Sean Bean heads the cast of This City is Ours (w/t), a new crime drama now filming in Liverpool from the Crown producers Left Bank Pictures.

Stephen Butchard has written the 8 x 60’ drama for BBC One with Robbie O’Neill penning further episodes. Saul Dibb directs; the producer is Simon Maloney. Executive producers are Andy Harries, Rebecca Hodgson and Sian McWilliams for Left Bank Pictures, Butchard and Dibb and Jo McClellan for the BBC.

Additional funding and support comes from the Liverpool Film Office through its Liverpool City Region Production Fund.

The story centres on Michael (played by James Nelson-Joyce), a man who has been involved in organised crime all his adult life, working for his friend and the gang leader Ronnie (Bean). When Ronnie begins to hint at retirement, Michael too begins to imagine another future – as he is in love for the first time in his life…

The large cast includes Hannah Onslow, Jack McMullen, Julie Graham, Laura Aikman, Kevin Harvey, Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Mike Noble, Bobby Schofield, Darci Shaw and Stephen Walters. The story is set and filmed in Liverpool with some of the shoot taking place in Spain.

Andy Harries, CEO of Left Bank Pictures and executive producer, said: “Stephen Butchard is a master storyteller, and his scripts are sharp, fast-paced and brilliantly observed. He throws us in at the deep end with fascinating, multi-faceted characters and we have put together a top tier cast to bring them to life. This City is Ours is going to blow the bloody doors off.”