26 Years Later, Guy Ritchie’s Debut TV Series Is Still Better Than ‘The Gentlemen’

Guy Ritchie has had a busy career, but the writer and director is living proof that not everyone needs decades to achieve their very best work. Guy Ritchie’s gangster movies are some of the most renowned titles in the genre, and over the years, several have earned legendary status. However, the crime thriller icon has also dabbled in the world of TV shows, serving as executive producer and director on Netflix’s The Gentlemen, Paramount+’s MobLand, and Prime Video’s Young Sherlock.

Guy Ritchie’s first movie, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, put him on the map in 1998. 28 years after its release, this film is still a total classic, and it’s far from a Guy Ritchie movie nobody talks about anymore. If anything, it’s one that audiences hold in just as high regard as Ritchie’s later projects. But did you know that Ritchie created a TV show before The Gentlemen? Well, he did, and the seven-part crime thriller Lock, Stock… is arguably even better than The Gentlemen​​​​.

Guy Ritchie’s ‘Lock, Stock…’ Is His Forgotten TV Masterpiece

Believe it or not, the Netflix crime drama The Gentlemen is not the first time Guy Ritchie has created a TV spin-off of one of his iconic films. Surprisingly, several people are unaware of the spin-off to Guy Ritchie’s 1998 debut movie, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels​​​​. The TV show, aptly named Lock, Stock…, aired on the UK’s Channel 4 from May to July 2000, beginning with a feature-length pilot and followed by a further six episodes.

It’s worth noting that while Lock, Stock… is a spin-off, it’s not a sequel to Guy Ritchie’s movie. If anything, it’s more of a spiritual successor; it’s set in the same type of rough-and-tumble criminal world, but the new characters we meet find themselves in somewhat different circumstances than Eddie (Nick Moran) in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Lock, Stock… follows Moon (Daniel Caltagirone), Jamie (Scott Maslen), Bacon (Shaun Parkes), and Lee (Del Synnott), four friends who run The Lock pub, as they attempt various new dodgy business ventures.

When it came out, some critics weren’t exactly on board with Lock, Stock… For example, The Guardian‘s review spoke about how the TV show couldn’t “transcend the film’s plot,” and felt that Lock, Stock… wasn’t as clever as the original film. Ritchie was still a relatively new name in the world of broadcast media, and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was his only notable title at the time of the TV show’s release, as his movie Snatch wouldn’t release for another couple of months. Really, Ritchie took a major risk with his TV spin-off.

However, 26 years later, Lock, Stock… has gained further appreciation, even if it’s still considered a somewhat forgotten title of Ritchie’s. Despite only airing for one season, it’s a great Guy Ritchie crime thriller. It still pays homage to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in various ways. For example, when the characters accidentally steal a van full of guns, unaware they’re fueling the fire of an ongoing gang war even more.

There are also several moments that, upon reflection, you can see how they influenced Ritchie’s later work. Lock, Stock… is definitely a product of its time, but it does what Ritchie does best: telling stories about the complex figures in the criminal underworld of London’s East End, with plenty of action-packed scenes and drama, with a good amount of humor thrown in. It can be difficult to find Lock, Stock… on streaming, but it is available to buy on various services, and it’s a Guy Ritchie TV show well worth watching.