This City is Ours: Five 'awful' flaws viewers have criticised in the BBC One crime drama
By Helen Fear | Wed Mar 26 2025This City is Ours is the BBC One show everyone is talking about this month, but it's definitely divided viewers - with some having already watched it to the end, while others have called out some pretty major flaws in the series.
The crime drama stars the ever-reliable Sean Bean as drug kingpin Ronnie Phelan, who ships cocaine - aka Lemo in local slang - into the UK to sell on the streets of Liverpool.
Best friend Michael is his right-hand man - that is until Ronnie starts to think about retiring to his villa in Spain, and his son Jamie decides he wants a bigger slice of the pie.
It's got everything you'd want in a crime drama - including tension, love, did-he-really-just-do-that? moments, and a killer cast. However, This City is Ours viewers have also called out what they see as some pretty 'awful' flaws in the eight-part series.
***Warning: spoilers from This City is Ours series 1 ahead***
This City is Ours accents - the actors aren't all Scousers
This City is Ours is set and filmed in and around Liverpool. Which is lucky for half the cast, who stem from the city - including James Nelson-Joyce, Jack McMullen, and Stephen Walters.
However, there's also a large portion of the cast who aren't Scousers, not least Sean Bean, who's from Sheffield, Scottish Julie Graham, Irish Saoirse-Monica Jackson, and Londoner Hannah Onslow.
Talking about the accent, Hannah said: "I love the accent so much, I think it's gorgeous. I did a lot of work on it, I had a wonderful accent coach Helen Ashton who was always there if I needed her and she helped me with the real specificities of the accent."
Sadly, some of the viewers did not love the accents quite so much... One wrote on X: "Really enjoying #thiscityisours, but the female characters would have been better played by Scouse actors. Accents are dreadful."
Another added: "Started #thiscityisours, but the fake scouse accents are making me cringe. Could we not get actual Scouse actors?"
A third typed: "Never understand why so many Scouse parts in drama shows are played by folk from outside Liverpool. Barring a few exceptions it never works… #ThisCityIsOurs."
It's not the first time a brilliant BBC One show has faced criticism for its accents, though - remember Sherwood's tricky Nottingham accents?
Too many comparisons to The Sopranos and Macbeth
In episode 7 of This City is Ours, Michael planned to kill Jamie. And he got pretty far, too. Viewers will know that Jamie had attempted to shoot Michael dead in episode 6, but had mucked it up. Rare bird, for someone who seemed to mess up everything.
However, Micheal wasn't going to fail. He had Jamie right in front of him, cowering from the pointed directly at him. But... he chose to walk away.
Plenty of This City is Ours fans have been comparing the crime drama to TV shows such as Kin, Gomorrah, and The Sopranos. And not always favourably.
One fan wrote: "They stole the last-minute aborted assassination from The Sopranos."
Fans of The Sopranos will know that, back in season one, Tony had a botched assassination attempt on his life.
Another wrote: "For goodness sake, anyone comparing this to The Sopranos is seriously mistaken. There are some goodish performances, but it's so one dimensional."
Meanwhile, some believed the script had copied William Shakespeare's famous play Macbeth. One wrote: "Macbeth rip off."
Another said: "The writer has just ripped off Macbeth. Trusted lieutenant and partner can't have children, loyal second-in-command thinks he'll be King, King decides to support his son, loyal second-in-command kills king. #thiscityisours."
Sean Bean's early death - again!
Those of you who have already raced ahead to the end of the series will know that Sean Bean's character Ronnie Phelan dies a rather premature death in episode 2 of the series.
And while it was a shocking scene in many ways, some viewers were expecting it... After all, the actor is known for dying on screen - including his jaw-dropping death in series 1 of Game of Thrones.
Far from being a shock, some This City is Ours viewers were expecting it.
One said: "Old Sean Bean never lasts long in much these days does he? #thiscityisours."
Another added: "Boring. Sean Bean playing another father killed off early."
A third wrote: "Well as normal SeanBean didn’t last long #thiscityisours."
"Good series," said another, "but Sean Bean overhype killed off in episode 2 of 8."
This City is Ours flaws: It had 'awful' sound
The sound of This City is Ours was another flaw that wound viewers up. And it isn't just a problem aimed at This City is Ours...
Rellik, Jamaica Inn, and SS-GB have all been accused of having sound problems. In fact, the controversy over poor sound quality on the hit BBC One show Happy Valley highlighted the issue of inaudible dialogue in drama.
The BBC Controller of TV Channels, Charlotte Moore, pledged to tackle the "big issue" of sound. But it hasn't been resolved yet, according to This City is Ours viewers who called out its "shocking sound quality".
One annoyed viewer said: "The background sound/track is drowning out the speech."
Another wrote: "Very noisy music distracting from the dialogue."
A third added: "Shame the music drowned out the dialogue, it really spoiled it."
"Sound was awful, said another. "Couldn't hear a lot of what they were saying!"
The 'cringe' soundtrack
As well as the poor sound quality, many viewers hated the soundtrack. The songs on the show mainly consisted of old crooner tunes liked by the Phelan patriarch Ronnie Phelan.
Songs included The House of Bamboo by Andy Williams, Dean Martin's Sway, Tony Bennett's The Good Life, I've Gotta Be Me by Sammy Davis Jr, and Anyone Who Had a Heart by Cilla Black.
Of course, this is down to personal taste, but some viewers were quick to judge.
One wrote: "Soundtrack is a bit cringe. #thiscityisours."
Another said: "#thiscityisours is okay, but the music is vile."
The haters might want to look away now... A soundtrack album for the BBC crime drama This City is Ours has been released digitally, and is available to stream/download on all major digital music services, including Amazon.
