''Peaky Blinders'' is a British
period
Period may refer to:
Common uses
* Era, a length or span of time
* Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Period (music), a concept in musical composition
* Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...
crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...
television series created by
Steven Knight. Set in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, it follows the exploits of the Peaky Blinders crime gang in the direct aftermath of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The fictional gang is loosely based on a real urban youth gang
of the same name who were active in the city from the 1880s to the 1910s.
It features an
ensemble cast led by
Cillian Murphy
Cillian Murphy (; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. Originally the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the rock band The Sons of Mr. Green Genes, he turned down a record deal in the late 1990s and began acting on stage and in short an ...
, starring as
Tommy Shelby
Thomas Michael Shelby is a fictional character born in 1890 in Birmingham, England, and the main protagonist in the British period crime drama ''Peaky Blinders''. He is played by Irish actor Cillian Murphy, who has won an Irish Film & Televisio ...
,
Helen McCrory
Helen Elizabeth McCrory (17 August 1968 – 16 April 2021) was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her stage debut in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' in 1990. Other stage roles include playing Lady Mac ...
as Elizabeth "Polly" Gray,
Paul Anderson as Arthur Shelby,
Sophie Rundle
Sophie Rundle (born 21 April 1988) is an English actress, best known for portraying Ada Thorne in the BBC One historical crime drama television series ''Peaky Blinders'', Ann Walker in BBC One and HBO's period drama '' Gentleman Jack'', Vicky B ...
as Ada Shelby, and
Joe Cole
Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as on ...
as John Shelby, the gang's senior members.
Sam Neill
Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...
,
Annabelle Wallis,
Iddo Goldberg
Iddo Goldberg ( he, עדו גולדברג; born 5 August 1975) is an Israeli-British actor born in Israel. He is known for his roles as Ben in ''Secret Diary of a Call Girl'', Freddie Thorne in ''Peaky Blinders'', Isaac Walton in '' Salem'' and ...
,
Tom Hardy,
Charlotte Riley,
Finn Cole
Finlay Lewis J. Cole is an English actor from Kingston, London. He is known for his role in the BBC series ''Peaky Blinders'' as Michael Gray. He is currently starring as Joshua "J" Cody in TNT's '' Animal Kingdom'', and played young Jakob Tor ...
,
Natasha O'Keeffe
Natasha Dervill O'Keeffe (born 1 December 1986) is a British actress. She is known for her roles as Abbey in the E4 series '' Misfits'' (2012–2013), Fedora in the ITV series '' Jekyll and Hyde'' (2015), Emilia Ricoletti in the '' Sherlock' ...
,
Paddy Considine
Patrick George Considine (born 5 September 1973) is an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He frequently collaborates with filmmaker/director Shane Meadows. He has received two British Academy Film Awards, three Evening Standard Brit ...
,
Adrien Brody
Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...
,
Aidan Gillen
Aidan Murphy (born 24 April 1968), better known as Aidan Gillen (), is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of three Irish Film & Television Awards and has been nominated for a British Academy Television Award, a British Independent Film Award, ...
,
Anya Taylor-Joy,
Sam Claflin
Samuel George Claflin (born 27 June 1986) is an English actor. After graduating from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 2009, he began his acting career on television and had his first film role as Philip Swift in '' Pirates of th ...
,
Amber Anderson,
James Frecheville
James Aitken Frecheville (; born 14 April 1991) is an Australian actor known for his lead role in the Australian film '' Animal Kingdom'' as Joshua "J" Cody, a confused teenager and youngest member of a criminal family in Melbourne's underworld.
...
, and
Stephen Graham are also starring. It premiered on 12 September 2013, telecast on
BBC Two until the fourth series (with repeats on
BBC Four), then moved to
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
for the fifth and sixth series.
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
, under a deal with Weinstein Company and Endemol, acquired the rights to release the show in the United States and around the world. In January 2021, it was announced that the sixth series would be the last, followed by a spinoff film. The final series was broadcast in 2022.
Overview
![Worcester & Birmingham Canal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Worcester_%26_Birmingham_Canal.jpg)
''Peaky Blinders'' is a crime drama centred on a family of mixed
Irish Traveller
Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally peripatetic indigenous ethno-cultural group in Ireland.''Questioning Gypsy identity: ethnic na ...
and
Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
origins based in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, England, starting in 1919, several months after the end of the First World War. It centres on the
Peaky Blinders
The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1910s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to middle-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, rack ...
street gang and their ambitious, cunning
crime boss Tommy Shelby (Murphy). The gang comes to the attention of
Major Chester Campbell (Neill), a
detective chief inspector in the
Royal Irish Constabulary
The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...
sent over by
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
from
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
, where he had been sent to clean up the city of the
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...
flying column
A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ''ad hoc'' unit, formed during the course of operations.
The term is usually, though not necessarily, appli ...
s, the
Communist Party of Great Britain, street gangs, and common criminals. Winston Churchill (played by
Andy Nyman
Andrew Nyman (born 13 April 1966) is an English actor, director, writer and magician.
Early life and career
Nyman was born on 13 April 1966 in Leicester, Leicestershire. His first noteworthy performance was in 2000 as Keith Whitehead in '' Dead ...
in series 1 and
Richard McCabe
Richard McCabe (born William McCabe; 18 August 1960) is a Scottish actor who has specialised in classical theatre. He is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).
Career
McCabe is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare ...
in series 2) charges him with suppressing disorder and uprising in Birmingham and recovering a stolen cache of arms meant to be shipped to
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
. The first series concludes on 3 December 1919—"Black Star Day", the event where the Peaky Blinders plan to take over Billy Kimber's betting pitches at the
Worcester Races.
The second series has the Peaky Blinders expand their criminal organisation in the "South and North while maintaining a stronghold in their Birmingham heartland".
