Every Steven Knight TV Show Ranked From Worst to Best as the Busiest Man in TV Poised to Pen James Bond

Steven Knight has been in overdrive. This year alone brought A Thousand Blows, a second season of SAS Rogue Heroes, The Veil on Channel 4, and now House of Guinness has landed on Netflix. Meanwhile, he pinballed through film gigs: he was once set to write a Star Wars movie (no longer attached) and he is officially scripting Denis Villeneuve's new Bond. The man does not hit the brakes.

So, with House of Guinness out in the wild, I took stock and ranked every TV series Knight has written. Films are off the table here. Also, the source I pulled from had a numbering wobble; I cleaned it up below.

1. A Christmas Carol

   Divisive is one word for it. For me, this is the rock bottom of Knight's TV work and one of the clumsiest Dickens adaptations out there, which is saying something. You can see the intent: inject grit and period realism into a familiar story. But when you open with a kid urinating on Marley's grave and literally track the stream through the soil into his coffin, you know the tone is off. What follows is a three-part wallow loaded with gratuitous references to child abuse and sexual assault.

   The big misfire is forgetting that A Christmas Carol hinges on redemption. By adding a plot where Scrooge sexually harasses and humiliates Mary Cratchit, the show makes him so foul that no final change of heart lands. Then the capper: Mary has been working with the spirits and has more schemes in motion. Changing Dickens can be fun and worthwhile - frankly, The Muppet Christmas Carol already nailed it - but this one loses the story's soul.

2. All the Light We Cannot See

   This 2023 Netflix miniseries arrived with awards pedigree and a glossy sheen. On paper: a Pulitzer-winning novel, high production values, and a cast featuring Mark Ruffalo, Hugh Laurie, Aria Mia Loberti, and Louis Hofmann. In practice: shapeless pacing, fussy structure, and a habit of telling instead of showing, with long stretches of flat dialogue.

   The multiple timelines feel unnecessary, the focus slips in and out, some threads sprint while others crawl, and the whole thing ends up oddly weightless given the subject matter. It should have been a slam dunk; it fades from memory instead.

3. The Veil

   Knight's first TV dip into spycraft had me hoping it might tease what he will do with Bond. If anything, it did the opposite. There is enough genre machinery to keep it moving and the six-episode length is merciful, but it is mostly generic spy fare with clunky dialogue and thin characterization.

   The dynamic between Elisabeth Moss and Yumna Marwan is the bright spot and keeps you guessing. Beyond that, it lacks the distinctive flavor Knight brings when he is fully locked in.

4. See

   A fascinating sci-fi hook, a striking look, and Jason Momoa front and center. It gets better as it goes and Apple TV+ deserves credit for letting it find itself after a rough critical start. Over time, it built a rep for muscular action and committed performances.

   The problem is bloat. Episodes drag, momentum stalls, and a few baffling comedic choices undercut the tone. Knight tends to thrive when he can root a story in history or an existing text; inventing an all-new mythology leaves him a bit adrift here.

5. Great Expectations

   Better than Knight's first swing at Dickens for a couple of reasons: it is less determined to be edgy for edginess's sake, and it is a book that has been adapted slightly less to death. The ace up its sleeve, though, is Olivia Colman, who absolutely sings as Miss Havisham and electrifies scenes that might otherwise feel samey.

   Fionn Whitehead is strong as Pip, and there is more humor to offset the gloom - sometimes well judged, sometimes, well, there is a Mr Pumblechook and iron rod moment that is a choice. The bigger issue is familiar: the show spreads the same old problems over six episodes. Not painful, just forgettable compared to the stronger versions out there.

6. This Town

   Pure hometown love. Knight pours his Midlands youth into this, and you can feel the affection for the time, the place, and the people. The young cast is spot-on and brings real spark. There is genuine heart here, and the soundtrack does a lot of heavy lifting in all the right ways.

   The messiness is the rub. It often plays like a vibe piece more than a story with drive, juggling too many good ideas without giving them room. And it takes all six episodes for the core characters to finally form the band that is supposed to be the point. You can see greatness in there, which makes the frustration sting more.

7. Taboo

   Grim, gothic, and powered by a feral Tom Hardy performance, this is Knight leaning into the darkness and making it work. The atmosphere is thick, the character study is compelling, and the show is not afraid to get weird - avant-garde flourishes, supernatural vibes, the lot - which gives it a fever-dream edge.

   There is still wit tucked in the corners, and Hardy commits so completely you cannot look away. Fans have been asking for season 2 since day one. Knight has said it is coming, but we are still waiting.

8. A Thousand Blows

   Knight teams with frequent collaborator Stephen Graham for a bruising period boxing drama that arrived earlier this year. It looks great, digs into corners of history we do not usually see, and gives its characters room to be complicated.

   All three leads are dialed in: Graham is riveting as the damaged, thorny Sugar; Malachi Kirby and Erin Doherty spark like flint as Hezekiah and Mary. The structural issue is the fight-game engine. There are only so many times two men can trade places at the top before the stakes flatten, so the Forty Elephants thread ends up doing a lot of the heavy narrative lifting. Here is hoping season 2 finds a stronger propulsion system.

9. SAS Rogue Heroes

   Two seasons down with a third on the way, and this is Knight at his most rambunctious. Instead of leaning into WWII gloom, he floods the show with the chaotic energy the early SAS are famous for, complete with a punky modern-rock soundtrack and characters who feel surprisingly contemporary.

   It also shines a light on wartime stories that usually sit in the margins. Sometimes the party vibe goes a bit far for the subject, but when the show slams the brakes and stares straight at the cost of war, those moments hit even harder.

10. House of Guinness

    Fresh out on Netflix and, yes, already one of Knight's best in years. It is not reinventing his playbook, but it plays to his strengths: take real history and build a juicy fictional drama around a powerful family, in this case the Guinness clan.

    The relationships hook you, the cast is stacked, and the production looks expensive in the best way. There is a grandeur to every frame that sells the scope without sacrificing the intimacy. Across eight episodes, it builds a world that feels ready for multiple seasons.

11. Peaky Blinders

    Of course. It is the most popular Knight show for a reason, but it is also the best. It folds in everything he does well: regional specificity like This Town, tucked-away history meshed with fiction like House of Guinness, the swaggering style of A Thousand Blows, and the pulse of SAS Rogue Heroes.

    At its core, it is about characters. Cillian Murphy's Tommy Shelby and the late Helen McCrory's Polly are seismic creations, and even as the canvas expands, the focus stays on who these people are. Tonally, it is a tightrope act - gritty when it needs to be, but still fun and sly. With a film on the way, it makes sense Knight cannot quit this world yet. Neither can we.

House of Guinness is now streaming on Netflix.