Netflix has been leaning into lavish period dramas that combine high production values, family intrigue, and larger-than-life characters. After titles that redefined how dynasties and powerful clans are portrayed on screen, it’s now time to dive into the story of the family behind one of the world’s most iconic brands: Guinness. House of Guinness, the new series from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, premieres September 25 and already feels like one of the streamer’s boldest launches of the year.

The Starting Point: An Empire in Question

The story begins immediately after the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness, the man who turned Dublin’s brewery into a global empire. His will not only determines the future of the business but also ties his four heirs into a web of responsibilities, ambitions, and rivalries. Arthur (Anthony Boyle), Edward (Louis Partridge), Anne (Emily Fairn), and Ben (Fionn O’Shea) inherit not just the fortune but the crushing pressure of carrying on a brand that has already conquered the world.

Knight sums up their dilemma in two blunt priorities: “First, don’t screw it up. Second, make Guinness even bigger.” It’s within this tension between preservation and expansion that the drama takes shape — along with all the inevitable family conflicts.

Dublin, New York, and the Weight of Legacy

Set between 19th-century Dublin and New York, House of Guinness alternates between opulent mansions and the bustling energy of city streets, always with the brewery looming in the background. The show explores how this family’s rise went beyond borders, turning a local business into a global symbol. At the same time, it exposes the excesses, flaws, and impulsive spirit of a dynasty Knight himself calls “naturally wild.”

The Cast

The ensemble is both rich and recognizable: beyond the four leads, the cast includes James Norton (Happy Valley), Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones), Niamh McCormack (Everything Now), Danielle Galligan (Shadow and Bone), Ann Skelly (The Nevers), Seamus O’Hara (Blue Lights), Michael McElhatton (Game of Thrones), David Wilmot (Station Eleven), Michael Colgan (Say Nothing), Jessica Reynolds (Kneecap), Hilda Fay (The Woman in the Wall), and Elizabeth Dulau (Andor).

According to Knight, brothers Arthur and Edward are the “heart” of the show. Their father deliberately left them with joint stewardship of the brewery — a decision that, unsurprisingly, hides deeper secrets and promises to be one of the season’s dramatic pivots.

Behind the Scenes

House of Guinness is directed by Tom Shankland and Mounia Akl. Shankland also serves as executive producer alongside Karen Wilson, Elinor Day, Martin Haines, Ivana Lowell, and Knight himself. The first season will feature eight episodes, all dropping this September.

What to Expect

From Peaky Blinders to SAS: Rogue Heroes, Steven Knight has always excelled at crafting worlds full of ambiguous, dangerous, yet magnetic characters. In House of Guinness, the focus isn’t simply on the expansion of a brewing empire, but on the anatomy of a young family inheriting nearly unmatched power and being forced to navigate choices that could determine both the future of the brand and the survival of their own bonds.

It’s a story that mixes tradition, wealth, and excess in equal measure — and one that promises to seduce us the way other recent family sagas have. Because nothing is more gripping than watching how an apparently unshakable clan slowly corrodes from within.

In the end, the inevitable question remains: are we about to meet another dysfunctional family that will keep us hooked with every toast, betrayal, and secret revealed?