‘Peaky Blinders’ Season 5 – release date, trailer, cast, plot and everything we know so far

What's next for the Shelby clan?

Peaky Blinders Season 4 concluded with a typically epic finale, but what does the future hold for Thomas Shelby, his family and his empire of crime?

As they enter the realm of politics and the corridors of power as well as extending their stronghold to the US in the midst of the 1929 financial crash, the next season could be the most dramatic yet. Here’s everything we know about Season 5 of Peaky Blinders so far…

WARNING: includes Season 4 and 5 spoilers…

The latest news:

Scroll down for more information, videos and photos…

Watch NME’s SPOILER-LOADED special ‘Speaky Blinders’ talk show with the team behind the Peaky Blinders season 5 below:

What do we know about the next episode?

The finale, here it is. As Tommy gears up to face off Oswald Mosley, he also comes face to face with Winston Churchill…

Is there a Peaky Blinders Season 5 trailer?

Yes! Finally! The first full trailer for season five is now here, introducing Anya Taylor-Joy as her new character as well as introducing Sam Claflin as right-wing MP Oswald Mosley. There’s also plenty of gunfire, explosions, and the music of Anna Calvi.

“There is God, and there are the Peaky Blinders,” says Tommy Shelby in the trailer. “We own the ropes. Who’s gonna hang us now, eh?”

Deadline reports that a full Peaky Blinders trailer will ALSO hit cinemas from August 14 ahead of showings of Quentin Tarantino’s new epic Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. We assume a full trailer will debut on the BBC around the same time.

Meanwhile,  a new round-up trailer for all series of Peaky Blinders in iPlayer shows footage of previous seasons, before you can a short clip of season five with Tommy Shelby being introduced as an MP in the Houses Of Parliament, before he says: “I promised someone I’d change the world”. Check it out below:

There has also been a trailer for new drama coming to BBC in 2019 which shows Tommy Shelby looking on aghast after a car explosion. Was it meant for him? He appears to he holding someone in his arms after the incident, but who could it be?

See the trailer and stills below.

A new BBC trailer shows an explosive fate for Tommy Shelby in ‘Peaky Blinders’ season 5

A new BBC trailer shows an explosive fate for Tommy Shelby in ‘Peaky Blinders’ season 5

A new BBC trailer shows an explosive fate for Tommy Shelby in ‘Peaky Blinders’ season 5

A new BBC trailer shows an explosive fate for Tommy Shelby in ‘Peaky Blinders’ season 5

Does Peaky Blinders Season 5 have a premiere or release date?

Peaky Blinders series five premiered with the first two new episodes on Sunday August 25 at 9pm on BBC One. The remaining of the six episodes are to follow every Sunday night at 9pm on BBC One.

Meanwhile, the premiere for the very first episode took place on July 18 at Birmingham Town Hall, before another followed at London’s BFI on July 24. Check out photos from the premieres below.

When will Peaky Blinders season five be on Netflix?

Good news if you can’t watch it on BBC – the Peaky team have confirmed that the new series will hit Netflix internationally on Friday October 4.

What’s happened so far in Peaky Blinders Season 5?

A lot! Plenty of spoilers, but check out our recap and review of each episode below:

Are there any photos from Peaky Blinders Season 5?

Yes, loads! On August 9, 2019, a huge collection of stills were released to coincide with the announcement that series five will premiere on Sunday August 25 at 9pm on BBC One.

Peaky Blinders
Cillian Murphy (Tommy Shelby) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 04

Peaky Blinders
Helen McCrory (Polly Gray) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 02

Peaky Blinders
Finn Cole (Michael Gray) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 06

Peaky Blinders
Finn Cole (Michael Gray) and Anya Taylor-Joy (Gina Gray) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 04

Peaky Blinders
Sam Claflin (Oswald Mosley) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 04

Peaky Blinders
Paul Anderson (Arthur Shelby) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 01

Peaky Blinders
Cillian Murphy (Tommy Shelby) in ‘Peaky Blinder’s | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 01

Peaky Blinders
Kingsley Ben-Adir (Col. Ben Younger) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 01

Peaky Blinders
Helen McCrory (Polly Gray) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 02

Peaky Blinders
Harry Kirton (Finn Shelby), Daryl McCormack (Isiah) and Emmett J Scanlan (Billy Grade) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 02

Peaky Blinders
Natasha OÕKeeffe (Lizzie Shelby) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 01

