A follow-up season of the intense gangster drama has been given the green light.

Prepare for another gritty return to the streets of the UK capital in the future, with a 'Gangs of London' second season confirmed to be on the way to Sky viewers.

Sky Ireland made the announcement earlier this afternoon via Twitter.

The nine-part Sky original series starred Colm "Ah Jaysis" Meaney in a blink-and-you'll-miss-him role as London's biggest crime lord, Finn Wallace. After his quick exit in the first moments of the drama, the mantle falls to his family to try and pick up his crime business. Joe Cole, who plays his son Sean, as well as Michelle Fairley's Marian, scramble to keep their family's shady business afloat, keeping their minions and other competing families at bay.

No doubt the 'Gangs of London' second season news comes off the back of being crowned the TV channel's second-most-watched drama title ever to premiere on the Sky service. The drama series is the biggest Sky original drama to launch on Sky Atlantic of the past five years, but was topped in viewing numbers only by the breathtaking 'Chernobyl' miniseries, which drew in a record-breaking four million viewers last year.

Across the water in the States, AMC has secured the rights to air the first season on US television later this year, and both Sky and AMC will partner up for production on the second season - HBO's Cinemax was on board for season one, but has since dropped out of the contract. The series was created by visionary award-winning filmmaker Gareth Evans ('The Raid' franchise) and his creative partner Matt Flannery.