10 Best British Gangster Shows Like The Gentlemen, Ranked
10 Best British Gangster Shows Like The Gentlemen, Ranked
Finding another British gangster show that scratches the same itch as The Gentlemen is surprisingly difficult because Guy Ritchie’s Netflix hit occupies a very specific corner of crime television. You need dangerous criminals, complicated family politics, sharp British humour, expensive clothes, ridiculous schemes and enough violence to remind you that these charming people would probably be terrible neighbours.
The good news is that British television has been producing exceptional gangster dramas for years, and several of them are perfect if Eddie Horniman and Susie Glass have left you wanting another criminal empire to disappear into. Some lean much darker than The Gentlemen, while others push further into comedy, heists, working-class friendship or sprawling organised crime, giving you plenty of options depending on which part of Guy Ritchie’s world you enjoyed most.
The timing is particularly good because The Gentlemen itself is returning to Netflix on September 3, 2026, with Theo James and Kaya Scodelario back as Eddie and Susie. Netflix has already renewed the show for Season 3, confirming that Eddie’s increasingly enthusiastic transformation from reluctant aristocrat into criminal operator is nowhere near finished. EW.com
Meanwhile, Tom Hardy’s MobLand returns for Season 2 on Paramount+ on September 18, while all three seasons of Gangs of London remain available through Sky and NOW. Peaky Blinders is still one of Britain’s defining gangster dramas, Top Boy remains one of the strongest modern depictions of London’s drug trade, and shows such as Brassic prove that criminals can be funny, vulnerable and remarkably lovable when they are not accidentally making their lives considerably worse. People.com
What connects the ten British crime shows below is not simply that people commit crimes. They all understand that the best gangster stories are really about power: who has it, who wants it, what people sacrifice to obtain it and how quickly supposedly loyal families begin turning on each other when enough money enters the room.
Some are slick. Some are brutal. Some are funny. Several manage all three before breakfast.
If you loved The Gentlemen and want your next binge-worthy British crime drama, these are the ten shows I would recommend first.
Let’s get into it 👇
SUPPORT THAT LOVE PODCAST
Enjoying the recommendations? You can help support That Love Podcast and keep independent entertainment coverage, television rankings and original storytelling going. Every contribution helps us continue creating detailed guides for people looking for their next movie, series, book or audio drama obsession.
If you love British crime television, start with our guide to the best British crime and detective dramas. It covers everything from gritty police procedurals to psychological mysteries and gives you plenty more viewing options once the gangsters below have exhausted you.
WANT TO REACH ENTERTAINMENT FANS?
If you're a brand, author, publisher, streaming company, entertainment business or creator looking to reach readers who actively follow movies, television, books, podcasts and pop culture, That Love Podcast offers advertising opportunities across the website, podcast and newsletter. You can promote releases, products and entertainment campaigns directly to an audience already looking for recommendations.
10. Snatch
Snatch is the obvious place to begin because the entire series exists in the shadow of Guy Ritchie’s 2000 movie, even though Ritchie himself did not create the television adaptation. Rupert Grint, Luke Pasqualino, Lucien Laviscount and Phoebe Dynevor lead a group of young hustlers who unexpectedly find themselves sitting on stolen gold and quickly discover that possessing a fortune is considerably easier than surviving everyone who wants to take it from you.
The television version cannot match the sheer confidence of Ritchie’s film, and it sometimes feels like it is trying slightly too hard to remind you that everybody involved is very British and very criminal. Still, there is a loose, entertaining energy to the friendships, schemes and betrayals, particularly when Albert, Charlie and Billy repeatedly convince themselves that a terrible plan is actually brilliant.
If your favourite parts of The Gentlemen involve elaborate criminal jobs, arrogant young men getting themselves into impossible situations and humour appearing in the middle of potentially deadly encounters, Snatch is an easy recommendation. The two-season series remains much lighter than Top Boy or Gangs of London, making it useful when you want organised crime without spending eight hours emotionally recovering afterwards.
