Steven Knight, famed for his knack for creating captivating TV dramas, is at it again with his latest addition, A Thousand Blows on Disney+. Set amid the gritty backdrop of 1880s Victorian London, the six-part series stars Stephen Graham from This Is England and Erin Doherty of The Crown.
The drama unfolds the true tale of Hezekiah Moscow, portrayed by Malachi Kirby, who left London dreaming of becoming a lion tamer, only to wind up in the boxing ring behind The Blue Coat Boy pub facing off against the formidable Henry "Sugar" Goodson, thus kick-starting his pugilistic journey.
As A Thousand Blows becomes available to binge-watch on Disney+, Steven Knight's name is yet again buzzing among subscribers keen to know more about the writer behind the scenes. Born into a bustling household in 1959, Marlborough, Wiltshire, Steven was the youngest of George and Ida Knight's seven children.
His parents alternated between various jobs, George being particularly skilled as a blacksmith. Yet, with the demise of shoeing Co-op delivery horses, the family relocated back to their Small Heath roots in Birmingham mere months after Steven's birth due to his father's struggling business.
There, George resumed his trade in riding stables and scrap merchants' yards, providing young Steven a glimpse into the city's working-class life. "I used to go in there as a kid and you would see the Peaky Blinders world," Knight reminisced in an interview with BAFTA.
"It was full of the last remnants of what Birmingham used to be: stolen stuff, scrap, all kinds of things. "It was like an Aladdin's cave. As my dad shoed the horses, I'd hear them talking. "There was Charlie Strong, who I've used in the series, and Curly, who was my great, great uncle.
"Very, very funny people. It was that flavour of the last of the old Birmingham that I tried to put into Peaky.". The journey from Brum to London and back again saw Knight start out in a mundane office job before breaking into the world of writing. The creator of Peaky Blinders set his sights on becoming a writer after being the first in his family to attend university in London.
Knight's venture into the advertising world began in Birmingham with radio adverts and then shifted to Capital Radio in London as a copywriter and producer. His early career included writing for ITV's 'The Detectives' and Jasper Carrott's 'Canned Carrott', alongside an unsuccessful stint with a board game named PSI (Psychology, Slander, Intuition), which turned into an 80s game show hosted by Chris Tarrant—a name he would collaborate with again.
In fact, it was during the late 90s when Knight, together with Mike Whitehill and David Biggs, came up with the legendary TV quiz Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?. . Knight reminisced about the show's beginnings: "No one would insure it! At first, it was an unlimited prize.
"Someone could keep going forever. That's what scared them. And when they said it's got to have a limit, we said it's got to be a big limit. A million was the obvious thing, I suppose.". Despite being one of telly's busiest blokes, Knight is rumoured to be hitched with three kids.
However, he keeps his family life under wraps, preferring to keep his private affairs out of the public eye. "I just don't think it's a good idea. I spend a lot of time around famous people and it's so wonderful not to be famous," he commented. "It's just blissful, because they have a hard, hard life [of scrutiny].".
Knight's latest venture, A Thousand Blows, has recently debuted on Disney+, but the writer has a slew of other projects in the works, including a Peaky Blinders film. Currently in production is the eight-part series House Of Guinness, which unravels the true story of the aftermath of brewery tycoon Benjamin Guinness's death and how his "shrewd will" stirred up trouble for his offspring.
The upcoming Knight masterpiece stars Masters of the Air's Anthony Boyle, The Responder's Emily Fairn and Happy Valley's James Norton. Other works from the writer's portfolio include Small Dark Look, a crime drama centred on the Russian Mafia in London, war series Roads to Freedom and a biopic about the life of Enzo Ferrari.
