From Day of the Jackal creator Ronan Bennett, London crime family drama MobLand, starring Helen Mirren, Tom Hardy & Pierce Brosnan comes to M-Net (DStv Channel 101) from 10 July at 9pm.
The Harrigans are an Irish, London-based crime family who find themselves in a battle with the Stevensons that could end both syndicates – and their lives. Harry Da Souza (Hardy) is a street-smart and formidable fixer employed by the Harrigan family to navigate and mitigate the escalating conflict threatening their empire. As loyalties collide Harry is tasked with protecting the Harrigans’ interests and preventing an all-out gang war.
MobLand is executive produced by Ritchie and marks the director’s first TV series for Paramount+ – he directs the first two episodes, which are filled with his signature grit, swagger and snappy dialogue. The premiere broke records as the streamer’s biggest global series launch, drawing 2.2 million viewers worldwide. The first season also holds a 75% Fresh rating and audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Brosnan stars as Harrigan family patriarch Conrad, alongside his darkly dangerous wife Maeve (Mirren), with Paddy Considine as Kevin Harrigan, the family’s second son.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about his character, Brosnan says: “This is a man who comes from a very broken background, one more than likely of abuse, sexual abuse, violence, self-loathing … fearless, courageous. He’s a sentimentalist as well. He’s Irish. He loves the old gargle — the gargle being the booze. He’s filled with great humour and passion and deep pride in being an Irishman, but he’s also a father and someone who has a pride in that and what he’s done by his family. So I think there’s a softness to him. There’s a human core of emotion that’s mixed with brutality, which he can’t control. He’s definitely unhinged.”
Taylor Antrim wrote for Vogue about Mirren’s dark Maeve: “Mirren is something special; a cherished actress playing delightfully against type. Martini in hand, hair down, some animal print ensemble on, her Maeve is a psychopath, goading her husband Conrad (Brosnan) to greater acts of violence and mayhem. In her long, illustrious career, Mirren has never been so gloriously undignified.” Mirren told Antrim that the closest character she’s ever played to Maeve is probably a sort of combination between Phaedra and Lady Macbeth.
“The sort of mad obsession of Phaedra and the ambition of Lady Macbeth, but both of those characters, in the end, do have a moral compass. They feel guilt. And Maeve feels no guilt. Guilt doesn’t even come into it. I guess she’s a psychopath. I guess that’s what she is. If one wants to go that route,” she said.
Don’t miss MobLand on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) from 10 July at 9pm. For more, visit the M-Net Website and join the conversation on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.