In the UK, both seasons are currently available through ITVX, including an ad-supported option, with purchase options also available digitally. JustWatch
🎧 If fast-talking criminals have left you needing something you can enjoy without staring at another screen, That Love Podcast creates original romantic audio dramas, comedies and character-driven stories. Our episodes are designed for commutes, walks, evenings and those moments when your television has finally asked if you are still watching.
9. Sexy Beast
Sexy Beast is another television series growing from the DNA of an acclaimed British gangster movie, but this one takes the prequel route. James McArdle plays Gal Dove, Emun Elliott becomes the volatile Don Logan, and Stephen Moyer steps into the world of criminal boss Teddy Bass as the series reveals how these men became the characters audiences eventually meet in Jonathan Glazer’s 2000 film.
The setup immediately makes it appealing to Gentlemen viewers because Gal and Don begin as ambitious thieves whose reputation attracts increasingly dangerous criminal opportunities. Teddy recruits them for high-stakes jobs, while Gal’s relationship with Deedee, played by Sarah Greene, gives the story an emotional direction beyond simply watching men plan heists and shout at each other. Paramount+ released eight episodes in 2024, with Tamsin Greig also playing Don’s formidable sister Cecilia. Paramount Plus
McArdle is particularly good because Gal needs to possess enough criminal confidence for his rise to feel believable while retaining the part of himself that imagines another life might be possible. Elliott has the more dangerous task of playing Don without simply imitating Ben Kingsley’s terrifying film performance, and he wisely builds toward the instability rather than arriving at full volume immediately.
It is imperfect and never reaches the original movie’s intensity, but the London criminal world, rising thieves, dangerous bosses and black humour make this a natural companion to The Gentlemen. The complete first season remains available on Paramount+ UK. Paramount Plus
8. A Town Called Malice
A Town Called Malice behaves as though somebody locked Dallas, Scarface and a collection of 1980s pop records inside the same room and refused to let them out until they produced a British gangster series. Created by Nick Love, the eight-part Sky drama follows the Lord family, South London criminals whose glory days have largely disappeared before circumstances send them to Spain’s Costa del Sol.
Jack Rowan plays Gene Lord, the underestimated youngest son, while Tahirah Sharif’s Cindy quickly becomes one of the show’s most interesting figures. Jason Flemyng, Martha Plimpton, Dougray Scott and Daniel Sharman populate the wider family, whose attempts to rebuild their criminal power in Spain are repeatedly complicated by the fact that the Lords spend almost as much energy fighting one another as they do fighting their enemies. Sky Group
This is one of the closest shows here to The Gentlemen in pure attitude. It likes swagger, fashion, music, violence, family betrayal and criminals attempting to turn chaos into opportunity, although Malice replaces Ritchie’s restrained country-estate palette with neon lights, beaches and enough 1980s needle drops to make you wonder whether every character has their own personal DJ.
The writing never becomes as sharp as the style, which keeps it outside my top five, but the entertainment value is undeniable when everything clicks. If you want a British gangster family saga with romance, excess and a distinctly heightened personality, this is an underrated binge.
All eight episodes remain available through NOW and Sky. @NOW
7. McMafia
McMafia is what happens when British organised crime stops thinking locally and starts looking at the entire world as a business opportunity. James Norton plays Alex Godman, the British-raised son of a Russian mafia family who has spent much of his life attempting to distance himself from his relatives’ criminal legacy.
Naturally, television has other plans for him. A family tragedy drags Alex back toward the world he rejected, and the series gradually expands into an international network involving money laundering, drug trafficking, Russian organised crime, businessmen, politicians and criminal organisations operating across multiple countries.
The Gentlemen fans who enjoy watching Eddie Horniman discover that criminal administration can be disturbingly similar to legitimate business should appreciate Alex. Norton plays him as someone who initially appears fundamentally different from the gangsters surrounding him, making his gradual adaptation to the rules of that world more interesting than if he began the series already behaving like a hardened crime boss.
