For Steven Knight, 2025 is shaping up to be a pivotal year. The acclaimed creator behind Peaky Blinders is poised to make a major return to Netflix, not only with a highly anticipated feature film and a seventh season of his beloved period drama, but also with a new saga that’s already generating buzz: House of Guinness. Slated to debut all episodes on Netflix September 25, 2025, the sprawling period series promises to introduce American audiences to a fresh chapter of Knight’s storytelling prowess—and, perhaps, to a new generation of stars ready for the international spotlight.
Until now, Knight’s attempts to break further into the U.S. market have encountered obstacles. As reported by Decider, his BBC hit SAS Rogue Heroes remains largely inaccessible to American viewers, tucked away on MGM+, a streaming service that, as the article wryly notes, "half of which have never heard of, and no one subscribes to." Meanwhile, his earlier 2025 project, A Thousand Blows, was overshadowed by its stars’ other commitments. But House of Guinness is different. This time, it’s Netflix putting its marketing muscle behind the show, banking on a binge-worthy drop and an all-star cast to capture viewers’ imaginations worldwide.
The premise is as rich as the stout that made the family famous. House of Guinness dives into the third generation of the Guinness dynasty, set amid the cobbled streets of 19th-century Dublin and the bustling promise of New York. The series opens in the shadow of Sir Benjamin Guinness’s death—the architect who transformed the family brewery into an international powerhouse in the 1850s, earning knighthood and a fortune that would alter the family’s destiny. But rather than focusing on the legendary founder or his immediate successor, the show zeroes in on the next generation: Arthur Guinness (styled as the 1st Baron Ardilaun), his brothers Benjamin Lee and Edward (later the 1st Earl of Iveagh), and their sister Anne, who married into the aristocratic Plunket family.
According to the official series logline, House of Guinness “explores an epic story inspired by one of Europe’s most famous and enduring dynasties—the Guinness Family. Set in 19th-century Dublin and New York, the story begins immediately after the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness, the man responsible for the extraordinary success of the Guinness brewery, and the far-reaching impact of his will on the fate of his four adult children… as well as on a group of Dublin characters who work and interact with the phenomenon that is Guinness.”
Bringing these historical figures to life is a cast brimming with British talent. Anthony Boyle (Manhunt) steps into the shoes of Arthur Guinness. Fionn O’Shea (Normal People) portrays the second son, Benjamin Lee Guinness. Louis Partridge, known to millions from Enola Holmes and Pistol, plays the youngest, Edward Guinness. Emily Fairn (The Responder) rounds out the siblings as Anne Lee Plunket. The supporting cast reads like a who’s who of British television, with James Norton, Dervla Kirwan, Jack Gleeson, Niamh McCormack, Danielle Galligan, Ann Skelly, and more filling out the ensemble.
Behind the camera, Knight himself conceived and wrote every episode, ensuring his signature blend of historical grit and familial intrigue. Directors Tom Shankland (The Leopard) and Mounia Akl (Boiling Point) share helming duties, while Howard Burch produces. The creative team also includes executive producers Karen Wilson, Elinor Day, Martin Haines, and Ivana Lowell, with Cahal Bannon as series producer. The result is a show that, as Netflix’s promotional blitz suggests, aspires to the epic scope and internecine drama of television’s most ambitious family sagas.
For Louis Partridge, who plays Edward Guinness, House of Guinness represents another milestone in a career that’s been anything but conventional. In a candid August 2025 interview with Kit Connor for VMAN magazine, Partridge reflected on his journey from a 10-year-old stage novice to Netflix star. “I used to try on these ridiculous white leather boots that a friend’s mum had. I used to love trying them on for the laughs that it would get—purely that,” he recalled, describing the early spark that led him to acting. Within a decade, Partridge had landed breakout roles in Enola Holmes, the miniseries Disclaimer, and as Sid Vicious in Pistol—each performance ratcheting up his profile and, with it, the pressures of sudden fame.
Social media, Partridge admitted, has changed the game for young actors. “The nature of Netflix and Instagram is such that you’re connected to everywhere in the world, and everyone knows about you,” he told Connor. “It’s a great age to be living and doing our job, but there are certainly some downsides. I will say that it did sort of warp my perception of what is important for a little while… I feel like in any other profession, you work 10, 15, 20, however many years for a shot at that feeling of congratulations and renown. And so there was I, age 16, thinking, ‘Wow, I’ve completed it, essentially.’ Which is completely not the way to think about it, and that’s not the job at all.”
Partridge credits his family and friends for keeping him grounded. “I’m glad that I have nice parents and a good group of people around me that didn’t sort of send me off in a weird direction, and that the work has always been the most important thing. You need to keep that stuff at arm’s length, because it can eat you up.” He’s even stepped back from Instagram, likening its influence to “a pit bull or something. Did you have a similar experience, Kit?”
Connor, who rocketed to fame with Heartstopper, agreed that the transition can be jarring. “You go into your next job, and the minute you spend another day on a set, you sort of go, ‘Oh, right, nothing’s changed.’” Partridge added, “I think for a while, it definitely gave me an overly acute awareness of people and my perception. And so I just found myself thinking a lot about what other people thought about me, because it was just apparent that I had 5 million people all of a sudden looking at what I was doing.”
Yet, the work remains the anchor. Partridge shared his excitement about House of Guinness and the challenges of mastering an Irish accent for the role. “I was kind of going for the Andrew Scott thing. A light Andrew Scott, let’s just say… My character goes through some real turmoil. He changes, let’s just say. As the business grows, he goes through quite a few trials and tribulations. It’s a really cool character to have been given. And that accent came so easy for me. I really don’t know why it was, but certain things just click, and that one always just felt right.”
Connor, who previewed the series, praised Partridge’s performance: “It really felt like a wealthy man from Dublin… It’s the most mature performance I’ve seen you give, which was cool.”
As for the future, Partridge is open to experimenting—perhaps even writing or producing his own stories one day. “I’ve just been thinking recently, it might be nice to come up with something that I really care about, which is the real joy of our jobs, that we have the ability to do that. I suspect the next few years, I hope that it’s a mixture of both waiting for the phone to ring and going out there and forging your own work.”
With House of Guinness just weeks away from its Netflix debut, Knight and his cast are betting that American audiences are ready for a new kind of family epic—one brewed in history, ambition, and the bittersweet taste of legacy. For Partridge and his co-stars, it’s a chance to leave their own mark on a story centuries in the making.
