New television series filmed in Liverpool leaves critics asking why it was ever made

A new series that was partly filmed in Liverpool and other parts of Merseyside has been slammed upon its release.

The prequel series to the much-acclaimed 2001 crime movie directed by Jonathan Glazer, Sexy Beast, premiered on Thursday (January 25) after filming took place in Liverpool, Wirral and St Helens.

The show follows the anti-hero from the film - 'Gal' (once played by Ray Winstone, now played by James McArdle) - as a younger man ascending the ranks from being a low-level thief.

TV crews filming the Paramount+ series were spotted in St Nicholas Church gardens, Water Street, the waterfront, Rumford Street, and other parts of the city centre and Anfield, as they transformed Liverpool into 1990s London during 2022 and 2023.

However, since its release, the show has received shocking reviews and a slurry of negative ratings from critics.

In her review of the show, the Guardian's Leila Latif said the cast lacks chemistry and the story lacks interest, and gave it a two star review.

She wrote: "One of the pithiest pieces of dialogue of Steven Spielberg’s entire oeuvre is Jeff Goldblum’s remark in Jurassic Park that the dinosaur-resurrecting scientists 'were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.'

"This sentiment also applies to Paramount+’s Sexy Beast."

Alison Herman, of Variety, also gave the show a damnign review, saying it "weighs down" the original film which had become a cult classic.

She wrote: "'Sexy Beast' is often so preoccupied with adding emotional and physical stakes that the show distracts from a criminal gang’s simple quest to stick it to the man.

"Less is more, as they say — and in some attempts to turn a one-off into a franchise, more is less."

Ed Power, of the I newspaper, reviewed it with much of the same sentiment, and said the show risked ruining the reputation of the cult classic

He wrote: "It’s entirely lacking in the eerie power of the source material, instead playing out like EastEnders with a bigger budget while lacking any sense of mischief or danger.

Sexy Beast is rated at 2.5 stars out of ten on Rotten Tomatoes.