Peaky Blinders
Sam Claflin (Oswald Mosley) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 06

Peaky Blinders
Anya Taylor-Joy (Gina Gray) and Finn Cole (Michael Gray) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 02

Peaky Blinders
Cillian Murphy (Tommy Shelby) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 05

Peaky Blinders
Jack Rowan (Bonnie Gold) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 02

Peaky Blinders
Aidan Gillen (Aberama Gold) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 02

Peaky Blinders
Brian Gleeson (Jimmy McCavern) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 02

After creator Steven Knight told Birmingham Live that filming would begin in the autumn, production on season five officially kicked off on September 17, 2018. Shooting then came to an end back in January:

Peaky Blinders trailers were spotted rolling into The Black Country Living Museum by the Express and Star on November 8. The open-air museum in Dudley, Birmingham has 26-acres of rebuilt industrial-era historic building, streets and factories. It has been used by the series since 2013 for classic scenes of Charlie Strong’s canalside yard, illicit meetings under the canal bridge and iconic shots of Tommy Shelby walking menacingly down chalk alleys.

A representative for Peaky Blinders confirmed that filming started in September 2018, before creators shared the first official photo from the shoot – with Tommy Shelby on horseback. They revealed that the show is currently being shot “across the UK”. They then shared photos of Tommy behind his desk in the offices of power, another of him marching through a dusty field, and another of him by Troy Quarry in Lancashire…

The first image of Helen McCrory as Polly in season five was revealed on February 28, showing the actress looking effortlessly cool in character.

Aiden Gillen is back too, looking a little sharper this time as he returns as Aberama Gold:

On May 13, a first-look at Ada, played by Sophie Rundle, was shared by the show’s Instagram page.

They also shared a photo of Natasha O’Keefe returning as Lizzie, who looks set to take on a more major role in season five after fathering Tommy’s child.

Then there’s this image of Harry Kirton returning as youngest Shelby brother Finn. He appears to be sat behind the desk at the bookies, suggesting that he’ll be stepping up within the family business as Tommy looks to focus on politics.

It also looks like the family will be returning to their roots of The Garrison pub…

To kick off 2019, the creators of Peaky Blinders are back on set and have shared an image of a bloodied clapperboard for a scene or episode called ‘If You Go Down The Woods Today’ – suggesting that violence and murder are afoot.

Check out the below footage of the show being filmed in Liverpool, where Louise King, 34, told the Echo that she’d heard “gun shots and shouting” around the Dock Road area.

“I was walking to a meeting in the Titanic and heard gun shots and [someone] shouting in a Birmingham [accent] over the large wall that used to be the heritage market,” she said. “[I saw] most of the cast including Cillian Murphy.”

Not only that, but here’s the first photo of Anya Taylor Joy (who played Thomasin in The Witch and had the main role of Patronella in The Miniaturist) and Emmett Scanlan (Hollyoaks, The Flesh, Guardians Of The Galaxy), well as Hunger Games‘ Sam Claflin as new characters in the show. Images have been shared of a rally in which Claflin plays the historical fascist Max Oswald Mosley.

“I’m the biggest fan boy,” Claflin told the Evening Standard. “Genuinely when I got to set and heard Cillian start talking as Tommy Shelby I started fangirling a little bit. The director had to go ‘Sam, bring it down, bring it down’.”

As for the plot of season 5, Claflin said: “I don’t want to ruin it for people. I’ve told my wife but I’ve managed to keep a lot a secret.”

Sam Claflin as Oswald Mosley for ‘Peaky Blinders’ series 5. Credit: MCPIX/Shutterstock

Sam Claflin as Oswald Mosley for ‘Peaky Blinders’ series 5. Credit: MCPIX/Shutterstock

Photo from ‘Peaky Blinders’ series 5

Check out these new photos, that show Murphy and his fellow castmembers shooting a funeral procession on the streets of Manchester (but set as London in the show). Someone is awaiting a fatal end in Season 5, but who?

Cillian Murphy shooting the new series of ‘Peaky Blinders’ in Manchester

Cillian Murphy shooting the new series of ‘Peaky Blinders’ in Manchester

Shooting the new series of ‘Peaky Blinders’ in Manchester

Shooting the new series of ‘Peaky Blinders’ in Manchester

Shooting the new series of ‘Peaky Blinders’ in Manchester

Shooting the new series of ‘Peaky Blinders’ in Manchester

Meanwhile, both the Daily Mirror and the Liverpool Echo have shared photos of Anya Taylor-Joy, Finn Cole and other cast members filming scenes in Liverpool, on a set built to look like late ’20s Detroit.

