Culture Street

If you haven't beed watching McMafia then you need to catch up now.It stars James Norton who is also hotly tipped to be the next James Bond.

The series was inspired by the bestselling true crime book McMafia: Seriously Organised Crime by journalist and broadcaster Misha Glenny. It’s a riveting account of international crime and a brilliant critique of globalisation’s dark side.

Glenny wrote the book after years as the Central Europe Correspondent for the Guardian and then the BBC. He spoke to gangsters, policemen and victims of organized crime, exploring the ferocious consumer demands for drugs, trafficked women, illegal labour and arms across five continents.

The 8-part TV series was filmed in locations including London, Zagreb, Qatar, Mumbai, Prague, Cairo, Belgrade, Belize, Istanbul, Moscow and Tel Aviv.

David Strathairn stars as Israeli businessman Semiyon Kleiman, Juliet Rylance plays Alex Godman’s girlfriend Rebecca Harper and acclaimed Russian actress Maria Shukshina is his mother Oksana. You can watch it on Amazon Prime in Australia and on the BBC in the UK. You can buy the book here in Australia and here in the UK.