It begins in 1921 and ends with a climax at
Epsom racecourse
Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse on the hills associated with Epsom in Surrey, England which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs.
The course, which has a crowd capacity of 13 ...
on 31 May 1922,
Derby Day.
The third series takes place in 1924, following Tommy and the gang as they enter an even more dangerous world by expanding once again, this time internationally. The third series also features Father John Hughes (
Paddy Considine
Patrick George Considine (born 5 September 1973) is an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He frequently collaborates with filmmaker/director Shane Meadows. He has received two British Academy Film Awards, three Evening Standard Brit ...
), who is involved in an
anti-communist organisation; Ruben Oliver (
Alexander Siddig
Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi (born 21 November 1965) is a Sudanese-born English actor and director known professionally as Siddig El Fadil and subsequently as Alexander Siddig.
Siddig i ...
), a painter whom Polly enlists to paint her portrait; Russian Grand Duchess Tatiana Petrovna (
Gaite Jansen
Gaite Sara Kim Jansen (born 25 December 1991) is a Dutch actress born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Life and career
Jansen received her professional training at the Maastricht Academy of Dramatic Arts.
At age 12, she was awarded the Best Act ...
); and Linda Shelby (
Kate Phillips), new wife of Arthur.
The fourth series begins on
Christmas Eve 1925, with the Peaky Blinders getting word that the
New York Mafia
The Five Families refers to five major New York City organized crime families of the American Mafia, Italian American Mafia formed in 1931 by Salvatore Maranzano following his victory in the Castellammarese War.
Maranzano reorganized the Italian ...
is coming to avenge the murders committed the previous season and ends following the
general strike of May 1926, with Tommy using
Jessie Eden
Jessie Eden (née Shrimpton; 24 February 1902 – 27 September 1986) was a British trade union leader and communist activist, most famous for leading between 40,000 to 50,000 households during the Birmingham rent-strike of 1939. She was also in ...
for information and being elected as a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
in 1927.
The fifth series runs two years later, from (
Black Tuesday
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange coll ...
), 29 October 1929, to 7 December 1929, the morning after a rally led by
British Union of Fascists leader Sir
Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
.
The sixth series begins on 5 December 1933, as
prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...
is repealed in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. The
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
has obtained power in Germany, leading to a growth in membership of the
British Union of Fascists. Tommy must not only deal with Mosley but also with plots from the
Irish Mob
The Irish Mob (also known as the Irish mafia or Irish organized crime) is a collective of organized crime syndicates composed of ethnic Irish members which operate primarily in Ireland, the United States, Canada and Australia, and have been in ...
as well as the
Anti-Treaty IRA
The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...
.
Cast and characters
Main
*
Cillian Murphy
Cillian Murphy (; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. Originally the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the rock band The Sons of Mr. Green Genes, he turned down a record deal in the late 1990s and began acting on stage and in short an ...
as
Thomas "Tommy" Shelby, the leader of the Peaky Blinders.
*
Sam Neill
Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...
as Chief Inspector/Major Chester Campbell (series 1–2), an
Ulster Protestant
Ulster Protestants ( ga, Protastúnaigh Ultach) are an ethnoreligious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 43.5% of the population. Most Ulster Protestants are descendants of settlers who arrived from Britain in the ...
policeman drafted from Belfast.
*
Helen McCrory
Helen Elizabeth McCrory (17 August 1968 – 16 April 2021) was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her stage debut in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' in 1990. Other stage roles include playing Lady Mac ...
as Elizabeth Pollyanna "Polly" Gray (series 1–5), née Shelby, the aunt of the Shelby siblings, and treasurer of the Peaky Blinders.
*
Paul Anderson as Arthur Shelby Jr., Tommy's best friend and eldest of the Shelby siblings.
*
Annabelle Wallis as Grace Shelby (series 1–3, 5), née Burgess, a former undercover agent, and Irish Protestant. She is Tommy's first wife and mother of his son Charles.
*
Iddo Goldberg
Iddo Goldberg ( he, עדו גולדברג; born 5 August 1975) is an Israeli-British actor born in Israel. He is known for his roles as Ben in ''Secret Diary of a Call Girl'', Freddie Thorne in ''Peaky Blinders'', Isaac Walton in '' Salem'' and ...
as Freddie Thorne (series 1), a known
communist who fought in the Great War and Ada's husband.
*
Sophie Rundle
Sophie Rundle (born 21 April 1988) is an English actress, best known for portraying Ada Thorne in the BBC One historical crime drama television series ''Peaky Blinders'', Ann Walker in BBC One and HBO's period drama '' Gentleman Jack'', Vicky B ...
as Ada Thorne, née Shelby, the only sister of the Shelby brothers.
*
Joe Cole
Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as on ...
as John "Johnny" Shelby (series 1–4), the third-youngest Shelby brother and a member of the Peaky Blinders.
*
Ned Dennehy
Ned Dennehy (born 8 December 1965) is an Irish actor who has appeared in multiple films and television programmes. He is best known for his role as Mider in ''The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog''. He also appeared in ''Blitz'', ''Harry Potter and t ...
as Charlie Strong, owner of a boatyard and an uncle figure to the Shelby siblings.
*
Benjamin Zephaniah
Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (born 15 April 1958)Gregory, Andy (2002), ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, p. 562. . is a British writer and dub poet. He was included in ''The Times'' list of Britain's top 50 post-wa ...
as Jeremiah 'Jimmy' Jesus, a preacher, and friend of the Peaky Blinders.
*
David Dawson as Roberts (series 1), Billy Kimber's accountant.
*
Andy Nyman
Andrew Nyman (born 13 April 1966) is an English actor, director, writer and magician.
