Gangs Of London is one of the most violent shows on television and has gripped audiences since its release in 2020.

Definitely not for the faint-hearted, it follows undercover police officer Elliott Carter, played by Sope Dirisu, working in the heart of a top-level criminal organisation after infiltrating the infamous and powerful Wallace family.

Now in its third season, familiar faces return, and new villains emerge as the battle to lead the criminal underworld rages on.

Note: Mild spoilers ahead

“Every year we’re trying to go a bit further,” Dirisu told Sky News.

The London-born actor is the cop-turned-criminal whose life was turned upside down when his family were killed in a car accident.

Season three delves into those events as Elliott takes on a new role among the gangs.

“It’s a great testament to the response that we’re getting from our audiences that they want more of it. People are still engaged. There are some shows that don’t get to make a season three, so we don’t take that for granted at all,” he said.

Set in a fictionalised version of London, akin to Gotham in the Batman universe, season three sees some new faces joining the fold.

“It does feel like Batman is going to fly in at any minute,” laughs Richard Dormer.

The Game Of Thrones actor plays Cornelius Quinn in the series, the brother of Michelle Fairley’s Marian Wallace and the uncle of Peaky Blinders actor Joe Cole’s character Sean Wallace.

Dormer said: “I watched episode two of season one, when they raid the Travellers camp, and I just really sat up with wow. I just thought it was brilliantly done, technically, it was just amazing to watch.”

For the actor, as much as he enjoys being part of the cast, the violence depicted is not his cup of tea as a viewer.

He said: “I’m not a big fan of it but I think technically, when it’s done right, it’s breathtaking. There’s this kind of a thrill in it because it’s safe and so over the top that you know it’s not real so you can kind of wallow in it and enjoy it, you know.”

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Andrew Koji takes on the mysterious assassin role, hidden by a hood and a glorious side fringe, in the upcoming episodes.

“I didn’t realise the fringe was that prominent,” he told Sky News after watching the new episodes, adding “it’s gone now, hopefully never to return”.

After working on Bullet Train, Warrior, Snake Eyes and most recently the Netflix show Black Doves, Koji said getting to use his background in mixed martial arts is always something he wants to lean towards.

“This unique mix of his raid-esque style action with gripping family drama in this kind of heightened, stylised London is interesting, nuanced and different. I jumped at the opportunity.”

All eight episodes of Gangs Of London 3 will launch as a box set on Sky Atlantic and the streaming service NOW from 20 March.

How artificial intelligence will affect our lives going forward is a question being figured out across pretty much all industries right now. 

While many in the arts have expressed concerns over how algorithms learn from their work, Black Eyes Peas star will.i.am believes it actually should “inspire you to create”.

An early artificial intelligence supporter, he says: “If you’re basing what you’re going to do tomorrow off yesterday, you’re not growing.”

The music producer spoke to Sky News after giving a demo of his new AI radio app in London.

Rather than artificial intelligence being something with negative connotations, he insists its potential should “inspire better, broader, deeper, faster…[it] shouldn’t stop you from being human”.

As one of the most prominent voices to position himself in the pro-AI camp, his enthusiasm is certainly infectious.

Those who turned out to see the demonstration of his app-based platform RAiDiO.FYI got to see the musician and tech entrepreneur challenge one of his AI personas to make a joke comparing computer chips and guacamole chips with reasonably funny results.

He hopes listeners will come to interact and talk with AI presenters in the not-too-distant future.

But is it a gimmick or a taste of the future?

Sky News put it to will that some of his musical counterparts worry AI – with its instant ability for anyone to make a song in his style – waters down the music industry.

“I don’t think anything can water down our industry any more than TikTok has,” he responded.

“We used to listen to three-minute songs, now we’re down to nine seconds….TikTok and that algorithm, you know, changes what record companies are looking for, changes the architecture of the song… it’s watered down…we an ocean (sic).”

Sean Paul on embracing AI

But Jamaican dancehall musician Sean Paul isn’t entirely won over by AI’s potential.

“It’s a pandora’s box,” the rapper said, speaking to Sky News, “when you open it, it’s going to change all the parameters. It’s down to you to get used to the game.”

“I am apprehensive about certain parts of [it] in terms of making people lazy to writing”, the 52-year-old, who has worked with countless stars over his 20-year career, said.

