Cillian Murphy commands as Tommy Shelby, the shell-shocked sergeant who transforms his family's Small Heath bookmaking outfit into a national power broker after 1918. Across six series Steven Knight charts the Peaky Blinders' ascent from street bookies to MPs, mixing IRA gun-running, Mafia vendettas and fascist politics while Nick Cave's "Red Right Hand" stalks every move.
Shot largely in Yorkshire despite its Birmingham setting, the drama pairs local brass with anachronistic rock cues as Tommy outwits Sam Neill's Ulster detective, Tom Hardy's Jewish kingpin Alfie Solomons, Adrien Brody's Sicilian assassin and Sam Claflin's Mosley. Helen McCrory's Polly Gray, the matriarch who reads tea leaves and balance sheets with equal conviction, anchors the family until McCrory's 2021 death forced a rewritten final act.
The sixth run closes on 3 April 2022 with Tommy beset by fascists, the IRA and his own morphine addiction, leaving a 2026 feature film promising resolution in wartime. Netflix global rights turned what began on BBC Two into an international hit, its flat caps now shorthand for post-industrial glamour rather than urban poverty.
Production Details
BBC One / 6 Seasons / 36 Episodes / 2013
Created by: Steven Knight
Showrunner(s): Caryn Mandabach, Tommy Bulfin, Cillian Murphy
Writer(s): Steven Knight, Toby Finlay, Stephen Russell
Producer(s): Nick Goding, Ann Harrison-Baxter
Cinematography: Laurie Rose, Cathal Watters
Music: Paul Hartnoll, Anna Calvi, Martin Phipps
Main Cast
Cillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby
Paul Anderson as Arthur Shelby
Sophie Rundle as Ada Shelby
Helen McCrory as Polly Gray
Finn Cole as Michael Gray
Ian Peck as Curly
Ned Dennehy as Charlie Strong
Harry Kirton as Finn Shelby
Natasha O'Keeffe as Lizzie Stark
Joe Cole as John Shelby
Packy Lee as Johnny Dogs
Kate Phillips as Linda Shelby
