Lee Harding

Having seen the first 3 episodes so far, “Gangs Of London” is shaping up to be the ‘must see’ show of the year. Uncompromisingly gritty and violent, but with well written plot lines and strong character development, beautifully portrayed by an excellent, very strong cast. I can’t recommend this show highly enough.

I honestly don’t understand the negative criticism of this show - especially so early: the story needs to build gradually so that an audience is invested in it and the characters - and this is something, just 2 episodes in, that the show is doing really well. “His Dark Materials” looks great (the very occasional less than great CGI Daemon is forgivable), the cast is fantastic, and - most important of all - it’s pretty faithful to the source material (it’ll never be quite as good as the books but then what adaption IS?) and without overtly inserting any agendas or politics that aren’t already in the books. Maybe those who HAVE been highly critical just aren’t fans of Pullman or his books. For those who are, the BBC should be praised for delivering the goods.