Paul Anderson, who plays Arthur Shelby in the show, has shared two photos on his Instagram Story of himself preparing to shoot Season 5 behind the scenes. He’s back in ’30s gangster attire with a short back and sides.

Paul Anderson has shared photos from behind the scenes of shooting the series 5 of ‘Peaky Blinders’

Paul Anderson has shared photos from behind the scenes of shooting the series 5 of ‘Peaky Blinders’

Who is joining the cast of Peaky Blinders Season 5?

As well as the aforementioned Anya Taylor-Joy and The Hunger Games‘ Sam Claflin, a whole selection of new faces have been announced.

He’ll be joined by Emmett Scanlan, Neil Maskell, Cosmo Jarvis, Kate Dickie, Andrew Koji and Daryl McCormack.

“I couldn’t feel more privileged to be invited to join this iconic show,” Claflin said in a statement.

Which cast members and characters will return?

From the above, it sounds like Tom Hardy won’t be back. But what of the others?

Cillian Murphy has signed up for the next season as Tommy, and Arthur is of course still alive. It wouldn’t be the same without Polly and Lizzie, and now it looks like Finn will have to step up to finally fill John’s shoes after getting his first taste of bloodshed. We also assume Jessie Eden will remain to see through the failed revolution, but then entirely depends on what year the next season is set.

Speaking to Digital Spy, Charlotte Riley (who played rich widow May Carleton in season two and four) has revealed that she won’t be returning

“I don’t think that my character will be coming back,” Riley said. “I mean, I would go back in a heartbeat [if asked], because I just love it so much.”

However, she added that she could reprise her role for the rumoured movie…

“I wonder if they’ll ever do a film of it? That would be quite good,” she continued. There were rumours, but I don’t know if any of them are true. I suppose, what would you gain from making it only 90 minutes long? That’s kind of the argument in a nutshell, isn’t it, of why people do long-form TV?”

When we asked Jack Rowan if he’d be returning as Bonnie Gold, he replied: “I don’t know how much I can say. Let’s see where Bonnie ends up.”

However, it has since been reported that Rowan and his father Aberama played by Aidan Gillen will indeed be returning.

'Peaky Blinders' season four
‘Peaky Blinders’ season four

Who will direct?

Anthony Byrne will take over for season 5, following on from previous directors David Caffrey, Tim Mielants, Colm McCarthy, Otto Bathurst and Tom Harper. Byrne, who directed ITV’s new Anna Friel-starring drama Butterfly, will direct all six episodes. He’s also been confirmed to return to direct series six.

Will David Beckham be in Season 5?

No. After David Beckham was photographed on set with show creator Steven Knight following his clothing brand Kent & Curwen’s collaboration with the show on a new fashion range, it’s been reported by The Sun that BBC has denied that Beckham has a role in the new season.

How did season 4 of Peaky Blinders end?

After Tommy thwarted Luca Changretta’s vendetta and divided his empire up amongst his enemies (as well as shooting Alfie Solomons for his betrayal), Shelby Company Ltd then appeared to enjoy a period of peace. Sadly for Tommy, he suffered crippling mental anguish whilst in retirement, so quickly returned to the action – where he picked up his plot with Jessie Eden and the socialists.

Of course, Tommy was once again playing both sides. After Lizzie gave birth to his new child, Tommy then called in his various favours from the government to give up leading communists in order to prevent revolution while enhancing his own business prospects – and even becoming the Labour MP for Birmingham.

The big questions that remain for Peaky Blinders season 5…

What will the plot be?

To get to the bottom of it, we spoke in depth to all the cast and crew – read it in full here. 

The first official synopsis from the new season reads: “Series five of Steven Knight’s crime family saga finds the world thrown into turmoil by the financial crash of 1929. Opportunity and misfortune are everywhere. When Tommy Shelby MP (Cillian Murphy) is approached by a charismatic politician with a bold vision for Britain, he realises that his response will affect not just his family’s future but that of the entire nation.”

Meanwhile, Cillian Murphy told NME: “We’re dealing more here with Tommy’s mental state. It has been looked at previously, but not in as great detail as this series does. He’s quite fragile when we meet him. Well, that’s an understatement. You saw it in the beginning of series one, and then less so as he started to become more and more successful.

