Tom Hardy’s Gritty Gangster Series Declared the Most Addictive Show of 2025

Every year has the show everyone seems to be watching. In 2025, that crown in the crime genre belongs to MobLand, the Tom Hardy–fronted gangster saga that has quietly become one of the most talked-about series of the year.

Created by Ronan Bennett and backed by Guy Ritchie and an A-list producing team, the ten-episode British crime drama arrived on Paramount+ in March and immediately broke the platform’s record for its biggest global series launch, pulling in over 2.2 million viewers on premiere day.

With its mix of prestige casting, muscular writing and sleek, brutal style, it’s little surprise fans have started calling it “the best and most addictive show of 2025.”

Inside MobLand: power, blood and family in London

Set in contemporary London, MobLand follows the Harrigans, an Irish crime dynasty whose empire is under threat from rival gang the Stevensons. At the centre of it all is Harry Da Souza, played by Tom Hardy – a street-smart fixer whose job is to keep the peace, clean up messes and stop a tense feud from detonating into full-scale war.

Alongside Hardy, the cast reads like a red-carpet guest list:

• Pierce Brosnan as Conrad Harrigan, the icy patriarch

• Helen Mirren as Maeve, his equally ruthless wife

• Paddy Considine as Kevin Harrigan, Harry’s combustible partner and Conrad’s son

Episodes are directed by Guy Ritchie, Anthony Byrne, Daniel Syrkin and Lawrence Gough, who bring a cinematic sheen to the streets-and-warehouses world – all sharp suits, sodium-lit alleyways and sudden bursts of violence.

The Harrigans’ clash with the Stevensons begins with one disastrous night out and spirals into a Shakespearean struggle over loyalty, legacy and succession. The result is part gangster thriller, part family melodrama; think Peaky Blinders colliding with Succession, filtered through Ritchie’s snap-fast visual language.

Why audiences are hooked

Critics have been clear about MobLand’s appeal. On Rotten Tomatoes, Season 1 sits in the mid-70s with a consensus that Hardy’s “gruff charisma” powers a gangster saga that might not reinvent the wheel, but executes the genre “with crunchy style and memorable performances.”

For viewers, the addiction comes from a few key ingredients:

• Tom Hardy in his element – cajoling, threatening and manipulating with that trademark combination of menace and vulnerability. The Guardian praised the series for building itself around the “art form” of watching Hardy’s fixer work a room.

• Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren as crime-royalty – both actors lean into their charisma, then twist it, playing Conrad and Maeve as charming, terrifying and never entirely trustworthy.

• Family drama dialled up to eleven – betrayals, buried secrets, reckless heirs and strategic marriages give the show the emotional sprawl of a dynastic drama as much as a mob story.

Fans on review platforms have called the show a “modern masterpiece” and “an instant classic” of the gangster world, praising its pacing, atmosphere and knotty relationships. Even outlets that note it doesn’t break every rule of the genre tend to agree: it nails what it sets out to do, and does it with style.

Streaming success: from record launch to charts darling

After its 30 March 2025 premiere, MobLand held audience attention across its weekly rollout through early June, becoming one of Paramount+’s most-watched series globally.

The momentum hasn’t stopped there:

• The show has surged up iTunes and digital TV charts, boosted by new viewers catching up post-finale.

• It has been highlighted by entertainment sites as one of the standout new crime thrillers of the year, often singled out for its “addictive” binge factor and star power.

For Niche readers, the viewing experience itself feels premium: lavish production design, a propulsive score from Ilan Eshkeri and Matt Bellamy, and direction that pushes streaming into near-cinematic territory.

You can currently stream MobLand on Paramount+, either directly or via Prime Video Channels and other regional partners; some territories are also carrying the series through Apple’s TV app as an on-ramp to Paramount+.

Tom Hardy’s crime saga moves into its next chapter

Just as conversations began turning to “Will there be more?”, the team behind MobLand delivered the update fans were hoping for.

On 13 November 2025, the show’s official X account posted a clapperboard shot captioned “Momentary blissness. Season 2 is now in production.” Paramount+ and Paramount+ UK & Ireland amplified the announcement, confirming that cameras are rolling on the second season.

The news lines up with earlier hints from Joanne Froggatt (Jan Da Souza), who suggested in interviews that filming would begin towards the end of the year and spoke warmly about returning to what she called a “great script” and “incredible cast.”

Plot details are under wraps, but industry reports suggest Season 2 will delve deeper into the fallout from the first season’s bloody finale, focusing on shifting loyalties inside the Harrigan empire and expanding the story beyond London to the family’s overseas interests.

There is no confirmed release date yet, but with production underway and Season 1’s success, expectations are already high that MobLand will return sooner rather than later.