This City is Ours second series filming begins

Returning cast members, Hannah Onslow and James Nelson-Joyce have started filming in Spain

Filming has begun on a new series of BBC gangster drama This City is Ours.

The first series of the show, filmed in and around Liverpool and also in Spain, was dubbed by some reviewers as the "Scouse Sopranos" with reference to the critically-acclaimed American crime drama.

The cast of the show include Liverpool actor James Nelson-Joyce, who is returning as leading gang member Michael Kavanagh, alongside Hannah Onslow, who returns as his partner, Diana Williams.

Series one launched on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in March and was the BBC's most watched new drama launch of the year so far, attracting an average 5.8 million viewers, a BBC spokesperson said.

Nelson-Joyce has said he was "a lucky lad" to be playing such a role in his home city.

Another Liverpudlian actor, Jack McMullen has also returned in the role of Jamie Phelan, alongside Mike Noble as Banksey, Julie Graham as Elaine Phelan, widow of murdered gang leader Ronnie (Sean Bean), and Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Cheryl Crawford.

Shaun Evans has joined the cast as former gangster, Ozzie Thompson and Álvaro Morte plays Felipe Guzman, a member of the Colombian cartel and younger brother of Ricardo, who was murdered at the end of the first series.

The gangland thriller was praised by viewers and TV critics alike

The series chronicles the battle for control over a cocaine-trafficking gang, with gangster Kavanagh seen struggling to balance his criminal activities with family life as he and his partner consider fertility treatment.

It won viewers' hearts with lighter moments including Sean Bean, as Ronnie Phelan, leading a charge of golf buggies to Ride of The Valkyries, the theme from the film Apocalypse Now.

The cast also went viral with a scene featuring them line-dancing to the 1950s song The House of Bamboo.

This led to various imitations that went viral online.

The new series, created by Stephen Butchard, would be picking up from where things were left at the end of series one, a BBC spokesperson said.

The former engineer has said he was keen to capture the "vibrancy" of his native Liverpool through the drama, describing it as a "really handsome" and "friendly" modern world city.

He also said he had been "blown away by the incredibly positive response" to the first series, adding: "I can't thank the audience enough for their time and emotional investment."