“The threats were always exterior threats from different gangs and personalities, but now it seems like he’s his own worst enemy.”

Director Anthony Byrne told NME: “We open on October 29, 1929, and it’s the morning of the Wall Street Crash. The Shelbys have lost a lot of money that they’d invested over in the US. It’s also the beginnings of the rise of fascism and the introduction of Oswald Mosley as the antagonist. We find Tommy Shelby in a really dark place and it’s really a study of his psyche.

“The last season was a gangster payoff gift to the audience of having loads of shootouts, which was a lot of fun. This series was an opportunity to go back to the set-up that Steven Knight gave us in the first season and to go back to the inner workings of Tommy Shelby and what drives him and what haunts him. The show has evolved and it can’t repeat itself. Shooting, actions and fights are fun to do, but it’s more interesting to do that kind of character work and have those conversations with Cillian, because it’s his character really.”

Meanwhile, writer Steven Knight told NME that this series will be a very transformative period for Tommy.

“This is Tommy and the other members of the cast at a crossroads,” he said. “They’re confronted with something that’s darker than anything they’ve come across so far with the rise of fascism. Are they going to go with it or fight against it?

“This is part of the redemption of Tommy that started when he returned from the First World War. He was totally switched off and was unable to connect with humanity and the world and he’s been slowly coming back to life. Now he’s confronting an evil  that makes him decide if he’s good or if he’s bad.

“The destination for the whole show has always been the start of the Second World War, so the show is the story of the family between the wars. I really want to end it with Tommy being alright. I want Tommy to be good and on the side of the angels. There’s a lesson to be learned and it will have an optimistic message, but there’s a lot of darkness to go through yet.”

Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby in ‘Peaky Blinders’

Now that the Shelby clan are more powerful than ever, even Arthur will have political connections.

“Arthur’s not gonna be a politician,” actor Paul Anderson told Metro. “He’s got political ties now, let’s put it that way. But you won’t see him at no rallies or in Parliament. What it gives Arthur and his family is more power. Tommy is in a position of power, and he can only get stronger in that position. So we’ll all have more cover, we’ll have more opportunity, and more protection. And by protection I mean by society and the police and so on.

He added: “We’ll be able to get away with things under the guise of, ‘we’re politicians, we’re respectable’. But we’ll be able to manipulate things more. Arthur will be even more Arthur. So it will be a lot of fun.”

Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, Knight added: “We are going into the 30s now. There is so much stuff happening, so why not finish the job? The depression and the rise of fascism form part of the storyline. It is setting those things up. In the 30s across Europe and Britain there was the rise of fascism,”

But where else could the show be heading?

“I don’t want to give away how series four ends because it’s going to go in a particular direction,” writer Steven Knight told The Express. “Hopefully it will end in a way that is expected and of course set up season five but not in a way that anyone will be looking for.”

Knight has also revealed that the plot involves infamous Glasgow ‘razor gang’ The Billy Boys. Led by Billy Fullerton (who would later form the Glaswegian branch of the British Union of Fascists), the loyalist gang would clash with Roman Catholic gangs during the 1920s and 30s.

“We just finished shooting a week and a half ago,” Knight told Talksport. “Series five is done. I can honestly say that it’s the best yet. It’s really good. It’s fantastic and it all fell together beautifully. Great performances and I think audiences are going to be on the edge of their seats.”

Peaky Blinders

As for the ‘direction’ it could head, all we know if that they’re hoping that the show will eventually end with the advent of World War Two. Rumours are that the next season will involve Shelby Company Ltd tending to their new business ventures in America.

“It would be pretty epic to see them going to America,” Harry Kirton, who plays Finn Shelby, told NME. “I want to see all of the brothers, including Bonnie, come in. kick down the doors of America and are just like ‘come on’.

“They’d be all like ‘don’t fuck with us’, but at the same time that could be a bit too Hollywood-y.”

Jack Rowan, who plays Bonnie Gold, continued: “Specifically for my character, the story will hopefully continue down the boxing route. I just remember reading about me winning in episode six. I was buzzing and hope I’d get a belt.”

Some of the cast however, have more innocent ideas about the future…

Harry Kirton continued: “Honestly, I kind of feel like like I want to see the brothers have a moment that’s not gang-related. I know this is their life, but I want to see a scene where the brothers are just doing a hobby. You know – tennis, eating or just sat down being like ‘how was your day?’ I know that’s not what Peaky Blinders is, but if Steven Knight could make that Peaky Blinders-ish.

