‘A Town Called Malice’ cancelled: Season 2 won’t be happening

We’ve got disappointing news for anyone who enjoyed Sky’s A Town Called Malice.

The “intoxicating cocktail of crime thriller and family saga in the early ’80s” premiered earlier this year, but it sadly won’t be getting a second season.

From the creator of Bulletproof, the eight-part British series starred Jason Flemyng (Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels), Jack Rowan (Noughts + Crosses), and Dougray Scott (Desperate Housewives).

Watch the trailer here:

A Town Called Malice followed the Lords, a crime family of petty thieves from South London who had fallen to the bottom of the criminal food chain.

After narrowly surviving a gangland battle, the characters find themselves fleeing to Spain’s Costa del Sol.

All eight episodes premiered as a box set streaming on NOW TV in March, with a weekly airing Thursday nights on Sky Max.

However, Sky has already told producers Vertigo Films and Rogue State that they’ve decided not to renew the show.

The news was a surprise, reports Deadline, “preparations were underway for Season 2.”

Apparently the show’s ratings were “lower than expected,” with insiders at Sky blaming “the competitive environment for scripted content.”

It had been expected that a second season would begin filming this spring.

“A Town Called Malice is a riotous, neon-soaked love letter to the 80s and we are enormously proud of the series,” a Sky spokesperson commented.

“Though we won’t be returning to the Costa del Crime, we would like to thank Nick Love, the cast, and the team at Vertigo Films for their hard work and creative vision.”

The series was first announced back in August 2021, with Sky’s Director of Commissioning, Gabriel Silver pitching: “If Dallas and Pulp Fiction created a love child to the strains of Duran Duran, it would be A Town Called Malice.”

UK viewers can still catch up on A Town Called Malice on NOW TV if you missed it.

And if you’re looking for more 1980s-set British crime dramas, we’d recommend BBC One’s recent heist drama The Gold, and the second season of Channel 4’s The Curse!