Steven Knight confirms 35% of A Thousand Blows season 2 is based on real-life

Steven Knight’s historical dramas are known for blending real-life facts with fictional storylines, so how much of the second chapter of his Victorian boxing series, A Thousand Blows, is rooted in history? According to Knight, roughly 35%.

"I would imagine, 35% real or something like that," he told TechRadar when discussing the new storylines of A Thousand Blows season 2. Knight often takes a person, place or event from the past to create what he calls "stepping stones" for an overarching plot in his TV shows.

"Usually, you've got a date, maybe a fight that happened, a boxing bout that happened or a robbery that happened for real – and those are like stepping stones," he said. "You know these things happened, and then it's up to you to find out why they would have gone from that to that."