indonesian action film The Raid.

Some of the stylised violence we see here is obviously a result of his eastern excursions, but the Welsh man has also filled out the bits in between with some really interesting characters.

Just like Game of Thrones, it even messes with your sense of who is truly good or bad. Heroin dealers are scum.

But what if they’re affable, and love their families, and use their drug profits for benevolent projects? Now you’re rooting for one of them to win.

If you don’t mind the blood and bones, this is a must-see show.

And we’re already looking forward to the bonus benefit of the great Gogglebox scenes it will spawn.

• Weekly episodes on Thursday on Sky Atlantic. All nine episodes are currently available on Now TV