“It can become a toy and make music more dispensable.”

He said he recognises there are copyright and ethical considerations with using AI in the music-making process – especially where algorithms are concerned and they may mimic popular sounds.

He said: “If it does happen that AI takes my stuff and I’m never compensated because of it (…) I will fight that.

“It’s gonna happen. Already though, I feel me, the artist, the creator, I’ve got the short end of the stick for a long time. Even before the days of streaming – we get 0.0 something of the product – and it’s we that created it.”

AI as a ‘tool’

However, he also acknowledged that “times have changed” – and that adapting is key to surviving the ever-changing music industry.

Paul says none of his published music has been touched by AI – but he is open to experimenting with it.

“I’ve used it for trying to finish riddim patterns that I have….I used it as a tool… as I think everybody should.”

Some big names in music, like Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John, have openly called for a legal framework to be established to better protect artists, which will.i.am agrees is paramount “to not always lead with greed, especially with powerful systems” like AI.

“There needs to be some type of artificial intelligence constitution….I believe you should be licensed to put out AIs right now and you’re not.”

AI and copyright concerns

Over 1,000 artists, from Damon Albarn to Kate Bush, recently released a silent album to protest possible changes to UK copyright AI laws.

Dubbed ‘Is This What We Want?’, its aim was to highlight concern for how their work is potentially being used to develop and train the technology.

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While the likes of will.i.am and Sean Paul may be open to seeing where the technology takes them, Alastair Webber believes the government should be taking control rather than loosening the reins.

The co-founder of The Other Songs, an independent music company championing songwriters and artists, says: “We must protect copyright because it really is the economic bedrock of the creative industries that bring so much back.”

The son of composer Lord Lloyd Webber, he believes while it’s important that big figures within the industry like his father are vocal with their concerns, the stand they’re taking is actually for those with their careers ahead of them.

“We’re not talking about these big names like Andrew Lloyd Webber or Elton John, all these people that are getting the headlines supporting this, actually [this matters more] for the young people being born today.”

An actress who was said to have been groped by Noel Clarke has defended the actor in his libel case against the Guardian, the High Court has heard.

Clarke is suing Guardian News and Media (GNM) over seven articles and a podcast, including an article in April 2021 that said 20 women who knew him professionally had come forward with allegations of misconduct.

Clarke denies the allegations, while GNM is defending its reporting as being both true and in the public interest.

At a hearing on Friday, actress Louise Dylan said she heard through a friend that Clarke’s former business partner Davie Fairbanks had claimed he saw her being groped by Clarke at the wrap party for The Knot.

After learning of the current libel case she wrote an email to Clarke, who she described as a friend, in which she said the allegation was untrue, she said.

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She told the High Court in London: “Someone told the Guardian that he had assaulted me and I wrote this email because it was not true.

“A friend called me and I said this did not happen. I told Noel that he has my support because it is a lie.”

Read more: Why is Noel Clarke suing the Guardian?

She also said she never spoke to journalists from the Guardian.

The Guardian did not report the allegations about Ms Dylan.

She said: “They are reporters who are supposed to research an article before publishing something.

“I was told I had spoken to these journalists to corroborate a story but I had not.”

She said she had been at the wrap party with her friend and her boyfriend, following a group dinner beforehand.

She said she didn’t “remember [the wrap party] too well,” adding, “I don’t remember the specifics of the party other than we had a nice time”.

Philip Williams, representing Clarke, previously told the court in written submissions that the actor “has clearly established the falsity of all of the allegations”.

The barrister continued that his client was “barely able to reply to the allegations” published by the Guardian and was “perceived as a criminal by all those who previously trusted and worked with him”.

Gavin Millar KC, for GNM, said in his written submissions that the paper “did not simply accept what was said to it” and that “much time and resource was devoted to getting to the truth”.

He also said that there is “ample evidence” that all of the articles were true or substantially true.

Clarke, who is best known for his roles in Doctor Who and the Kidulthood movie trilogy, had his BAFTA membership and outstanding British contribution to cinema award suspended in 2021, following the allegations.

He later dropped a legal action he had brought against the charity.

The hearing before Mrs Justice Steyn is due to conclude next month, with a decision expected in writing at a later date.

:: This article has been updated to make clear that The Guardian did not report the allegations about Ms Dylan.