'Violence is part of the human condition': Gangs Of London is back for season 3

Two of the stars of Sky show Gangs Of London outline what's in store for the third run

Tue, 11 Mar, 2025 - 02:00

Rachael Davis

At the start of Gangs of London’s third series, Sope Dirisu’s Elliot Finch is top dog. He’s leader of the London gangs, but things go left when fentanyl – the powerful synthetic opioid that can be lethal even in tiny doses – turns up in the drugs they’ve been shifting.

People start dying across the city, including in the family of a key gang member, and everyone is questioning who is to blame for tampering with the cocaine. Secrets, betrayal, isolation, murder and violence abound as we delve deeper into the dark underworld the show inhabits, with more of the grit fans of Gangs of London know and love.

Ahead of series three coming to Sky Atlantic and NOW, let’s hear from stars of the show Dirisu, 34, and Joe Cole, 36 – who plays rival Sean Wallace – about the thrills and brutality to come.

In many ways, Gangs Of London is a love letter to the city. what would you say this new series is saying about the current climate in the capital?

JC: The series is escapism, isn’t it? So we’re trying to almost show an alternative London, one that’s extremely high drama, extremely dangerous and extremely violent, where whichever street or alleyway you turn down you don’t know if you’re going to get a gun up your nose, or a knife at the back of your head.

SD: In the series, the city is somewhat brought together by tragedy. Now, very gratefully, in real life, the city has not been brought together by tragedy in the same way for more than a decade. However, I think that in recent times, there have been fewer and fewer pure opportunities for just celebration (where) the city has come together. I think maybe the last time was the Olympics.

I think about how every year the Notting Hill Carnival is sort of demonised, rather than encouraged to happen, and restrictions are put on it. Lots of these celebrations that should just be, like, community driven, celebrating the vibrancy and diversity of the city, aren’t encouraged to be that anymore. And I think that not only is it a shame, it’s quite dangerous, very dividing and very alienating.

I would love there to be another great celebration, another great unifying moment for the city that is just like pure love, as opposed to anything political, you know?

Where do we find both of your characters this series?

SD: I think the biggest difference is, obviously, we left (Elliot) at the end of season two with him entering the fray as a bona fide – I wouldn’t say head or lead gangster – but he’s there at the table. His access and participation in the activities have increased.

After the tragedy of losing his father towards the end of season two, we’re left with the question of: ‘Who is this guy now?’ We’ve gone on this journey with him over two seasons already, we’ve seen some of the heinous behaviour that he’s demonstrated, and the combination of that and the loss of his moral compass leaves a massive question mark as to whether or not this guy is still our protagonist, still our hero. Has he devolved into (an) anti-hero?

JC: Season one is sort of the insecurities that (Sean)’s grown up with because of his father, and sort of not being able to live up to his father’s view… Having a very tough upbringing and wanting to prove himself.

By the end of season one, he’s killed a bunch of people, he’s been shot in the face, he’s sort of stepped up, as it were. And in season two, you see a more confident, assured, cut-throat killer… There’s a point where he’s lost so much, and he’s been through so much emotionally, that he’s just sort of fearless, and I think that creates the most dangerous human being.

How would you describe Elliot and Sean’s relationship – or rivalry – in series three?

JC: The relationship with Sean and Elliot is one of the main and most interesting throughlines of the show. It’s a cat and mouse. It’s almost like a kind of weird love story – they meet for a few minutes each season, and then they’re trying to chase each other down for the rest of it.

There are a lot of scenes of Elliot beating seven shades out of a group of men by himself – how is it for you, Sope, watching those scenes back?

SD: It’s funny you asked me this question today because I saw a video recently of one man fighting two men… it was sort of like backyard-organised bare-knuckle boxing. Don’t ask me why the algorithm brought that up. It was crazy. But there was actually nothing particularly enjoyable about watching these two men try to hurt each other in the way they were doing it. It’s really, really brutal and unsafe.

So it’s actually quite remarkable how we’ve managed to create entertainment out of it… Because actually, violence with real intent behind it can be quite a disturbing thing to see.

I hope we’re able to lean more into entertainment without it being cheesy, (rather) than horrifying, ‘why are humans like this?’ That said, I think it’s fair to say that violence is part of the human condition. So it’s interesting to explore that in a slightly safer environment.