Early life and career
Nyman was born on 13 April 1966 in Leicester, Leicestershire. His first noteworthy performance was in 2000 as Keith Whitehead in '' Dead ...
(series 1),
Richard McCabe
Richard McCabe (born William McCabe; 18 August 1960) is a Scottish actor who has specialised in classical theatre. He is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).
Career
McCabe is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare ...
(recurring series 2), and
Neil Maskell
Neil Maskell (born 1976) is an English actor, writer and director who is known for his appearances in British crime and horror films such as '' The Football Factory'' and ''Kill List''.
Early life
Maskell was born in London. As a youth, he pl ...
(series 5–6) as
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
*
Charlie Creed-Miles
Charlie Creed-Miles (born 24 March 1972) is an English actor and musician.
Creed-Miles was born in Nottingham, and had his first starring screen role, aged 21, in ''The Punk'' (1993). His brief relationship with actress Samantha Morton
Sam ...
as
Billy Kimber (series 1), a local kingpin and leader of The Birmingham Boys who runs the local races.
*
Tommy Flanagan
Thomas Lee Flanagan (March 16, 1930 – November 16, 2001) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians. ...
as Arthur Shelby, Sr. (series 1), the father of the Shelby siblings and Polly's brother.
*
Noah Taylor
Noah George Taylor (born 4 September 1969) is a British-born Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as teenage David Helfgott in '' Shine'', Locke in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'', Darby Sabini in the BBC One series ''Peaky Bl ...
as
Darby Sabini (series 2), the leader of an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
gang in
Camden Town.
*
Tom Hardy as
Alfred "Alfie" Solomons (series 2–6), the leader of a Jewish gang in Camden Town.
*
Charlotte Riley as May Fitz Carleton (series 2, 4), a wealthy widow who owns racehorses.
*
Finn Cole
Finlay Lewis J. Cole is an English actor from Kingston, London. He is known for his role in the BBC series ''Peaky Blinders'' as Michael Gray. He is currently starring as Joshua "J" Cody in TNT's '' Animal Kingdom'', and played young Jakob Tor ...
as Michael Gray (series 2–6), Polly's biological son.
*
Natasha O'Keeffe
Natasha Dervill O'Keeffe (born 1 December 1986) is a British actress. She is known for her roles as Abbey in the E4 series '' Misfits'' (2012–2013), Fedora in the ITV series '' Jekyll and Hyde'' (2015), Emilia Ricoletti in the '' Sherlock' ...
as Elizabeth "Lizzie" Shelby, née Stark (series 2–6; guest series 1), an ex-prostitute who worked for Tommy as his secretary. She is his second wife and the mother of his daughter Ruby.
*
Aimee-Ffion Edwards
Aimee-Ffion Edwards (born 21 November 1987) is a Welsh actress and singer. She is known for playing Sketch in '' Skins'', Esme Shelby in ''Peaky Blinders'', Sophie in '' Detectorists'' and Abi in '' Loaded''. She also had a starring voice role ...
as Esme Shelby-Lee (series 3–4, 6; recurring series 1–2), John's wife and a member of the Lee clan.
*
Gaite Jansen
Gaite Sara Kim Jansen (born 25 December 1991) is a Dutch actress born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Life and career
Jansen received her professional training at the Maastricht Academy of Dramatic Arts.
At age 12, she was awarded the Best Act ...
as Princess Tatiana Petrovna (series 3), a Russian princess who has an affair with Tommy.
*
Alexander Siddig
Siddig El Tahir El Fadil El Siddig Abdurrahman Mohammed Ahmed Abdel Karim El Mahdi (born 21 November 1965) is a Sudanese-born English actor and director known professionally as Siddig El Fadil and subsequently as Alexander Siddig.
Siddig i ...
as Ruben Oliver (series 3), a portrait artist in a romantic relationship with Polly.
* Packy Lee as Johnny Dogs (series 3–6; recurring series 1-2), Tommy's
Gypsy
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...
friend.
* Jan Bijvoet as Arch Duke Leon Romanov (series 3), Tatiana's uncle.
*
Dina Korzun
Dianna Aleksandrovna "Dina" Korzun (russian: Диа́нна Алекса́ндровна "Ди́на" Ко́рзун; born 13 April 1971) is a Russian theater and film actress.
Life and career
Dina Korzun was born in Smolensk. She graduated from ...
as Grand Duchess Izabella Petrovna (series 3), Tatiana's aunt.
*
Paddy Considine
Patrick George Considine (born 5 September 1973) is an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He frequently collaborates with filmmaker/director Shane Meadows. He has received two British Academy Film Awards, three Evening Standard Brit ...
as Father John Hughes (series 3), a priest working with the anti-communist Section D (the
Economic League) in the British government
*
Kate Phillips as Linda Shelby (series 4–6; recurring series 3), Arthur's wife who is a devout Christian.
*
Charlie Murphy as
Jessie Eden
Jessie Eden (née Shrimpton; 24 February 1902 – 27 September 1986) was a British trade union leader and communist activist, most famous for leading between 40,000 to 50,000 households during the Birmingham rent-strike of 1939. She was also in ...
(series 4–5), a
union convenor and Tommy's lover.
*
Adrien Brody
Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...
as Luca Changretta (series 4), a
New York mafioso with a vendetta against the Peaky Blinders.
* Ian Peck as Curly (series 4–6; recurring series 1–3), a horse expert and Charlie's assistant.
*
Jack Rowan as Bonnie Gold (series 4–5), Aberama's boxing champion son.
*
Aidan Gillen
Aidan Murphy (born 24 April 1968), better known as Aidan Gillen (), is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of three Irish Film & Television Awards and has been nominated for a British Academy Television Award, a British Independent Film Award, ...
as Aberama Gold (series 4–5), an ally of the Peaky Blinders and Polly's lover.
