‘I’ve seen a lot of great buggers’: Stephen Graham on booze, BAFTAs and the return of his boxing thriller | TV and radio

STevin Graham was a breakout star in 2025. Not only did he play Bruce Springsteen’s father in the biopic Find Me From Nowhere, but he of course co-wrote and starred in the Netflix hit Adolescent – a game-changing drama that sparked a global debate about online misogyny, internal culture and the manosphere.

His friend and frequent collaborator Steven Knight watched in admiration from afar as the devastating four-part television event became. “Oh my God, it was a cultural phenomenon,” he says, puffing out his cheeks with pride. “Adolescence makes people who wouldn’t normally talk, about things they wouldn’t normally talk about. Is there any better accomplishment than making a direct, immediate, positive, worldwide impact on human relationships? It’s like putting something on screen that’s medicine. It’s actually good for you.”

“Making an impact like this was beyond our wildest hopes,” says Graham. “When someone comes into Tesco and says: ‘I just want to thank you. I had a good conversation with my son the other night after we watched your show. “No disrespect but you get to keep your awards and all that shiny stuff. That’s what real honor is.”

He’s already won an Emmy for “Teenage” and was recently nominated for a Golden Globe, but Graham maintains a healthy skepticism about award recognition. “What we do is not football,” he says. “It’s not a competitive sport. There are no winners and losers. It’s subjective. I might think something is a bag of crap and get five damned Baftas. It’s happened a few times, actually. Maybe I’m getting myself in trouble here, but Cillian Murphy, isn’t he? Great actor. He’s never won a Bafta for playing Tommy Shelby.” [in Peaky Blinders]! One of the best performances I’ve ever seen. What the hell is this? Things like adolescence, which leave an impression on the collective consciousness, come out of nowhere. The fact that we succeeded in achieving this is a win in itself.”

I sit down with Steven and Stephen to discuss the fireworks return of their period action thriller A Thousand Blows. The premiere was a huge success for Disney+ last year. Now comes Part Two, which interweaves the spectacle of illegal boxing with the fortunes of the Forty Elephants, a female crime syndicate specializing in pickpocketing and confidence tricks. A year after the events of Season 1, Jamaican boxer Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) has become a shadow of his former fighting self. His deadly rival, Henry “Sugar” Judson (Graham), is in even worse shape – estranged from his family and drinking himself to death. When the series begins, he has messy hair and a bushy beard and falls flat on his face in puddles. He even suffers from a bad case of trench foot.

“I know it’s disgusting,” Graham says. “Those shaggy feet are a metaphor for the path Sugar has taken in the time we’ve been apart. He’s at an all-time low. Now he has to rebuild his sense of self.” As we know from his gifted turn in Shane Meadows’ The Virtues, Graham is surprisingly good at playing a drunk. “I was the kind of kid who would sit in working men’s clubs and buy me cans of Coke and bags of chips. I’ve seen a lot of great pissers! And I’m taking advantage of that.”

Graham transformed his physique in the first series. With fewer battles this time, has his training slowed down? “No, I’m still going with it,” he says, lifting his shirt to flex his impressive biceps. “Look at them! This season, the fight Sugar is having is mainly with himself. But I’m still training. I’m shooting something the minute I play a prisoner, so I’ve adjusted the system.” He rubbed his shaved head to illustrate the point. “More prison workout plan with a low-carb diet.”

The first season culminated in Sugar beating his younger brother, Edward “Treacle” Judson (James Nelson Joyce), to death. “These two boys went through hell growing up,” Graham says. “Everything Sugar did, he did for his brother. And now he’s betrayed that, so he’s questioning who he is as a human being.” That’s one of the beautiful things about basing his story on real historical figures: “Truth gives our texts authority,” Knight says. Records show that Sugar soundly defeated his brother in a fight. “All you need is that fact, and then you have a lot of before and after things to imagine.”

Nelson Joyce has come a long way since that fateful encounter at Nando’s a decade ago, when he approached Graham and was taken under his idol’s wing. “He really did,” Graham says. “After I gave him my details, Hannah [Walters, his wife, co-star and co-producer] He looked at me and said, ‘I think he can play your brother one day.’ And here we are. I’m very proud of the way James’s career is progressing. He deserves every bit of his success.”

The powerful series comes out swinging for round two. This time, bone-crunching violence spreads from the boxing ring to the streets of the East End. “There are lots of explosions and those days are always exciting to be on set,” smiles Graham. “All these crazy men and women coming and going: ‘Okay, let’s blow something up here.’ So they do that, and then they always say, “We need bigger explosions and bigger flames.” Let’s light the gas! It’s a lot of fun, and when you see it on screen you say, “Awesome.”

“Action scenes are great as long as nothing catches your eye,” Knight says. “Because it actually happens. To script a fight seems ridiculous: ‘He throws a punch, then backs away, and swings again.’ But I honestly think our show has the most authentic boxing scenes I’ve ever seen. The punches feel real.” It stops. “I didn’t mention any names, but we’ve all seen how easy it is to do it badly.”

