The release of Peaky Blinders‘ creator Steven Knight‘s new crime drama, A Thousand Blows, has been greatly anticipated since its announcement over two years ago, with hype only growing as we learned that the show would include the fantastic Stephen Graham as Sugar Goodson in one of the leading roles. While there has not been much shared with the public, we do know A Thousand Blows will follow the Queen of the Forty Elephants gang, Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), and her plans to use the success of bare-knuckle boxer Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) to further her criminal enterprises. Stepping into the role of the antagonist is a rival boxer and gangster, the aforementioned Sugar Goodson, who tries to destroy Moscow.
The inclusion of a female kingpin in this period — a time when women faced significant political and social limitations — is not an embellishment of the truth. In fact, the Forty Elephants, Mary Carr, and many characters within A Thousand Blows are drawn directly from the time and setting. It’s important to acknowledge that some of the characters’ nefarious activities, or involvement in specific events, are being dramatized. Yet, the Forty Elephants alone is a fascinating piece of forgotten history that showed women rebelling and using the oppression that under-estimated them to their advantage.
‘A Thousand Blows’ Portrays the Real-Life Forty Elephants Gang Led by Mary Carr
The Forty Elephants, so-called because they were based in the Elephant and Castle district in London, were a gang of all-female thieves famous for their organized criminal efforts in stealing and selling valuable goods. The gang is notable for their use of ingenious methods to covertly steal expensive items, such as wearing artificial arms and fake purses in shopping centers, or posing as housemaids for rich families, looting the place once they were alone according to Brian McDonald‘s Alice Diamond and the Forty Elephants: The Female Gang That Terrorised London. Officially, they began in the late 1800s, but some believe the gang was operational as far back as the 18th century. Born in 1862, Doherty’s Mary Carr was indeed the head of the gang by the 1880s, though it was loosely organized at that time and even paired with the all-male Elephant & Castle mob when there was a mutual benefit.
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Certain Chronology or Links to Crime Have Been Embellished in ‘A Thousand Blows’
Darci Shaw plays Alice Diamond, who became the leader of the Forty Elephants after Carr was periodically in and out of prison. Diamond Annie, as she was known, is attributed with the Forty Elephants’ true growth, conducting more elaborate and choreographed heists throughout West London, according to McDonald’s book above. However, Alice was born in 1896, and with the show being set in the 1880s, this might be an aspect of history that strays from the truth, though it could lead to a fascinating clash within the Forty Elephants’ leadership.
According to the British National Archives, Alec Monroe (Francis Lovehall), Moscow, and, according to British GQ, Goodson, who will all be appearing in the show, were real boxers in East London around this time. However, it doesn’t appear they had any links to organized crime, though, with the sport’s past links to corruption and crime, the liberal approach to history doesn’t feel like a large stretch in the imagination. What will be fascinating is how Goodson’s criminal and boxing activities link across, with him supposedly providing “protection” for Mary Carr, as he says he does in the trailer.
Therefore, whilst the Forty Elephants gang and Mary Carr appear to be rather accurate, it must be said that inclusions such as Alice Diamond, Goodson, Moscow, and Monroe, whilst based on real people from the time, appear to have been dramatized either in their role in criminal enterprises or their birthdates. However, each change feels like a necessary one to make while still focusing on the core of this narrative that interests audiences. How does an all-female gang of thieves operate in late 19th-century London? By including boxing, a brutal, male-dominated sport, the possibility for violence and obstacles for Mary Carr to deal with is heightened and will hopefully lead to some thrilling scenes throughout A Thousand Blows.
The A Thousand Blows trailer is out now. It will be released on Hulu on February 21 in the U.S.