*
Anya Taylor-Joy as Gina Gray (series 5–6), Michael's American wife.
*
Kingsley Ben-Adir
Kingsley Ben-Adir (born 28 February 1986) is a British actor. He has performed in several plays in London theatres. He played pathologist Marcus Summer in ITV's detective drama ''Vera'' and private detective Karim Washington on the second seas ...
as Colonel Ben Younger (series 5; guest series 4), a young colonel who begins a relationship with Ada. He is also investigating socialist and fascist political activities.
*
Sam Claflin
Samuel George Claflin (born 27 June 1986) is an English actor. After graduating from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 2009, he began his acting career on television and had his first film role as Philip Swift in '' Pirates of th ...
as
Sir Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
(series 5–6), a
fascist politician and leader of the
British Union of Fascists.
*
Brian Gleeson as Jimmy McCavern (series 5), the leader of the Billy Boys, a Scottish Protestant gang.
*
Kate Dickie
Kate Dickie (born 1971) is a Scottish actress who has appeared in television series, stage plays and films. She is known for her television roles as Lex in the BBC series '' Tinsel Town'' (2000–2001) and Lysa Arryn in the HBO series '' Game ...
as Mother Superior (series 5), the head of a group of nuns.
*
Andrew Koji
Andrew Julian Hiroaki Koji (; born 10 November 1987) is a British actor and martial artist. He had his breakout role as Ah Sahm in the Cinemax series ''Warrior'' in 2019. Koji went on to play Storm Shadow in ''Snake Eyes'' (2021) and assassi ...
as
Brilliant Chang
Brilliant (Billy) Chang (real name Chan Nan; born c. 1886, death date unknown) was a Chinese restaurateur and drug dealer who was implicated in supplying the drugs that killed Freda Kempton in 1922.[opium smuggling.
* ]Cosmo Jarvis
Harrison Cosmo Krikoryan Jarvis (born 1 September 1989) is a British actor, musician, and filmmaker. In 2015, he auditioned and was cast to portray the character of Sebastian in William Oldroyd's debut feature film ''Lady Macbeth'' (2016).
Ea ...
as Barney Thomason (series 5), a WWI sniper who was Tommy's comrade and old friend and is locked in an insane asylum.
* Alfie Evans-Meese (recurring series 1) and Harry Kirton (series 6; recurring series 2–5) as Finn Shelby, the youngest Shelby brother and a member of the Peaky Blinders.
* Charlene McKenna
Charlene Lee McKenna ( ga, Searlaoin Nic Chionaoith; born 26 March 1984) is an Irish actress. She became a household name in Ireland after starring as Jennifer Jackson in the miniseries ''Pure Mule'' (2005). She appeared on Irish television in ' ...
as Laura McKee/ Captain Swing (series 6; guest series 5), an IRA
Ira or IRA may refer to:
*Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name
*Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name
*Iran, UNDP code IRA
Law
*Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...
leader from Belfast.
* Pauline Turner
Pauline Turner is a Scottish actress, known for her role as Mary Graham on the BBC drama series '' Martin Chuzzlewit'' (1994), Frances on the BBC period drama series ''Peaky Blinders
The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingh ...
as Frances (series 6; recurring series 4–5), Tommy's housekeeper.
* Amber Anderson as Lady Diana Mitford (series 6), Mosley's second wife, one of the aristocratic Mitford sisters
The Mitford family is an aristocratic English family, whose principal line had its seats at Mitford, Northumberland. Several heads of the family served as High Sheriff of Northumberland. A junior line, with seats at Newton Park, Northumberlan ...
and a Fascist socialite.
* James Frecheville
James Aitken Frecheville (; born 14 April 1991) is an Australian actor known for his lead role in the Australian film '' Animal Kingdom'' as Joshua "J" Cody, a confused teenager and youngest member of a criminal family in Melbourne's underworld.
...
as Jack Nelson (series 6), a south Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
gang leader, Gina's uncle and Michael's boss in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Nelson is based on Joseph Kennedy, Sr.
* Stephen Graham as Hayden Stagg (series 6), the union convenor for the workers at Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
docks.
* Conrad Khan as Erasmus "Duke" Shelby (series 6), Tommy's first-born son from before the Great War.
* Jordan Bolger
Jordan Bolger (born 9 November 1994) is an English actor. He has performed in television notably in Peaky Blinders, The 100 and The Book of Boba Fett. In film, he is known for side roles in Tom & Jerry and The Woman King.
Early life and educati ...
(recurring series 2–4) and Daryl McCormack
Daryl McCormack (born 22 January 1993) is an Irish actor. He has appeared in the RTÉ One soap opera ''Fair City'' (2015–2016), the BBC series ''Peaky Blinders'' (2019–2022), and the Apple TV+ series '' Bad Sisters'' (2022). His films inclu ...
(series 6; recurring series 5) as Isiah Jesus, Jeremiah's son and a member of the Peaky Blinders.
* Emmett J. Scanlan
Emmett John Scanlan (born 31 January 1979) is an Irish actor. He is best known for playing Brendan Brady in '' Hollyoaks''.
He appeared in the BBC Two drama ''The Fall'' in 2013 and 2014, Peaky Blinders Series 5 and Series 6, and '' Breakdown' ...
as Billy Grade (series 6; recurring series 5), an ex-footballer turned singer and an ally to the Peaky Blinders.
Recurring
* Lobo Chan as Mr. Zhang (series 1), a business owner in Chinatown.
* Neil Bell (series 1) as Harry Fenton, a former landlord and owner of the Garrison pub.
* Samuel Edward-Cook as Danny "Whizz-Bang" Owen (series 1), Tommy's former comrade and a loyal member of the Peaky Blinders.
