Tin Star: Liverpool: How to watch Tim Roth’s Sky Atlantic thriller

By Alex Fletcher

Published: 7 December 2020, 3.18pm | 6 min read

By Press Association

Published: 7 December 2020, 3.18pm | 6 min read

The wait is almost over. Tin Star: Liverpool, the third and final season of the dark thriller, is coming to Sky Atlantic on Now TV in December.

If you’re looking for the antidote to anodyne Christmas telly, the shocking and darkly comic rollercoaster ride of Tin Star is a must-watch for you this winter.

Leaving the beauty of the Canadian Rockies behind, Jack, Angela and Anna are returning to Liverpool, where their story began 20 years ago.

Viewers will discover the story behind the enemies who have hunted down Jack and the Worth family in the first two seasons and will finally see the family confront the ghosts of their past.

Tim Roth is in incredible form as the foul-mouthed anti-hero Jack Worth and he's got some old enemies played by Ian Hart and Tanya Moodie to contend with this season. Tin Star fans should be prepared for the show's most gripping series yet.

Tin Star: Liverpool airs at 9pm on December 10 on Sky Atlantic with NOW TV.

All six episodes will be available to watch as a box set.

Jack Worth is uncompromising. He loves his family and will do anything to protect them. And in this case, that means hunting down and killing a list of people from his past. The same people who came to kill them in Canada in Season two. In Liverpool, Jack is reunited with Angela and Anna and the trio set out to inflict justice on those responsible for a heinous crime exposed by Jack to Angela 20 years prior. Season three will see Jack pushed to his limits as he is finally forced to confront his past in order to pave the way for a new future for his family.

Catch your favourite shows and all the best sport with our flexible TV packages. Entertainment packs include Netflix and Sky channels from NOW.

What to watch next

Angela is an expert in compartmentalising and burying feelings. But being back in Liverpool opens the floodgates for her emotionally and she is forced to confront her own role in what happened 20 years ago and finally face her grief over the death of her brother.

But when killing those responsible doesn't give her the closure she’d hoped for, she begins to question herself. And when faced with an old enemy – Angela is forced to make a heartbreaking decision about what's right for her daughter's future.

Anna is no longer the teenager we met in season one. The experience in Canada has changed her and she returns to Liverpool an equal to her parents. There are no more secrets in this family – this is a unit of killers – so get rid of everyone on the list and they can finally be free.

Eager to get on with the task at hand she is surprised to discover a strange sense of home in Liverpool that she has never experienced before. She will for a brief moment get the chance to see what her life could have been like if she was a normal teenager but will ultimately make a decision which will change her course forever.

New cast members for season 3

Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Catherine is far away from the lowly covering officer she was when Jack knew her 20 years ago. She was then a young, ambitious cop who was swayed by the corruption of her superiors and the chance for swift promotion.

She was Jack's handler and when he reported the unspeakable crime Michael and Danny committed she did nothing – he knew she was corrupt and needed to get out. The stakes are high for her now the Worths are back and she is prepared to stop at nothing to protect not just her life but also her professional standing.

Michael Ryan is the leading male antagonist of season 3. His public face is that of one of the most successful and powerful businessmen in Liverpool, widely regarded as one of the key players in the regeneration of the city. He is apparently the classic ‘local boy done good’ with a multi-million-pound property empire.

But privately Michael's life is another story. And his link to Jack and Angela is deep rooted. In fact his beloved brother Danny was Angela's lover and Anna's father. The relationship between the Worths and the Ryans is complex and darkly emotional.

Working undercover, Jack became involved with the Ryan family when he was sent to Liverpool to infiltrate their incredibly powerful and ruthless criminal fraternity. There Jack met Angela and fell in love with her.

Detective Inspector Sarah Lunt is a smart young DI working under Catherine McKenzie. A Liverpool local and not someone to suffer fools Lunt becomes embroiled in Jack's campaign against Catherine.

She is astute and a highly trained officer with specialist skills, an asset to any force. Lunt looked up to Catherine and Catherine saw a kindred spirit in Lunt – ambitious, keen to impress and straight talking. She is on track for an illustrious career in the Merseyside Police department.

But as the truth about Catherine's corruption becomes clearer to Lunt, she finds herself pulled between her duty as a police officer, loyalty to Catherine and her newfound curiosity for Jack and the Worth family.

Part-fence, part-police informant, part-community activist – Mary is an indefinable yet charismatic woman who is the ally of our Worth family. 20 years ago, Jack entrapped Mary and convinced her to turn informer for an undercover operation he was running with Greater Merseyside Police.

Despite their unusual meeting, there was a great deal of respect between Jack and Mary and a friendship began. Twenty years on and Jack arrives back in her life as suddenly as he walked out of it, but the dynamic between them is as though no time has passed at all. She is the only friend he has ever had and gives us new insight into his complicated character.

The short answer is no. But to get the full pleasure of watching the Worth family story wrap up, it would help to know the background - and if you have the NOW TV Entertainment Pass, you can binge season 1 and 2 now.

However, Tin Star: Liverpool is a standalone adventure that has new villains, new locations and you’ll still love the twists and turns of this closing chapter in the story without having watched the first two seasons.

The complete Tin Star season 1 and 2 Box Sets are available to watch on Sky Atlantic with NOW TV.

All 20 episodes of thrilling action, which was set in the fictional quiet town of Little Big Bear, were filmed in the stunning Canadian Rockies.

Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Oliver Coopersmith (Dickensian) and Ian Puleston-Davies (Coronation Street) are among the cast who appear alongside Roth, O’Reilly and Lawrie in the first two seasons.

Fans hoping for further seasons of Tin Star will be disappointed to hear that this really is the "definitive" ending for the show.

"The nasty little mercantile spirit in me always wants to leave the door open, but actually the door is closed," said writer Rowan Joffe.

"That's why the ending is so satisfying."

Knowing that the show won't be coming back only adds to the intrigue in how the show is going to conclude the Worth family story. Can it be a happy ending for the trio?

Tin Star was filmed on location in Liverpool and locals will recognise numerous famous landmarks and buildings such as the Seacombe Ferry, New Brighton Promenade, St George's Hall and the Adelphi Hotel.

Talking about choosing the location, Joffe said: "When I recced Liverpool, I wandered around on my own, taking photos with my iPhone. The writer in me was overwhelmed with inspiration.

"I went to the Museum of Liverpool and looked at the city's history. It felt like a city that's as maverick as the show, a city that never plays by the rules, a city that would swallow you whole unless you knew how to take care of yourself.

"I loved its dark mercantile history, and we wanted to stay true to the vaguely noir aesthetic of the piece. It seemed Liverpool would do that for us as well."

Tim Roth revealed the word "Liverpool" at the end of season two and he was keen to return to the city after working their on the BBC drama Reg with Jimmy McGovern.

"Liverpool has all kinds of landscapes and communities, it's a city almost intentionally run into the ground by the government," said Roth.

"Instead of using it as a set, it became a character in the show itself."

Happy Valley, Justified, Line of Duty, Riviera, Save Me.

Watch Tin Star: Liverpool on December 10 on Sky Atlantic with the NOW TV Entertainment Pass.

Catch your favourite shows and all the best sport with our flexible TV packages. Entertainment packs include Netflix and Sky channels from NOW.

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