IN AWEED farm buried under the country estate of Halstead Manor, drug boss Susie (Kaya Scodelario) is talking shop with soldier-turned-aristocrat Eddie (Theo James). It’s the kind of concoction of a scene —marijuana cultivation, ornate lingo, criminal pursuits —that feels right at home in a Guy Ritchie joint. Only this time, it’s a TV show. “You’re allowed to tell a lot of story, [which] lends itself to my creative disposition,” he tells Empire. “A lot of it I just write on the day according to who’s there and what feels organic, spontaneous and fun.”
The Gentlemen is an eight-part serialised spin-off of Ritchie’s 2019 Matthew McConaughey-fronted movie, and sees Scodelario and James’ mismatched duo come together in a bid to save Halstead —which has been inherited, along with its weed empire, by Eddie —from being overthrown by an American businessman.
Empire visits the stately home’s cannabis cave, which is in fact a detailed set constructed in North London’s Alperton Studios, on a frosty day in December 2022. Vast quantities of fake cannabis plants sit in rows amid hydroponic lights and bottles of growth-inducing chemicals. Susie is simultaneously managing her crew while liaising with Eddie as the new duke of the manor. James takes a moment between takes to confirm to Empire that in spite of the new medium, Ritchie’s voice is very much present. “[It] sits between hyperreal broad comedy and real darkness and danger and stakes at the same time —with phrases like, ‘You will dress up as a fucking chicken.’”