* Tony Pitts
Anthony Pitts (born 10 October 1962) is an English actor, most notable for playing Archie Brooks in the long-running British soap ''Emmerdale Farm'' between 1983 and 1993.
Early life
Pitts was born in Sheffield, England. His family was wor ...
as Sergeant/Inspector Moss (series 1–4), a police officer from Birmingham.
* Kevin Metcalfe as Scudboat (series 1–2), a henchman of the Peaky Blinders.
* Jeffrey Postlethwaite as Henry (series 1–2), a Peaky Blinders henchman.
* Matthew Postlethwaite as Nipper (series 1–2), a Peaky Blinders henchman.
* Simone Kirby
Simone Kirby (born 28 October 1976) is an Irish people, Irish actress. She is probably best known for playing Oonagh in the Ken Loach film ''Jimmy's Hall''. Other credits include Irene O'Donnell in ''Peaky Blinders (TV series), Peaky Blinders'' ...
as Irene O'Donnell (series 2), a Pro-Treaty IRA member, who works with Donal Henry and Inspector Campbell to blackmail Tommy into carrying out an assassination.
* Rory Keenan
Rory Keenan (born 9 June 1980) is an Irish actor.
Career
Primarily a stage actor, Keenan has worked extensively in theatre in London. He has worked in film and TV from a young age. Most has performed in the National Theatre's acclaimed produc ...
as Donal Henry (series 2), a spy who worked for the Irregulars against the Pro-Treaty IRA.
* Adam El Hagar as Ollie (series 2), Alfie's assistant.
* Sam Hazeldine
Samuel Hazeldine (born 29 March 1972) is an English actor working in film, television and theatre.
He is the son of actors James Hazeldine. and Rebecca Moore.
Early life
Sam Hazeldine was born in Hammersmith, London. He is the son of actors ...
as Georgie Sewell (series 2), the right-hand man and consiglieri to Sabini.
* Wanda Opalinska
Wanda Opalinska is an English-Polish actress, known for playing the part of Polish immigrant and Underworld factory worker Wiki Dankowska in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''.
Early life
Opalinska went to drama school before studying Engl ...
as Rosemary Johnson (series 2, 4), Michael's foster mother, whom she named Henry.
* Daniel Fearn as King Maine (series 2, 4), a boxing trainer in Birmingham who trains Arthur and Bonnie.
* Paul Bullion as Billy Kitchen (series 2), a Black Countryman, who briefly worked as a Head Baker for Tommy and Alfie.
* Josh O'Connor
Josh O'Connor (born in 1989/1990) is a British actor. He portrayed a young Charles III (Prince Charles) in the Netflix drama ''The Crown'' (2019–2020), for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and th ...
as James (series 2), Ada's friend and housemate.
* Dorian Lough
Dorian Tristan Lough (born 27 April 1966 in Kensington, London) is an English actor who appeared as DS Dave Satchell in ''Trial & Retribution''. He has also played Ray Taylor in ''EastEnders''. Lough is also known for starring in the music vide ...
as Mario (series 2), the owner of The Eden Club, ran by Sabini.
* Allan Hopwood as Abbey Heath (series 2)
* James Eeles as "The Digbeth Kid" Harold Hancox (series 2), an aspiring actor hired by the Peaky Blinders to get stood up and spend a week inside jail, only to be killed by Sabini's henchmen.
* Erin Shanagher as Mrs. Ross (series 2, 4), a vengeful mother who dislikes Arthur for the death of her son.
* George Gwyther (series 3) and Callum Booth-Ford (series 5–6) as Karl Thorne, the only child of Ada and Freddie.
* Stephanie Hyam
Stephanie Hyam is a British actress and artist, notable for stage work including ''The James Plays'' (2014, Edinburgh International Festival and Royal National Theatre) and film and TV appearances including ''Their Finest'' (2017), ''Doctor Who'' ...
as Charlotte Murray (series 3), a wealthy girl, with whom Michael has a short affair.
* Kenneth Colley
Kenneth Colley (born 7 December 1937) is an English film and television actor whose career spans over 60 years. He came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in the '' Star Wars'' films ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and '' ...
as Vicente Changretta (series 3), the father to Changretta and his brother Angel.
* Bríd Brennan
Bríd Brennan (born 1955) is a Northern Irish actress who is known for her theatre work. She originated the role of Agnes in the Brian Friel play ''Dancing at Lughnasa'', for which she won the 1992 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. ...
as Audrey Changretta (series 3–4), Changretta's mother, wife of Vicente Changretta and head of the Italian crime family in Birmingham, as part of being the enemy of the Peaky Blinders.
* Frances Tomelty
Frances Tomelty (born 6 October 1948) is a Northern Irish actress whose numerous television credits include ''Strangers'' (1978–1979), '' Testament of Youth'' (1979), ''Inspector Morse'' (1988), ''Cracker'' (1993), '' The Amazing Mrs Pritchard ...
as Bethany Boswell (series 3), a wise old woman living in Wales, whom Tommy seeks out.
* Richard Brake
Richard Colin Brake (born 30 November 1964) is a Welsh-American character actor, known for his supporting roles as Joe Chill in '' Batman Begins'' (2005), Doom-Head in '' 31'' (2016), and the chemist in '' Mandy'' (2018), as well as his lead ro ...
as Anton Kaledin (series 3), a Russian refugee, who attempted to discuss business with Sabini and Tommy on Tommy and Grace's wedding day.