Knight has also detailed how Season 5 will survive without Alfie Solomons (played by Tom Hardy) – and how Tommy will ‘tackle the rise of fascism’.

Speaking to Radio Times about the show moving on without Tom Hardy’s character, Knight said: “There’s a lot going on, there’s a lot of bells ringing, there’s a lot of conflict happening. It’s like when [season one and two star] Sam Neill was no longer in it. That felt like a loss, but you move on. You have to.”

Knight continued: “Tommy Shelby is always on the way up – and sort of on the way down as well. Obviously he has political power now, and in series five he confronts fascism. Well, not ‘confront’ exactly, but that is what is happening at the time. The 1930s were all about the rise of fascism; how does Tommy Shelby respond?”

“Tommy’s main enemy is himself in series five. As ever, he is in control of the exterior – but not in control of the interior.”

Filming begins on the new series of 'Peaky Blinders'

Creator Steven Knight has also given an update on his long-term goal for Shelby. Speaking at the Season 5 premiere in Birmingham, Knight told BBC News: “The fact that Tommy is now an MP for South Birmingham means that he has to retain his contacts with the people of Birmingham.

“We all know that he has many motives, but what I’m trying to do over the long game is to rehabilitate him.”

What will happen with Tommy’s mystery illness?

Is it madness? It is post-traumatic stress? Is it the result of too much booze and too many beatings? Is it under control as long as he keeps himself in trouble, or will it rear its ugly head again?

What will happen with Jessie Eden and the revolution?

The last season ended with Tommy giving up the socialists to advance his own business interests and to become Labour MP of Birmingham. Thwarted after they became romantically involved while he had a child with Lizzy, will Jessie see the revolution through Tommy’s treachery towards inevitable failure, or will the new season pick up after she’s already been hung up to dry? It sounds as if he’s planning to lead the revolution, while secretly undermining it for his own gains.

Is Alfie Solomons really dead?

Season four ended with Tommy taking his revenge for Alfie’s double-crossing, and shooting him on the beach at Margate. His facial wound knocked him to the ground, but did it really kill him? Maybe Tommy left him to live, knowing that he was now powerless and without an empire – and that cancer would kill him eventually.

Responding to the question of if Alfie Solomons is really dead, Knight replied: “Pass”.

However, Paul Anderson recently revealed that Tom Hardy ‘didn’t want’ to depart from the show.

“I didn’t know that was coming,” Anderson recently told Digital Spy. “We were unsure… there was a whole thing about whether or not Alfie would live or die, or get shot or not. It was up for debate and discussion.”

“I know that Tom didn’t want to go,” Anderson added. “So there was this whole thing.”

Who will be on the Season 5 soundtrack?

In an NME exclusive, Anna Calvi has been confirmed as the artist behind the score for season five of Peaky Blinders.

“It’s incredible to be part of something like this,” Calvi told NME about her involvement in the new season. “It’s a whole new thing for me, but it felt completely natural. Bizarrely, I feel like I can really relate to the characters. It was a really good fit.

“I’ve always loved the show – everything about the way that they dress, the music that they feature, how strong the characters are and how filmic it is. It’s just much better than most things you see on TV.”

Peaky Blinders
Director Anthony Byrne and Anna Calvi collaborate on the score for Peaky Blinders season 5

Calvi soon became so engrossed in creating the perfect soundtrack that she found herself having dreams about the show.

“What’s been really fun is to write lyrics for Tommy [Shelby] and to really get into his mind,” she said. “It’s been really interesting to write as if I was Tommy and really believe in this character. I really got lost in that, as if he was real.

“When you’re writing a soundtrack, you’re watching something all day. I was dreaming about Peaky Blinders and got completely obsessed. That’s how it should be.”

As well as Calvi, expect to hear loads of awesome bands in season five.. Along with the usual guest covers of Nick Cave’s ‘Red Right Hand’ (including one by Iggy Pop and Jarvis Cocker), Season 4 included tracks by the likes of Foals, The Kills and Savages.

Idles Mercedes Marxist Dream Guillotine
Idles have released standalone single ‘Mercedes Marxist’

As for the rest of the soundtrack, director Anthony Byrne told NME that this time it will have a “heavier, punkier sound” – and feature The Pearl Hearts, IDLES, Black Sabbath, Savages’ Jehnny Beth and many more.