Just as the Wapping underworld lacks leadership, Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), the self-proclaimed Queen of the Forty Elephants, returns to the scene to reform her gang and reclaim her crown. As always, the resourceful and charismatic Mary has a plan. This time, it’s more dangerous than ever. “Erin is incredible,” Knight says. “You can’t imagine anyone else playing Mary Karr. Somehow she’s become the same. I’m sure it’s not easy but Erin makes it seem like it is.”

“The only word I can use to describe Erin is magical,” says Graham. “I could watch her reading the phone book. Mary looking after Sugar while he was recovering. We shot a whole day’s worth of footage of her helping me detox and there were scenes as an actress that I will never forget. At one point, we sat on the floor of a bedroom above a bar and she hugged me. It was a very vulnerable situation but the crew were very respectful, allowing us to stay in the moment. It was special. Something I will cherish deeply.”

The Forty Elephants reflects the changing world of the late Victorian era. “It’s the truth. Real social history, rather than the stuff you read in textbooks. They ran their own organization and they were incredibly successful. The newspapers of the time were outraged and said, ‘How shocking that ladies are doing this,’ but no one in the streets was surprised. Most working-class families are run by mothers. The only place where equality has not been recognized is in the political system. In their own way, the Forty Elephants are like the suffragettes, looking around and saying: ‘Wait a minute, that’s ridiculous.’

The Steves are regular partners in crime, having worked together in Peaky Blinders, Taboo and A Christmas Carol. What do they like about each other’s work? Graham begins first: “When I grew up, I loved writers who told working-class stories, like Alan Bleasdale, Jimmy McGovern, and Willie Russell. They’re one of the reasons I’m an actor today. Steve has that quality too. You can imagine him writing Educating Rita. He creates these magical worlds with humour, heart and human struggle. To be in his thought process when he writes is an honor. It’s the food that gives me life.” “The motivation for me is that it’s so good,” Knight says. “If I can convince Stephen of something, I will do it, because I know it will be great.”

Next up for the pair is the much-anticipated Peaky Blinders film, The Immortal Man, which dons its sharp hat and struts onto screens in March. “I’m not allowed to talk about this but it’s pretty cool,” Knight says proudly. “I’m so excited that it’s coming soon.” Graham reprises his role from the TV series as Liverpool Shipbuilding Union leader Haydn Stagg. “It was a complete riot,” he says. “I don’t usually get to do the things I do in this movie, so I had a lot of fun.” What kind of things? “I can’t say, can I? You won’t catch me!”

Knight is now writing the script for the next James Bond film. “I can’t say anything about that either. Apart from that it’s a dream come true.” If he’s in the market for 007, he doesn’t need to look far. “I’d rather be evil,” Graham says. “It will be more fun.” Knight nodded: “Every great actor I’ve talked to has said that. They all prefer to be the villain.”

He has also been working on the third series of the BBC wartime program SAS: Rogue Heroes. The drama has led to petitions in Parliament to award renegade hero Blair “Paddy” Mayne (played by Jack O’Connell) a posthumous medal. “I support the campaign to give Paddy the credit he deserves 110%,” says Knight. “His astonishing courage, mental strength and intelligence on the battlefield helped turn a decisive chapter of the war in Britain’s favour. There is no logical reason why this should not be recognised.”

Knight’s approach to period drama looks at society from the bottom up, rather than from the top down. “Why don’t you do it this way?” He says. “The best stories are in those places. In any taxi or Uber, the driver’s story is sure to be more interesting than the passenger’s. The themes of A Thousand Blows – poverty, immigration, prejudice, family, ambition, the struggle to survive – are still relevant today. There are so many stories I would like to tell. I want to do something about Shakespeare.”

Both are frighteningly prolific. Are they the busiest men in the entertainment industry? “Very likely!” Graham laughs. “It took me 30 years to become an overnight success but this is beautiful. I love what I do. I’m an adult, Mr. Ben, and I love it.”

“Me too,” Knight says. “I would sit down and write things down even if no one wanted me to. It didn’t feel like effort, just getting it into words quickly enough.” Knight did not write Peaky Blinders until his fifties. Did he wish to become a playwright earlier? “I actually am. It all goes back to school. It takes 20 years to recover from a working-class upbringing. It took me that long to believe I was as good as others, if not better.” This chimes in with Graham saying, “It took me a long time to get rid of that imposter syndrome. It’s only been in the last five years that it’s completely dissipated.”

Hectic schedules permitting, will A Thousand Blows return for round three? “Fingers crossed,” Graham says. “Steve has ideas for the next level! If the stars align, there could be a monster coming his way. That’s all I’ll say.” Knight remains silent. He smiles, saying: “I refer you to the answer previously given by my honorable friend.”

I leave Steve’s family to mourn the fortunes of the two football clubs, Liverpool and Birmingham City. “We are the only team in Europe that has failed to score a single goal under the Pope,” says Knight. “This is our pride.” Graham delights in this: “It’s an amazing statistic! You have to incorporate it into a script at some point.” You wouldn’t put it in front of him.

A Thousand Strokes is available on Disney+ from Friday 9 January.