* Alex Macqueen
Alexander Tulloch Macqueen (born 30 November 1973) is an English actor. He has appeared on television, film and radio in the UK in productions such as '' Holby City'', '' Doctor Who,'' ''Hut 33'', ''Peep Show'', ''The Thick of It'', ''Keeping ...
as Patrick Jarvis MP (series 3), a Member of Parliament and also a member and representative of the Economic League, working with Father Hughes
* Ralph Ineson
Ralph Michael Ineson (; born 15 December 1969) is an English actor and narrator. Known for his deep, rumbling, Yorkshire-accented voice, his most notable roles include William in '' The Witch'', Dagmer Cleftjaw in ''Game of Thrones'', Amycus Ca ...
as Connor Nutley (series 3), a Lancaster factory foreman.
* Peter Bankole
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
as William Letso (series 3), a former diamond miner, a tunneler from the South African Labor Corps and Tommy's friend.
* Richard Dillane
Richard Dillane (born 1964) is a British actor. He appears in a lead role of the Netflix series ''Young Wallander'', based on the character Kurt Wallander created by novelist Henning Mankell. He played British intelligence agent Peter Nicholls i ...
as General Curran (series 3), Grace's uncle.
* Dominic Coleman
Dominic Andrew Coleman (born 29 January 1970 in Solihull, Warwickshire) is a British actor. He went to secondary school at Tudor Grange Academy Solihull which then led him to train at Leeds University's Bretton Hall where he studied a BA (hons ...
as Priest (series 3)
* Wendy Nottingham as Mary (series 3), Tommy's housekeeper.
* Billy Marwood (series 3), Jenson Clarke (series 4–5), and Billy Jenkins (series 6) as Charles Shelby, the son of Tommy and Grace.
* Luca Matteo Zizzari as Matteo (series 4), one of Changretta's henchmen.
* Jake J. Meniani as Frederico (series 4), one of Changretta's henchmen.
* Graeme Hawley
Graeme Hawley (born 28 November 1975) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as John Stape in the British soap ''Coronation Street''. Career
Hawley graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University in 1996 with a degree in Drama, b ...
as Niall Devlin (series 4), a working man in the Peaky Blinders Limited, working for Tommy.
* Donald Sumpter as Arthur Bigge (series 4), the King's Private Secretary, who deals with the case of the execution of Polly, Arthur, John and Michael.
* Jamie Kenna
Jamie Kenna is a British actor and former semi-professional footballer, formerly of Rusthall FC.
He appeared in Stormbreaker as Fox, Green Street as Big Marc and EastEnders as Vince Franks. He also appeared in ''The Bill''.
In August 2014, K ...
as Billy Mills (series 4), a former heavyweight boxing champion and a worker for the Shelby Company Limited, who fights against Bonnie at the company.
* Joseph Long as Chef (series 4)
* Andreas Muñoz
Andreas Muñoz (born 4 April 1990) is a Spanish actor.
Early life
Andreas Muñoz was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1990. His is the eldest in a family of actors including Gara and Omar Muñoz, and son of Luís Mariano Muñoz and María Dolores Bl ...
as Antonio (series 4), the Italian assassin who came into Tommy's house as a sous-chef and planned to kill Tommy.
* Ethan Picard-Edwards as Billy Shelby (series 4), the son of Arthur and Linda.
* Dave Simon as Mulchay (series 4–5)
* Heaven-Leigh Clee (series 5) and Orla McDonagh (series 6) as Ruby Shelby, the daughter of Tommy and Lizzie.
* Elliot Cowan
Elliot Aidan Cowan (born 9 July 1976) is an English people, English actor, known for portraying Corporal Jem Poynton in ''Ultimate Force'', Fitzwilliam Darcy, Mr Darcy in ''Lost in Austen'', and Ptolemy I Soter, Ptolemy in the 2004 film ''Alexan ...
as Michael Levitt (series 5), a Birmingham journalist.
* Peter Campion
Peter Campion (born 1976) is an American poet.
He graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA, and from Boston University with an MA. He taught at Washington College, Ashland University, and Auburn University. He currently teaches at Universi ...
as Micky Gibbs (series 5), barman of The Garrison pub.
* Tim Woodward
Timothy Oliver Woodward (born 24 April 1953) is an English actor.
Tim Woodward was born in Kensington, London, England, the son of actors Edward Woodward and Venetia Barrett. He was educated at Haileybury and Imperial Service College.
He is pr ...
as Lord Suckerby (series 5), a High Court Judge.
* Darragh O'Toole as Liam (series 6), an associate of Jack Nelson's.
* Peter Coonan
Peter Coonan (born 1984) is an Irish actor, known for his role as Fran Cooney in the RTÉ One series '' Love/Hate'',
for which he won Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Television at the 11th Irish Film & Television Awards. In 2011, he played D ...
as Connor Dunn (series 6), an associate of Jack Nelson's.
* Assaad Bouab
Assaad Bouab ( ar, أسعد بواب, born July 31, 1980) is a French-Moroccan actor whose first co-starring role was in ''Whatever Lola Wants'', directed by Nabil Ayouch and co-starring Laura Ramsey as Lola. The film premiered on 11 December 20 ...
as Henri (series 6), a bartender on Miquelon Island
Miquelon (french: Île Miquelon) also known as ', is one of the islands of the archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, an Overseas collectivity of France located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the Atlantic Ocean, south of the coast of Newfou ...
.
* Franc Bruneau as Miquelon Island Police Commissioner (series 6), Head of Police Department on Miquelon Island.
* Simon Wan as Han (series 6), An opium dealer who operates through a cafe in Birmingham's Chinatown.
* Naomi Yang as Li (series 6), Han's wife.
* Aneurin Barnard as Doctor Holford (series 6), Tommy's personal doctor.
* Abbie Hern as Mary Bone (series 6), Finn's wife.
