This City Is Ours: First look at Sheffield icon Sean Bean as drug gang kingpin in BBC One crime drama

The veteran actor takes on the sinister role of family patriarch Ronnie Phelan, who together with his wife, Elaine (played by Julie Graham) has ruled Liverpool for decades as a drug kingpin.

However, the eight-part series will see the collapse of an empire as Ronnie not only eyes his retirement, but in doing so prompts longtime crime partner Michael (James Nelson-Joyce) to consider getting out of the game too and escaping with his new love Diana (Hannah Onslow).

Unfortunately, his plans for a quiet life are torn apart when Ronnie's son, Jamie (Jack McMullen), makes his move to take over his father's gang – and remove Michael entirely.

Sheffielder Sean is sometimes teased for playing characters that get ‘offed’ by the end of the show, but as he gets older, Sean now has the pleasure of playing characters who have lived a long life through difficult times, such as his turn as the traumatised Mark Cobden in 2021’s prison drama ‘Time’.

A BBC preview writes: “[This City Is Ours] is a story about family, and love destroyed and corrupted by ambition, pride and greed. It’s a story about power: what we will do to secure and keep it.”

This City Is Ours is expected to come to BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the spring.

This City Is Ours is created and written by Stephen Butchard, best known for his past work on The Last Kingdom, with Saul Dibb (The Sixth Commandment), John Hayes (Nightsleeper) and Eshref Reybrouck (Undercover) sharing directing duties.