Tom Brittany Is Causing Trouble in ‘The Westies’ First Trailer

They say history doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes. That’s not just true for the world writ large; it’s also the reality for individual people, who find themselves (through no fault of their own) repeating the same mistakes as those who came before them. Take Tom Brittney, who exited Grantchester at the beginning of Season 9 after four years starring as the show’s second good-hearted crime-solving vicar, a role he inherited from James Norton, who exited after he too starred for four years as the show’s original good-hearted crime-solving vicar.

Norton’s exit from the show was telegraphed well before the series was willing to admit it, when he disappeared from filming for a year only to turn up as the star of the series McMafia, starring as a rising gangster running the Russian mob in London while at odds with the previous generation. The series was a hit for the BBC but floundered in the U.S.; it was trapped on AMC just as cable viewership tanked, before the company acquired Acorn TV or launched AMC+, leaving it with zero streaming outlets. Norton disappeared for a couple of years before his career was re-jump-started in 2019’s Little Women.

Brittney’s exit was better handled, with the show now experienced in vicar swapping. However, much like Norton, he now arrives in The Westies, starring as... a rising gangster running the Irish mob in New York while at odds with the previous generation. The series hasn’t been released on either side of the pond, so it’s too early to tell whether the show will be a U.K. hit, but it’s already assured of floundering in the U.S., trapped on MGM+, a streaming service few even know exists, let alone subscribe to.

History doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes. Here’s hoping Brittney lands a nice role as a gentle husband in an Oscar-worthy film that the academy deliberately snubs to re-jump-start his career, too.

Here’s the synopsis:

The Westies is set in the early 1980s, when the construction of the Jacob Javitz Convention Center on the Westies’ home turf in Hell’s Kitchen promises a financial windfall for the Irish-American organized crime gang. Despite being outnumbered 50-to-1 by the Five Families of the Italian mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning have given them the leverage necessary to share the spoils through a fragile détente. However, internal conflict between the brash younger generation and the old-school leadership threatens to set this powder keg off, sweeping the Westies into the FBI’s ever-deepening investigation into the Italian mafia.

The series ensemble is led by American J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) as Irish boss Eamon Sweeney. It includes Brittney as Jimmy Roarke, Allen Leech (Downton Abbey) as Brendan Cahill, Stanley Morgan (The Serpent Queen) as Mickey Flanagan, Sarah Bolger (The Tudors) as Bridget Walsh, Jessica Frances Dukes (The Gilded Age) as Agent Birdie Polk, Vincent Walsh (Irish Blood) as Eddie Breen, Hilary McCormack (Murdoch Mysteries) as Erin Malone, Titus Welliver (Bosch) as Officer Glenn Keenan, and Hamish Allan-Headly (Mayor of Kingstown) as real life Italian crime boss John Gotti.

Recurring cast members include Jeremy Walmsley (Washington Black), Dylan Taylor (SisterS), Rohan Mead (Under the Banner of Heaven), and Aidan Wojtak-Hissong (I Am Not Okay With This).

The eight-part drama is co-created by Chris Brancato and Michael Panes, who both penned all eight episodes, with Brancato serving as showrunner. Director Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) helmed all installments, with Michael Maccarone and Nick Iannelli producing. Brancato and Panes also serve as executive producers alongside MGM Studios.

The Westies premieres Sunday, July 12, 2026, on MGM+ with two episodes, followed by one a week through the end of August.

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