Episodes
Production
''Peaky Blinders'' was created by Steven Knight and produced by Katie Swinden. Screen Yorkshire
Following a review of the film infrastructure in England during 2000, the UK Film Council set up nine Regional Screen Agencies, one in each of the regions of England, to deliver support for film-making, exhibition and related media activities. Th ...
provided funding for the production through the Yorkshire Content Fund, ensuring that the majority of the show was filmed in Yorkshire as part of the deal. Linguists weren't hired in the production to assist in the show, leading to the Romani Gypsies in the earlier series frequently speaking broken Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
(as opposed to Romani
Romani may refer to:
Ethnicities
* Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia
** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule
* Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...
).
Series 1
The first series was filmed in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, Bradford, Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
, Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...
, Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
, and Port Sunlight
Port Sunlight is a model village and suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside. It is located between Lower Bebington and New Ferry, on the Wirral Peninsula. Port Sunlight was built by Lever Brothers to accommodate workers in it ...
. Railway sequences were filmed between Keighley
Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish
in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford.
Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of ...
and Damems, using carriages from the Ingrow Museum of Rail Travel (owned by Vintage Carriages Trust), and carriages owned by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Trust. Many of the scenes for the show were shot at the Black Country Living Museum
The Black Country Living Museum (formerly the Black Country Museum) is an open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings in Dudley, West Midlands, England. . Steven Knight, Stephen Russell and Toby Finlay all had writing credits on the series.
Ulster-born, New Zealand-raised Sam Neill enlisted the help of Northern Irish actors James Nesbitt
William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland.
From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994) ...
and Liam Neeson
William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...
to help him recover his lost Northern Irish accent for the role of C.I. Campbell. In the end, he had to tone down the accent since the series was marketed in the United States.
Series 2
A second series was commissioned shortly after the broadcast of the first and aired in October and November 2014. On 11 January 2014, auditions were held in Digbeth area of Birmingham (near where parts of the series are set) for white and mixed race teenage male extras, resulting in lengthy queues.
Series 3
Shortly after the final episode of the second series, the show announced via its Twitter account that it had been renewed for a third series. On 5 October 2015, the official ''Peaky Blinders'' Twitter account announced that filming had begun for series 3. Filming completed on 22 January 2016, after 78 days of shooting.
Series 4
During the initial broadcast of series 3, the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
renewed ''Peaky Blinders'' for series 4 and 5, each of which comprises six episodes.
Filming for series 4 started in March 2017 and premiered on 15 November 2017 on
BBC Two.
Both
The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America pri ...
and its logo in its credits weren't included, even though the company was formerly involved in the US distribution of the series.
Series 5
The BBC commissioned a fifth series in mid-2016. On 22 August 2018, it was confirmed that series 5 would be broadcast on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
. Having already premiered to a select audience at Birmingham Town Hall on 18 July 2019, the series began airing on BBC One on 25 August 2019.
Series 6
On 5 May 2018, Steven Knight told ''
Birmingham Press Club
Birmingham Press Club is a press club based in the English city of Birmingham. Established in 1865, just six years after Concordia Press Club in Vienna, became the second oldest organisation of its type in the world. The club hosts a number of ...
'' that "we are definitely doing
eries
The Erie people (also Eriechronon, Riquéronon, Erielhonan, Eriez, Nation du Chat) were Indigenous people historically living on the south shore of Lake Erie. An Iroquoian group, they lived in what is now western New York, northwestern Pennsylvania ...
six". Production on the series was due to begin in March 2020, but was delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.
During 2020, rumours emerged linking comedian
Rowan Atkinson to the show for the role of
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
in series 6, but the producers denied the involvement saying that the news is "completely false".
On 18 January 2021, it was announced that series six, which had just begun filming, would be the final television series of ''Peaky Blinders''; though Knight revealed "the story will continue in another form".
Helen McCrory
Helen Elizabeth McCrory (17 August 1968 – 16 April 2021) was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her stage debut in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' in 1990. Other stage roles include playing Lady Mac ...
, who played the character of Polly Gray, died in April 2021 and had been unable to film any scenes for the series.
Series six premiered on 27 February 2022.
Future
Following the announcement that the sixth series would be the last, Knight clarified that, following the year-long production hiatus in 2020, it had been decided to produce a feature length movie in place of a seventh television series, with other connected television series potentially following. There is still no production date, but creator Steven Knight has revealed that the movie should hit cinema screens in 2024.
''Peaky Blinders'' won the Returning Drama award at the
2022 National Television Awards ceremony, with Knight subsequently confirming during his acceptance speech that production of the film would begin in Spring 2023.
Reception
The show received widespread critical acclaim. David Renshaw of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' summarised the series as a "riveting, fast-paced tale of post-first world war Birmingham gangsters", praising Murphy as the "ever-so-cool Tommy Shelby" and the rest of the cast for their "powerful performances". Sarah Compton of ''
The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' gave the series a 4/5 rating, praising the show for its originality and "taking all of our expectations and confounding them". Alex Fletcher from
Digital Spy believes that "''Peaky Blinders'' has started as sharp as a dart", while
Den of Geek
''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a bi-annual magazine.
History
''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ...
called the series "the most intelligent, stylish and engrossing BBC drama in ages". Cult TV Times critic Hugh David said the show "warrants the billing" by "managing to tick several ratings boxes – period drama, gangster epic, film star leads – yet go against the grain of those in the most interesting of ways".
The show has been particularly celebrated for its stylish cinematography and charismatic performances, as well as for casting an eye over a part of England and English history rarely explored on television. Historians have been divided over whether bringing characters and events from other decades into a 1920s story undermines claims to historical accuracy, or whether working-class life in the period is nevertheless depicted in a truthful and resonant way. Reviews for the second series have remained positive, with Ellen E. Jones of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' commenting that "''Peaky Blinders'' can now boast several more big-name actors to supplement the sterling work of Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory and Sam Neill", referring to second series additions Tom Hardy and Noah Taylor.