McMafia is far more serious than The Gentlemen and considerably less interested in making you laugh. Its attraction lies in scale, showing how organised crime intersects with respectable finance and political power until separating the legitimate world from the criminal one becomes increasingly difficult.
The eight-episode series remains available to UK viewers through several services, including BBC iPlayer and UKTV Play according to current listings. JustWatch
You’ll also love our collection of crime and detective dramas from 2026 if you want newer streaming recommendations after finishing this list. It combines British and international thrillers with mysteries, investigations and several shows that deserve much bigger audiences.
6. Brassic
Brassic is not a traditional gangster epic, and that is precisely why it belongs here. Joe Gilgun plays Vinnie O’Neill, who leads a close-knit group of working-class friends in northern England through increasingly ridiculous criminal schemes involving thefts, scams, local gangsters and ideas that generally sound considerably more sensible before anybody actually attempts them.
The similarities with The Gentlemen come through humour and criminal incompetence rather than aristocratic power. Vinnie and his friends rarely operate at Eddie Horniman’s financial level, but both shows understand how funny crime becomes when characters have enormous confidence in plans that clearly contain seventeen obvious points of failure. Michelle Keegan, Ryan Sampson, Aaron Heffernan and the wider ensemble turn the group into something closer to a dysfunctional family than a conventional gang.
What makes Brassic better than many crime comedies is the emotional sincerity underneath the madness. Vinnie’s struggles, friendships and loyalty give the show real warmth, meaning a scene involving some absurd theft can suddenly become surprisingly moving without feeling as though the writers have changed programmes halfway through.
The show ran for seven seasons and became Sky’s most successful original comedy, with the seventh series serving as the farewell season. Sky That gives new viewers an enormous completed binge, and all seven seasons are currently available through Sky and NOW, with earlier seasons also appearing on Netflix. JustWatch
5. The Gold
The Gold gives you organised crime without the traditional gangster-show structure because its starting point is one extraordinary real robbery. The BBC drama recreates the aftermath of the 1983 Brink’s-Mat robbery, when six armed men entered a security depot expecting cash and instead discovered gold bullion worth £26 million, creating an enormous problem: how do you turn that much stolen gold into money without revealing where it came from?
That question becomes much more interesting than the robbery itself. Hugh Bonneville, Jack Lowden, Emun Elliott, Charlotte Spencer, Dominic Cooper and Tom Cullen move through a story in which criminals, financiers, police officers and respectable businessmen become connected by the stolen fortune, showing how dirty money can migrate surprisingly quickly into apparently legitimate institutions.
If The Gentlemen interests you because of the business side of organised crime, The Gold is essential. These criminals are not simply fighting over territory; they are laundering money, building financial structures and discovering that the difference between an underworld operator and a respectable businessman can sometimes amount to little more than a better address and more expensive stationery.
Season 2 expanded the story around the missing half of the Brink’s-Mat gold and the fortune it generated. Both seasons remain available through BBC iPlayer in the UK, making this one of the easiest high-quality British crime dramas on the list to start immediately. JustWatch
🎧 Halfway through the criminal empires, this is a good moment to swap gangland London for original audio storytelling. That Love Podcast creates romantic dramas, comedies and serialised stories built around characters, relationships and the sort of emotional chaos that does not usually require somebody hiding several million pounds in a warehouse.
ADVERTISE WITH THAT LOVE PODCAST
That Love Podcast works with brands, authors, publishers, streaming platforms and entertainment businesses looking to reach readers who actively search for what to watch, read and listen to next. Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are available across the website, podcast and newsletter, allowing campaigns to reach audiences through multiple formats.
4. MobLand
MobLand might be the easiest recommendation on this entire list for somebody who finishes The Gentlemen Season 2 and wants another recent British gangster drama immediately. Tom Hardy plays Harry Da Souza, a fixer working for the Harrigan crime family, with Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren having tremendous fun as Conrad and Maeve Harrigan.
Harry is the adult repeatedly forced to clean up messes created by dangerous people who technically outrank him. Hardy plays him with remarkable calm, which makes the character more intimidating because he rarely needs to announce that he knows exactly how violent the situation could become.
