Succession meets Peaky Blinders: House of Guinness is Netflix’s “true” family drama worth getting embroiled in

It’s not often we’d encourage getting embroiled in a bit of family drama, but the one at the heart of Netflix’s new series is worth every bit of your time. Introducing House of Guinness, the “true" Succession-esque show from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, which tells the story the famous Guinness family and the power struggle that ensued when the man behind its extraordinary success died.

Drawing on the real fallout from Benjamin Guinness’s death, the grandson of the famous brewery founder Arthur Guinness, it gives a whole new meaning to the term family feud. James Norton, who’s starring in the series, has said Knight is "at his best" and that it’s a "really fun" series. He told Digital Spy: “It's got beer. It's got this eccentric family. We've got these Steven Knight characters all kind of jostling and playing, fighting, f**king. It's just, like, really exciting!”

Ahead of House of Guinness's arrival on our screens, here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming series, including the plot, cast and how to watch it.

What is House of Guinness about?

The eight-part series explores an epic story inspired by one of Europe's most famous and enduring dynasties, The Guinness Family – i.e. the family behind the famous Irish brewery. Set in 19th-century Dublin and New York, the Succession-esque drama reimagines the period immediately following the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness, the man responsible for the Guinness brewery’s storming success. It will cover the far-reaching impact of his will on the fate of his four adult children, Arthur, Edward, Anne, and Ben, as well as on a group of Dublin characters who work and interact with the phenomenon that is Guinness.

Peaky Blinders and SAS: Rogue Heroes creator Steven Knight is the writer, executive producer and creator of series and says he’s "thrilled that we have such an exceptional cast and such an exceptional team to tell this story inspired by an exceptional family". You can check out the full cast list below but, very excitingly, it includes the likes of James Norton, Dervla Kirwan and Anthony Boyle.

Anne Mensah, Netflix Vice President of UK Content says of the series: "Steve Knight’s scripts read like pages torn out of a classic novel, spinning the story of the four heirs to the Guinness fortune, and how their lives and loves are changed by it overnight. We cannot wait to see this story come to life through Tom Shankland’s inspired vision and his breathtaking cast."

Star James Norton has said he’s having a ball working on the series, despite trying to master the tricky Irish accent. "It's an amazing group of people, a lot of Irish actors, lots of Guinness, I'm the only non-Irish interloper who ironically is playing the most Irish of them all, I've got to be as Dubs as they come," he told Digital Spy.

Who's starring in House of Guinness?

The cast of House of Guinness includes:

• Anthony Boyle (Masters of the Air) as Arthur Guinness
• Louis Partridge (Enola Holmes) as Edward Guinness
• Emily Fairn (The Responder) as Anne Plunket (née Guinness)
• Fionn O’Shea (Normal People) as Benjamin Guinness
• James Norton (Happy Valley) as Sean Rafferty
• Niamh McCormack (Everything Now) as Ellen Cochrane
• Seamus O’Hara (Blue Lights) as Patrick Cochrane
• Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones) as Byron Hedges
• Dervla Kirwan (True Detective: Night Country) as Aunt Agnes Guinness
• Michael McElhatton (Game of Thrones) as John Potter
• Danielle Galligan (Shadow and Bone) as Lady Olivia Hedges
• David Wilmot (Station Eleven) as Bonnie Champion
• Hilda Fay (The Woman in the Wall) as Sultan

Is House of Guinness based on a true story?

You’ve probably guessed by now that yes, it is. The series is based on the real Guinness family, focusing on Benjamin and his children in particular. Just how true the events in the series are remains to be seen, but Stephen Knight has suggested he has a lot of brilliant real-life material to work from.

"The Guinness dynasty is known the world over – wealth, poverty, power, influence, and great tragedy are all intertwined to create a rich tapestry of material to draw from,” he says. “I’ve always been fascinated by their stories and am excited to bring the characters to life for the world to see."

How can I watch House of Guinness?

Netflix hasn’t yet shared a release date for House of Guinness, but we’re expecting it to be released at some point in 2025. As soon as we have a confirmed date, we’ll share it here.