Several critics have compared the show favourably to the American series ''
Boardwalk Empire'', which shares the same themes and historical context. Show writer Steven Knight stated in an early interview: "Do you know – and I'm not just saying this – but I've never watched them. I've never seen ''The Wire'', I've never seen ''Boardwalk Empire'', I've never seen any of them." When asked if he deliberately avoided watching these dramas, he responded: "It's sort of deliberate in that I don't really want to be looking at other people's work because it does affect what you do inevitably." On 2 March 2016, Knight told the ''Crime Scene Quarterly'' "I've had unsolicited communication from
Michael Mann
Michael Kenneth Mann (born February 5, 1943) is an American director, screenwriter, and producer of film and television who is best known for his distinctive style of crime drama. His most acclaimed works include the films ''Thief'' (1981), ...
, the film director, from
Dennis Lehane
Dennis Lehane (born August 4, 1965) is an American author. He has published more than a dozen novels; the first several were a series of mysteries featuring recurring characters, including ''A Drink Before the War''. Of these, four were adapted a ...
,
Snoop Dogg – he's such a fan. And the late
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
was a huge fan – more of that to come" (strongly hinting Bowie's involvement on series 3). It was later confirmed that David Bowie's music would be featured, and
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
had also written a new song for series 3.
The sixth and final series has received universal acclaim. On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, it has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 based on 7 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, it holds a 100% approval rating based on 14 reviews, with an average critic rating of 8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "''Peaky Blinders sixth season gracefully addresses the untimely passing of star
Helen McCrory
Helen Elizabeth McCrory (17 August 1968 – 16 April 2021) was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her stage debut in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' in 1990. Other stage roles include playing Lady Mac ...
while setting the stage for a fitting climax to this epic saga of likable scalawags."
Depiction of Jessie Eden
Series four and five introduced the character
Jessie Eden
Jessie Eden (née Shrimpton; 24 February 1902 – 27 September 1986) was a British trade union leader and communist activist, most famous for leading between 40,000 to 50,000 households during the Birmingham rent-strike of 1939. She was also in ...
, based on the real-life
British communist and trade union leader. Although the reception was mixed,
some people who had known Jessie Eden personally took offence to the way she was depicted.
Graham Stevenson, a historian of British communism, a personal friend of Jessie Eden and the writer of her biography, was a harsh critic of the show, stating:
Stevenson also criticised the show for its clothing choices, incorrectly showing Churchill as Home Secretary in 1919, incorrectly depicting Eden as a mass leader during the 1926 General Strike; eventually these inaccuracies led Stevenson to stop watching the show. He went on to elaborate: "Although the TV series' cinematography, music and fast-paced action is obviously attractive, especially matched to outstanding charismatic performances, it's disappointing that an expert in Tudor history was the historical adviser to the series, rather than someone with a background in trade unionism or communism."
At a round table event featuring Stevenson, the poet Dave Puller, and cultural historian Paul Long, the three discussed the series and its depictions of the British working class. Long rated the series positively and praised the series as a great representation of interesting working-class protagonists. Puller had mixed feelings and was disappointed that the show chose to focus on Jessie Eden's fictional romance with Tommy, rather than her real achievements as a communist and a trade union leader.
Awards and nominations
Broadcast and release
On 24 September 2014, it was announced that
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
had acquired exclusive US distribution rights from the Weinstein Company and
Endemol. The entirety of series 1 became available for streaming on 30 September 2014; series 2 launched in November 2014. Series 3 was made available 31 May 2016. Due to licensing restrictions, however, most of the show's original soundtrack is not available on the Netflix-distributed version of the series. In 2018, it was announced ''Peaky Blinders'' would be moved from its original broadcast channel, BBC Two, to BBC One for its fifth and sixth series.
Cultural impact
According to the
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for t ...
(ONS), ''Peaky Blinders'' has had a detectable cultural impact in the UK. In 2018, the name Arthur surged into the top 10 boys names for the first time since the 1920s, and Ada jumped into the girls' top 100 for the first time in a century too. The assumption reached by the ONS is that the popularity of these names was inspired by the characters Arthur Shelby Jr. and Ada Thorne.
Video games
In August 2020, a
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
based on the television series, titled ''Peaky Blinders: Mastermind'', was developed by FuturLab and released for
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
,
PlayStation 4,
Nintendo Switch, and for
PC via
Steam. A
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...
game, ''Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom'', is currently in development by Maze Theory and will be released for
Meta Quest 2
Meta Quest 2 (initially sold as Oculus Quest 2) is a virtual reality (VR) headset developed by Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.). It was unveiled on September 16, 2020 and released on October 13.
As with its predecessor, the Oculus Qu ...
and
PICO 4
PICO 4 is a virtual reality headset developed by ByteDance
ByteDance Ltd. () is a Chinese internet technology company headquartered in Beijing and incorporated in the Cayman Islands.
Founded by Zhang Yiming, Liang Rubo and a team of others i ...
on March 9, 2023.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
*
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{{Subject bar, portal1=Television, portal23=United Kingdom, portal2=BBC, commons=yes, commons-search=Peaky Blinders (TV series), q=yes, d=yes, d-search=Q14944179
2013 British television series debuts
2022 British television series endings
BBC crime drama television shows
2010s British crime drama television series
2020s British crime drama television series
Cultural depictions of Winston Churchill
Cultural depictions of Oswald Mosley
English-language television shows
Gangs in fiction
Serial drama television series
Television series by Endemol
Television series by Tiger Aspect Productions
Television series set in the 1910s
Television series set in the 1920s
Television series set in 1919
Television series set in 1924
Television series set in 1929
Television shows set in Birmingham, West Midlands
Television series about organized crime
Television series about families
Television series created by Steven Knight
Television productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Television series by BBC Studios
Television series set in 1933
BAFTA winners (television series)