The Harrigans are where MobLand becomes more entertainingly excessive. Brosnan’s Conrad combines patriarchal authority with unpredictability, while Mirren’s Maeve frequently behaves as though moderation is a concept developed by rival criminal families to make people boring. Paddy Considine, Joanne Froggatt and a strong supporting cast deepen the family conflicts surrounding Harry.
It does not reinvent organised-crime television, but the performances are enough to make familiar material extremely watchable. Season 1 earned a 77% Rotten Tomatoes critical score, while Paramount+ has committed firmly to the franchise. People.com
Season 2 premieres September 18, 2026 with ten weekly episodes, while the complete first season is already available on Paramount+. If you want another powerful criminal family immediately after The Gentlemen, begin here. Decider
3. Top Boy
Top Boy is considerably less interested in making British organised crime look cool. That distinction matters because Ronan Bennett’s series examines the drug trade through the lives of people operating inside and around fictional East London estates, following characters whose ambitions have consequences far beyond the men attempting to become “top boy.”
Ashley Walters’ Dushane and Kane Robinson’s Sully form the series’ defining relationship. They are friends, rivals and criminal partners whose different approaches to power repeatedly pull them together and push them apart, while later seasons introduce figures including Micheal Ward’s Jamie and Little Simz’s Shelley.
Where The Gentlemen presents criminality through estates, tailoring and enormous cannabis operations, Top Boy strips away much of the glamour. Violence affects families, young people become recruited into dangerous systems, money never completely removes vulnerability and supposedly powerful men remain one mistake away from losing everything.
That realism makes Top Boy emotionally harder to binge, but it also makes it one of the best British crime series of the last fifteen years. Rotten Tomatoes currently gives the overall series a 97% average critical rating, with the final season receiving 100% from the critics counted by the site. Rotten Tomatoes
All five seasons — including the original Channel 4-era story and the Netflix continuation — are available through Netflix. If you want British gangster television with genuine social weight behind the crime, Top Boy is essential viewing. Netflix
2. Gangs of London
Gangs of London takes the phrase “gang war” considerably more literally than almost every other British crime show. Created by Gareth Evans and Matt Flannery, the series begins when Finn Wallace, head of one of London’s most powerful criminal families, is murdered, creating a power vacuum that immediately threatens to tear the city’s entire criminal ecosystem apart.
Joe Cole plays Finn’s volatile son Sean Wallace, while Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù’s Elliot Carter initially enters the story as an undercover police officer attempting to penetrate the Wallace organisation. Michelle Fairley, Lucian Msamati, Narges Rashidi and Pippa Bennett-Warner help build a world populated by criminal families and international organisations competing for influence across London.
The action is where Gangs of London separates itself from almost every programme here. Fights are brutal, shoot-outs feel enormous and the direction carries the physical intensity Gareth Evans brought to The Raid films. People do not simply get punched; entire buildings occasionally appear to regret becoming involved.
But the show would become exhausting if violence were all it had. Family loyalty, betrayal, ethnic and international criminal alliances and Elliot’s increasingly compromised identity give the spectacle narrative weight, even when later seasons push plausibility to its limits.
All three seasons are currently available through Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK, with Sky describing the show as a battle between international gangs for control of London’s underworld. Sky Season 3 continued that fight after a poisoned drug shipment caused mass casualties and destabilised the existing alliances.
If The Gentlemen is Guy Ritchie criminal sophistication, Gangs of London is what happens after somebody removes the table manners.
🎧 Before the No. 1 pick, you can also discover original romantic audio dramas, comedies and character-driven stories from That Love Podcast. If your streaming watchlist is already becoming frighteningly long, audio fiction gives you another way to disappear into a story while doing something else.
1. Peaky Blinders
There was never really another choice for No. 1. Steven Knight’s Peaky Blinders did more than become a successful British gangster show; it became a global television phenomenon that turned Tommy Shelby’s haircut, coat, cigarettes and ability to stare silently into the distance into an entire aesthetic.