The Pearl Harts are a band I really like,” he said. “I saw them in Manchester and Leeds when we were filming. Their album ‘Glitter And Spit’ is just a banger and we were pretty determined to get them in. We’ve got them in the opening of episode three and it just landed in such a fantastic way. They’re two girls with this heavy punk sound and they play so well.

“Our biggest band in this series are Black Sabbath, which felt so obvious but they’re so essential as a voice from The Black Country. We use ‘Wizard’ and ‘War Pigs’. We also use two IDLES tracks ‘Scum’ and ‘Never Fight A Man With A Perm’. With bands like IDLES, we were looking at a lot of younger bands that people might not necessarily know. We thought it would be good to put them in a big cultural zeitgeist BBC One show and expose them to a huge audience.”

Byrne added: “Savages’ Jehnny Beth is someone that Cillian knew and has worked with, so we met and she sent over some demos and some stuff from her solo album. She’s very Peaky. I wanted to use Savages’ ‘Adore’ but I didn’t realise that we had before and I didn’t want to repeat ourselves.There’s also one Radiohead track which was nice to use for some continuity with previous series.”

Those who have seen episode four of Peaky Blinders season five will have heard Beth’s voice atop a track of dark industrial-tinged punk, backing the scene in which Polly Gray arrives barefoot to Charlie’s yard to discuss the opium shipment plan with Tommy and Arthur Shelby. Beth then shared a snippet of the song on Instagram, teasing more to come in 2020.

“Polly is one of my favourite characters,” Beth told NME. “She’s a badass, so I was really happy that it was connected to her.

“I’ve always been a fan of the show. I knew that Cillian was a fan [of Savages] as well. They were looking for a track and I was in the studio working. They were branching out to other people and they thought about me. I was working on something that turned out to be a really good match.”

Read our full interview with Jehnny Beth here. 

Savages at Rock Werchter 2017
Savages at Rock Werchter 2017

You could also hopefully expect to hear some more Radiohead. Perhaps even, a new Thom Yorke solo track.

Asked about which band or artist best encapsulates the main role played by Cillian Murphy, series four musical curator Anthony Genn told NME: “I don’t think you can, and that’s the thing about Tommy Shelby. You’ve got to understand, he’s a gypsy that’s come from the streets, whose now in fucking politics, dude.

“I guess you could say with that, maybe someone like Radiohead. They’ve evolved, and you think they’re this – and then they’re this.”

He continued: “That’s the thing about all great bands, and all great artists of any kind; they can’t be pinned down. You can’t quite get an angle on what they are – because they’re always evolving and always moving. That’s Tommy Shelby, he’s always moving forward. Who knows what he’s going to do next?”

Genn added: “The geezer has gone from being an absolute shitter from Nowheresville, slashing people’s eyes open, to now rocking it with the politicians in Parliament. He’s got an OBE and he’s hanging around with the hoi polloi.”

Radiohead's Thom Yorke
Radiohead’s Thom Yorke

Genn then continued: “If we were going to do another season, I’d like to do original tracks with people – not just covers. As much as it’s great to get tracks that work and are fantastic, wouldn’t it be great to have an original track written for Peaky with Thom Yorke, rather than a Radiohead track?

“I’m not saying that Thom Yorke would be knocking on my door going ‘can I do a track with you mate?’ That’s very unlikely, but you’ve got to dream, man.”

Will there be a Season 6 and 7? How will it all end?

Creator Steven Knight has confirmed that he is already writing season 6, as well as telling TalkSport that they “will almost certainly do seven seasons.”

Peaky is a very personal thing for me because it’s based on stories that I was told as a kid by my parents,” he told recently told Slate. “At the very beginning, I tried to have other writers involved but it just didn’t work. There’s no writers room, or any other writer involved. I write everything from beginning to end. Maybe it’s just me not being able to let go of something, especially with Peaky. I can’t let it go.”

He continued: “I’m about to start writing season 6 now and if all the wheels fall off, or it goes horribly wrong, there’s probably people that will say something (about his writing process). But at this moment, it has its own logic and momentum. Right now, it feels as if the characters are just writing themselves.”

Peaky Blinders

The timeline for what’s to come has also been clearly mapped out.

“I’ve always had a pretty clear road map of how this works between World War One and World War Two, and it’s flexible in that you can get to the destination quicker or slower,” said Knight. “So in may mind it’s probable that we’ll get there at the end of series five, it may be series six.”

