A Thousand Blows is on its way back – with Mary Carr coming up with more schemes than ever for the Forty Elephants.

Inspired by the true-life stories of real people living in the 1880s East End, A Thousand Blows season two picks up a year on from the brutal first season’s finale, which left Sugar (Stephen Graham) on the run and Hezekiah (Malachi Kirby) working in the shadows after killing someone in the ring.

As both men become shadows of their former selves, Mary Carr (Erin Doherty) arrives back in town ready to cause trouble – with plans to get the riches she has long been fighting for.

With second-in-command Alice Diamond (Darci Shaw) in tow, Mary plans to reinstate the Forty Elephants to their former glory. But after Eliza Moody’s (Hannah Walters) failed reign as Queen left the all-female gang in control of creepy male leader Indigo Jeremy (Robert Glenister), she needs to think on her feet.

On top of that, she needs to find a way to get Sugar on board – which is easier said than done when after being rejected by her, Sugar has hit the bottle hard.

Estranged from his brother Treacle (James Nelson-Joyce) after leaving him beaten to a pulp inside their family pub, Sugar is in a bad way, and it’s up to Mary to sort him out.

Meanwhile, Hezekiah, struggling with the death of his brother, has his own score to settle in Wapping before leaving London.

A Thousand Blows returns January 9th on Disney+ and Hulu.