Cillian Murphy plays Thomas Shelby, a First World War veteran who returns to Birmingham and begins expanding the Peaky Blinders from a local street gang into something much larger. Paul Anderson’s Arthur Shelby, Helen McCrory’s formidable Polly Gray, Sophie Rundle’s Ada and the wider Shelby family give Tommy an emotional network that repeatedly becomes both his greatest strength and most obvious vulnerability.
The Gentlemen fans should immediately recognise the central pleasure: watching an intelligent protagonist use criminal leverage, legitimate business, negotiation and occasional violence to move into rooms where people initially believe he does not belong. Tommy’s ambitions gradually stretch from gambling and local crime into politics, international business and encounters with enemies who possess far more institutional power than he does.
What elevates Peaky Blinders above imitators is atmosphere. Modern music collides with period Birmingham, smoky industrial landscapes make almost every frame look mythic, and Murphy understands that Tommy becomes more interesting when he says less rather than more.
All six seasons remain available to UK viewers through BBC iPlayer, with current streaming listings also showing Netflix and Sky access. JustWatch
If you loved The Gentlemen because of criminal empires, family loyalty, class, ambition and sharply dressed people making extremely dangerous decisions, Peaky Blinders remains the benchmark.
WORK WITH THAT LOVE PODCAST
If you're a studio, streaming service, entertainment brand, publisher, author or business looking to connect with readers who love television, movies, crime drama, books and pop culture, That Love Podcast offers advertising and sponsorship opportunities across multiple platforms. Campaigns can appear across the website, podcast and newsletter, putting them directly in front of entertainment-focused audiences.
Conclusion: What Should You Watch After The Gentlemen?
The best thing about finishing The Gentlemen is discovering how many directions British gangster television can take you next. You can stay inside wealthy criminal families with MobLand, abandon almost all restraint with Gangs of London, move into the harsher social realism of Top Boy or go back a century with Tommy Shelby and watch Peaky Blinders build one of television’s most famous criminal dynasties.
If the comedy is what you love most about Guy Ritchie’s series, Brassic should jump much higher on your personal watchlist. Vinnie and his friends lack Eddie Horniman’s stately home and Susie Glass’s business empire, but they possess the same capacity to turn apparently manageable criminal situations into magnificent disasters.
For pure style, A Town Called Malice and Sexy Beast are worth trying. The former pushes its 1980s music, fashion and Costa del Sol setting until subtlety leaves the building, while the latter gives you another glimpse into the kind of London criminal world that helped define modern British gangster cinema.
Top Boy would be my recommendation if you want something more serious. Its portrayal of power, loyalty and the drug trade is considerably less romantic than The Gentlemen, and that difference is precisely why it is so effective.
Gangs of London is the choice when you want action. The Gold is the choice when the financial machinery behind organised crime interests you more than another gunfight.
But Peaky Blinders remains No. 1 because it combines almost everything. You get family, business, politics, romance, violence, class, ambition, memorable villains and one of the defining television performances of the 2010s from Cillian Murphy.
The Gentlemen Season 2 arrives on September 3, 2026, so there is still time to fit another criminal empire into your schedule before Eddie and Susie return. People.com
Which one would you rank No. 1?
SUPPORT THAT LOVE PODCAST
If you enjoyed this ranking and want to support more independent entertainment coverage, streaming guides and original audio storytelling, you can help That Love Podcast continue creating new work. You can also discover hundreds of original podcast episodes and scripted stories after your next television binge.
FAQs
1. What is the best British gangster show like The Gentlemen?
Peaky Blinders is my strongest recommendation because it combines organised crime, family politics, ambition, class conflict and an exceptionally charismatic central character. Tommy Shelby and Eddie Horniman are very different men, but both stories are fascinated by intelligent outsiders learning how power operates and discovering they may be considerably more comfortable inside criminal organisations than they initially admit.