He continued: “None of us want to shortchange it, so if we feel that after five there’s another one – there’s talk of a film and all sorts of things – so we just want to do justice to the people who love it.”

“I want it to end with the first air raid siren in Birmingham in the Second World War, so that will be the start of the next chapter in British history. It’s that period.”

Knight has also spoken of how the whole arc will end with Tommy being “redeemed” as a good man after all.

“I want to take him on that journey from the person we saw [in series one], to the person he will become in 1939,” said Knight at the Canneseries TV drama festival, reports Variety.

“[Series seven] will tell a different story, where Tommy Shelby – who begins as this nihilistic, looking-out only for his family person – will be redeemed, and he will become good.”

Knight also said that he wanted the show to challenge misconceptions about the working class in the UK.

“The tradition in Britain is if you do anything about working class people either they are scary or funny or it is a shame, it’s a pity … we must feel sorry for them,” Knight added.

“The experiences I had of working-class life was of people enjoying themselves, having a laugh, having fun, having self-respect; they were in control of their own destinies to an extent, and so I wanted to reflect that. So you had a working-class environment where these people are sort of aristocracy in a way within their own community.”

Cillian Murphy in ‘Peaky Blinders’ as Tommy Shelby

Paul Anderson, who plays Arthur Shelby, also thinks the show needs a little more time.

“I don’t know if we can wrap it up in one more season,” he told Digital Spy. “I think we’re in ’26, ’28? And so the Second World War is not for a little while yet. I don’t think six episodes is enough to get us there.

“I had this conversation with Cillian [Murphy] about one more season, and we both agreed: listen, if that’s it, then yeah, for sure. But it might take two more. I’ve got a feeling it might take two more.”

Cillian Murphy in Peaky Blinders

Will there be a movie, a musical and a video game?

A Blinders movie has been rumoured for a while now, especially given its unexpected success in the US on Netflix.

“I think Steve [Knight] has some ideas. You’d have to be careful, but I’d be curious to do it”, Cillian Murphy told Esquire.

Knight has previously opened up on the prospect of a film, and said that it could run concurrently alongside the season.

“I think it’d be great to have a series, then a film, a series, a film… why not?”, he told Digital Spy in 2016.

Why not indeed. Steven Knight is certainly keen, as he told NME.

“When we get to the end of the seven series, we’ll think about [the movie],” Knight told NME. “There’s still a lot of energy in it and places it can go. We’ve been thinking about spin-offs, and I’m also interested in doing something with the Second World War.

“The film is of interest, the ballet is of interest, the musical is of interest. I just like doing different things. I don’t want to hit the buffers and stop. I just know that there could be stuff that happens subsequently. It’s got such a following and loyalty now that it would just be great to keep it going.”

Producer Caryn Mandabach then confirmed to Deadline that not only was a movie in the works, but also a musical.

“It’s going great, bumping along,” she said the musical. “It’s not going to happen tomorrow, but we’re actively meeting about it and having a blast. You can only imagine those meetings are real fun. Steve said he’d turn in the treatment of what would happen in February, so we have that to look forward to. I have no info further about the movie, I can only say we have continued support from extraordinary artistic forces.”

Meanwhile, two video games have been also been confirmed. First, it was announced last month that Endemol had partnered with Curve Digital and FuturLab to create another game –  “narrative action game inspired by the critically acclaimed, epic gangster drama” for console and PC.

Developers said that it would be led by “a highly innovative, story-driven design” enabling players to control “all of their favourite characters” as well as locations from the series.

'Peaky Blinders'
‘Peaky Blinders’

Elsewhere, a Virtual Reality Peaky Blinders game has also been green-lit – and is due for release in 2020. Maze Theory have today (April 26) been awarded government funding as part of the ‘Audience of the Future’ programme – meaning that they will now be able to develop a Peaky Blinders VR game and utilise “new, cutting-edge AI performance technology”.

A press release has revealed more about the premise of the game. “Peaky Blinders’ fans and VR gaming enthusiasts can, for the first time, infiltrate the underground criminal world of the urban street gang,” the release promises. “They will undertake a covert and unorthodox mission and defeat a rival gang.

“If successful with the mission, they will earn their cap and be a fully-fledged member of the Peaky Blinders, every fan’s dream!”

Check back at NME for the latest updates on Peaky Blinders Season 5.

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