9 Crime Dramas To Watch While Waiting For MobLand Season 2 (#1 Also Stars Tom Hardy)

As audiences wait to see what happens next to Harry de Souza in MobLand season 2, here are other great crime dramas worth delving into. Paramount+’s MobLand was created by Ronan Bennett and developed by Guy Ritchie, focusing on the struggles of the Harrigan crime family. Tom Hardy portrays de Souza, the Harrigans’ most trusted fixer among their ranks.

However, the Harrigans’ reign is soon turned upside down when the heir of one of their rivals is murdered, leading to an escalating crime war brewing. MobLand soon reveals the fractures within the Harrigans’ ranks, as dark truths about its leading figures come to light. After MobLand ended on a shocking cliffhanger, the series was renewed for season 2.

9

Happy Valley

Streaming on Prime Video

Airing from 2014 to 2023 across three seasons, Happy Valley is led by Sarah Lancashire’s traumatized Yorkshire police sergeant Catherine Cawood. When the release of convicted criminal Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton), who had assaulted Catherine’s daughter before her suicide, her life is thrown into disarray.

Across Happy Valley‘s three seasons, the two characters have many complicated battles with one another, not just over criminal activity but through the ties that forever tied them together. As such, many who became enraptured by the high-stakes personal battles within the Harrigan family may similarly be satisfied by the interpersonal conflicts.

8

Love/Hate

Streaming on Prime Video and PlutoTV

Releasing between 2010 and 2014, Love/Hate explored the rivalries that shook the Dublin criminal underworld. When Darren (Robert Sheehan) returns to Ireland after several years on the run in Spain, a tragic shooting throws him back into a life of crime. As he tries to discover his brother’s killer, Darren descends further into the criminal underworld.

Like MobLand, Love/Hate is a family affair, as Darren’s return to his life of crime is partially motivated by his brother’s loss, though the mystery of who the killer was is a further hook for viewers. Furthermore, stars Sheehan, Killian Scott, and Barry Keoghan, who would later receive recognition, also provide strong and engaging performances.

7

This City Is Ours

Available on Prime Video

Starring Game of Thrones’ Sean Bean, This City Is Ours premiered in 2025 and explored the fragile bonds that kept the Liverpool criminal underworld in line. However, when Bean’s crime-boss Ronnie Phelan decides to step away from his position, his loved ones turn on one another in a battle of succession.

While a newer addition to the genre, This City Is Ours has left a strong impression on critics and audiences alike. Much like MobLand, the battles exist beyond rival gangs vying to take over Phelan’s empire, as the conflict between potential successors Michael (James Nelson-Joyce) and Jamie (Jack McMullen) take priority.

6

McMafia

Available on AMC+

Releasing in 2018, McMafia is inspired by Misha Glenny’s McMafia: A Journey Through The Global Criminal Underworld. Starring the previously mentioned Norton as financier Alex Gordon, who is dragged into a battle between his father’s criminal business and rival enterprises. Despite his reluctance, Alex finds himself taking initiative in the criminal underworld to secure his place.

Much like how MobLand depicted Paddy Considine’s Kevin as a complicated figure who doesn’t match his more cutthroat relatives, Alex is a reluctant protagonist pushed into this life. As such, his arc surrounds his attempts to maintain his family’s legacy without crossing his own lines. This makes McMafia’s narrative incredibly engaging, as viewers are left wondering what is right.

5

Top Boy

Streaming on Netflix

Also created by Ronan Bennett, Top Boy leaves behind the major players of the criminal underworld and focuses on a personal struggle on Hackney’s Summerhouse housing estates. Dushane (Ashley Walters) and Sully (Kane Robinson) hold power over the estate through their drug-dealing operations. However, new gangs and police snitches complicate their operations.

Gritty, gripping, and unrelenting, Top Boy not only earned acclaim across its original run, but the series’ revival by Netflix was highlighted as an improvement on the original series. With Netflix’s involvement, Top Boy’s scope expanded beyond the Summerhouse estate. As such, later seasons began to further flesh out its intriguing criminal underworld.

4

Line of Duty

Streaming on Hulu and Britbox

Unlike MobLand, Line of Duty turns its lens to the other side of the law, focusing on AC-12. While the police may be seeking out criminals, it is the job of the Anti-Corruption Unit 12 to apprehend “bent coppers”, officers who have used their position to violate the law for their own means. Line of Duty ran for six seasons across 36 episodes.

Line of Duty is a perfect match for MobLand viewers due to the strength of its cast. Like how MobLand portrays its criminals as not inherently evil, Line of Duty shows how the law and those who uphold it can be corrupted, no matter their intentions. This makes it a perfect companion piece to MobLand‘s morality explorations.

3

The Gentlemen

Streaming on Netflix

Spanning out of Guy Richie’s 2019 feature film of the same name, The Gentlemen follows Theo James and Kaya Scodelario’s Eddie Horniman and Susie Glass, who find themselves inheriting their family’s murkier business dealings. Across the first season, the pair is forced to reckon with escalating tensions in the criminal underworld, thanks to absurd dealings gone wrong.

While Richie may have worked on both MobLand and The Gentlemen, the latter is closer to the director’s more comedic stylings. MobLand grapples with the ways crime has shaped its cast’s broken lives, while The Gentlemen has a more humorous approach, portraying things in a more optimistic light. Nevertheless, both series fully embrace the subgenre Richie helped establish.

2

Gangs of London

Streaming on Netflix and AMC+

Beginning in 2020, Gangs of London focuses on a power struggle between powerful international gangs to shape the city’s future. When Finn Wallace (Colm Meaney) is assassinated, the city is thrown into chaos, as various parties seek to claim his empire for themselves. As the syndicates fight, the authorities hope an undercover operation can bring the underworld to its knees.

Like MobLand, Gangs of London is an unforgiving and brutal series that shows the darker ripples that a life of crime can have on those who partake. Even undercover cop Elliot Finch (Sope Dirisu) is forced to reckon with what he must do to survive. As such, Gangs of London offers a character-driven glimpse into the personal costs.

1

Peaky Blinders

Streaming on Netflix

Created by Steven Knight, Peaky Blinders tells the story of Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy), a soldier who returns from the First World War to establish his own Birmingham-based criminal empire. Across its six-season run, Shelby’s operations expand from a small gang into a global empire. Even Tommy finds himself dealing with the political class when he becomes an MP.

As Tommy begins to expand the Blinder’s influence, their operations bring him into contact with key players throughout the historical period. Alongside rival gangs, Tommy brushes elbows with the figureheads of various movements as the world descends into the darkness of World War II. Because of this, Peaky Blinders can be a decent introduction to the setting’s history.

Alongside a unique historical setting and striking cinematography, Peaky Blinders’ character writing also earned it widespread acclaim. Tommy Shelby is a complex figure who not only grapples with rival syndicates and the law, but his personal demons. With a Peaky Blinders sequel movie in development, now is a perfect time to dive in while waiting for MobLand’s return.

MobLand

Release Date

March 30, 2025

Network

Paramount+

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  Pierce Brosnan

  Conrad Harrigan