2. What should I watch after The Gentlemen on Netflix?
Top Boy should be high on your list if you want another London-set crime drama available through Netflix. It is much darker and more socially grounded than The Gentlemen, focusing on Dushane and Sully as they navigate drugs, violence, friendship and power in East London. Netflix currently carries the complete series. Rotten Tomatoes
3. Is MobLand similar to The Gentlemen?
Yes, particularly if the criminal-family element is what appeals to you. MobLand follows fixer Harry Da Souza as he works for the Harrigan family, led by Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren, and spends much of his time managing violent conflicts created by powerful people. Tom Hardy’s controlled performance gives the show a darker tone than The Gentlemen, but the organised-crime family politics are extremely compatible.
4. Is Gangs of London worth watching?
Absolutely, especially if you want a British gangster show with considerably more action. Gangs of London combines criminal-family politics with some of the most ambitious fight scenes and shoot-outs on British television, beginning with the assassination of crime boss Finn Wallace and the violent power vacuum that follows. All three seasons are available through Sky and NOW in the UK. @NOW
5. Is Top Boy better than The Gentlemen?
They are trying to accomplish very different things. The Gentlemen is stylish, heightened and frequently comedic, while Top Boy uses gangster storytelling to examine drugs, poverty, community, young people and the human cost surrounding organised crime. I would rank Top Boy higher as serious crime drama, but The Gentlemen is the easier choice when you want escapist entertainment.
6. Which British gangster series is funniest?
Brassic wins comfortably because comedy is central to its identity. Joe Gilgun’s Vinnie and his group of friends repeatedly attempt thefts and schemes that become increasingly ridiculous, but the series balances that humour with surprising emotional warmth. The complete seven-season run is currently available through Sky and NOW. Sky
7. What is the most violent British gangster show?
Gangs of London is comfortably the strongest candidate. The series uses unusually elaborate action choreography and extremely graphic violence, drawing on co-creator Gareth Evans’ experience directing The Raid films. Viewers who primarily enjoyed The Gentlemen for witty dialogue should expect a major tonal shift, because Gangs of London treats criminal warfare with far greater physical brutality.
8. Where can I watch Peaky Blinders in the UK?
Current UK listings show all six seasons available through BBC iPlayer, with additional streaming access through services including Netflix and Sky. JustWatch The series follows Tommy Shelby and his Birmingham crime family beginning shortly after the First World War, making it an ideal binge if you want a completed period gangster drama.
9. What British crime show has the closest Guy Ritchie feeling?
A Town Called Malice probably comes closest stylistically outside Ritchie’s own work because it combines criminals, family conflict, heightened dialogue, music, fashion and an intentionally exaggerated tone. Snatch is another obvious option because it directly adapts the world and basic criminal-comedy energy associated with Guy Ritchie’s movie, although Ritchie did not create the television series.
10. When does The Gentlemen Season 2 come out?
The Gentlemen Season 2 premieres on Netflix on September 3, 2026, with Theo James returning as Eddie Horniman and Kaya Scodelario back as Susie Glass. Netflix has already renewed the series for a third season, so the criminal partnership and expanding empire are expected to continue beyond this next batch of episodes. EW.com
For even more British crime recommendations, That Love Podcast has dedicated guides covering British detectives, police shows and binge-worthy modern crime dramas. They are particularly useful if you want to move from organised crime into murder mysteries and police investigations next.
More Places to Find Great Movies and TV Shows
If you're on the hunt for your next favourite TV show or movie, there is no shortage of useful resources for discovering another series. Review aggregators are particularly useful with crime dramas because audience reactions can vary dramatically depending on whether viewers want realism, action or pure gangster entertainment.
IMDb remains useful for episode, cast and production information, while Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic allow you to compare critical reactions. Entertainment Weekly, Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter are particularly useful for renewal announcements, casting news and upcoming streaming releases.
Enjoyed What You Read?
Subscribe to That Love Podcast’s newsletter for the latest blogs, entertainment recommendations, streaming guides, reviews, updates and exclusive giveaways. If you know somebody currently wondering what to watch after The Gentlemen, send this ranking their way and then argue about why their favourite gangster series is three places too low.
Let’s spread the love together!
.jpg)
.jpg)
