GANGS of London left viewers reeling with its bloody debut episode on Sky Atlantic this week.
The gritty crime drama included a grisly fight scene with a meat cleaver and the shocking execution of a man who was burned alive and thrown off the edge of a building.
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The show is fronted by Joe Cole plays Sean Wallace, who inherits his father mobster’s empire and is forced to take drastic measures to keep operations running smoothly.
However, the Sky Atlantic hit isn’t all about epic stunts and grisly action.
It turns out the team were put through their paces when it came to the organised crime scene of the capital.
Show creator Gareth Evans revealed that the team shadowed London’s undercover police teams to ensure an authentic take on the city.
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“We went down the rabbit hole, definitely, [we wanted] to get a sense of what goes on behind closed doors,” he explained to Sky News.
“It was almost a case of, okay, how do we strip away the sort of exotic eye-level view of London that people would have. Part of that involved… going behind closed doors and finding a way to translate that journey into the show,” he added.
As for what they saw during their time undercover, Evans admitted much of the offences had to remain confidential.
“It was interesting titbits and facts about the city and how things happen,” he continued.
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“I have to be careful. Money-laundering, for example, was a really fascinating aspect of it, the way that there would be some – not all, but some – money exchange stores used to launder through.”
His main takeaway from the experience was how appearances can be deceiving in the hustle and bustle of London.
“I remember on one of our trips we were with an undercover cop, a former undercover cop, who was like, okay, you see this street? And there were, like, five money transfer places,” he recounted.
They went on to witness a full-blown raid.
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“He said that definitely one of them would be responsible for money laundering in some way or another. And literally, while we were stood on the pavement watching, a group of plain clothes cops came in and raided the place right in front of us,” he went on.
“So it’s kind of like, okay. Either he’s really, really orchestrated this well for us, or he’s telling the truth. So it was a fascinating little glimpse into the background of it all.”
The comments come after viewers took to social media ‘wincing’ over the show’s gory scenes.
Gangs of London continues Thursday on Sky Atlantic at 9pm.