Steven Knight developed Peaky Blinders, which was directed by Otto Bathurst and produced by Katie Swinden.1)
Steven Knight, David Leland, Stephen Russell, and Toby Finlay are credited as the writers.2)
Birmingham, Bradford, Dudley, Leeds, Liverpool, and Port Sunlight were all used as filming locations for the series.3)
Using carriages from the Ingrow Museum of Rail Travel, railway sequences were shot between Keighley and Damems (owned by Vintage Carriages Trust and carriages owned by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Trust).4)
Northern Irish actors James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson assisted Sam Neill in perfecting his Northern Irish dialect for the character of C.I. Campbell.5)
Peaky Blinders is a gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England, immediately after World War I.6)
The plot revolves around the Romani Peaky Blinders gang and its ambitious and violent leader Tommy Shelby (played by Cillian Murphy).7)
The gang attracts the attention of Chief Inspector Chester Campbell (Sam Neill), a detective in the Royal Irish Constabulary dispatched from Belfast to rid the city of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), gangs, and common criminals.8)
Winston Churchill (Andy Nyman in series 1 and Richard McCabe in series 2) charged him with putting down a riot in Birmingham and retrieving a stolen stockpile of munitions destined for Libya.9)
The Shelby family expands its criminal organization throughout the “South and North [of London] while retaining a foothold in their Birmingham base” in the second series, which takes place two years after the first.10)
It began in 1921 and culminates on Derby Day in June 1922 at Epsom Racecourse.11)
Peaky Blinders received mostly favorable reviews, with particular appreciation for its script, performances, visual flair, and elegant cinematography.12)
The series was described as a “riveting, fast-paced tale of post-First World War Birmingham criminals” by David Renshaw of The Guardian, who praised Murphy as the “ever-so-cool Tommy Shelby” and the rest of the cast for their “strong performances”.13)
The Telegraph's Sarah Compton gave the series a 4/5 rating, praising it for its uniqueness and “confounding all of our assumptions”.14)
Digital Spy's Alex Fletcher says “Peaky Blinders has started as sharp as a dart”, while Den of Geek calls the season “the most brilliant, sophisticated, and engaging BBC drama in centuries”.15)
A spin-off film was announced in 2022, following the last season of Peaky Blinders, season 6.16)
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight was inspired by the real-life Birmingham street gang of the same name. Unlike the Shelbys, the actual Peaky Blinders were in business from the 1880s until the 1910s. The organisation arose as a result of the difficult economic conditions in working-class Britain. They stood out with fitted jackets, overcoats, buttoned waistcoats, leather boots, and peaked flat hats. They ruled Birmingham and its environs until the Birmingham Boys, a rival gang commanded by Billy Kimber, took over after 1910.17)
Carl Chinn, a well-known Birmingham historian who has authored multiple books about the Peaky Blinders, feels that there is a prevalent myth about how the gang obtained their name. The gang members, according to legend, would sew razor blades into the tops of their hats and use them as weapons to cut their victims. Chinn believes that the Peaky Blinders got their moniker from their trademark peaked headgear. The term “Blinders” then refers to someone who is well-dressed and attractive.18)
Peaky Blinders Season 2 open casting call was launched in January 2014, searching for young male actors between the ages of 13 and 19. They indicated that a diverse cast was sought and that no prior acting experience was required. As a result, massive lines formed for more than a half-mile throughout Digbeth.19)
Despite being engaged in the US distribution, The Weinstein Company's logo and name were deleted from the Peaky Blinders credits in Season 4. According to Deadline Hollwyood, the firm was eliminated from the Peaky Blinders credits on Netflix in 2017, as well as retrospectively for the first three seasons. Several media professionals, including convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein, founded The Weinstein Company. Peaky Blinders' production team understandably did not want to be affiliated with the corporation after the numerous charges made against Harvey Weinstein.20)
The Metro reported in September 2020 that social media rumors that Rowan Atkinson will play Adolf Hitler in the sixth and final season of Peaky Blinders were completely incorrect.21)
Peaky Blinders Seasons 6 and 7 were promised by Steven Knight, however the latter was later rumoured to have been canceled. Because of COVID19, Season 6 was postponed, and it was determined that the Peaky Blinders tale would continue in another manner. A Peaky Blinders spin-off film is suspected of replacing Season 7's original intentions.22)
Parents have begun naming their children after Peaky Blinders characters, according to the Office of National Statistics. Arthur placed in the top ten list of boy's names in 2018 for the first time since the 1920s, which might be attributed to the character Arthur Shelby. He may not be the finest role model, though! Ada also made it into the top 100 list of girl's names for the first time in a century, maybe because of Ada Thorne née Shelby.23)
Peaky Blinders video game will be launched in August 2020. Curve Digital created it, and it was published on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Peaky Blinders: Mastermind is an adventure puzzle game. It takes place after World War I and before the events of Season One of the program. You join the Shelby family's group and accompany Tommy as he uncovers a conspiracy to bankrupt the Shelbys. You can command major members of the Shelby family, including Tommy, Polly, Arthur, and others.24)
In real life, Finn Cole, who portrays Polly's son Michael Gray, and Joe Cole, who plays John Shelby, are brothers. They were both born in London and have three additional brothers.25)
On IMDB, one Peaky Blinders fan calculated that Cillian Murphy must have smoked about 6000 herbal cigarettes during his tenure on the show. In interviews, Steven Knight has indicated that, while Tommy Shelby would be smoking the conventional cigarette, Murphy would be given herbal smokes containing neither nicotine or tobacco to play the part. 26)
Similarly, according to the same IMDb remark, Cillian Murphy has consumed 213 whiskeys over the series.27)
Musical Icon Before his death in January 2016, David Bowie was a major Peaky Blinders fan. According to The Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight, Bowie dressed up as Tommy Shelby and gave the photo to actor Cillian Murphy absolutely out of the blue. According to Knight, “around a year ago, [David] sent a photo of himself with razor blades in his cap to Cillian.” He also made certain that the Peaky Blinders production crew could continue to exploit his back catalog of tunes even after his death. According to the Metro, a Sony Music representative played Steven Knight's final album, Blackstar, before it was officially published.28)
Tom Hardy is a well-known actor recognized for his cinematic appearances as well as his quirky Peaky Blinders character, Alfie Solomons. You may be surprised to learn that Hardy married actress Charlotte Riley in 2014. Riley portrays May Carelton, Tommy Shelby's racing horse trainer, in Seasons 2 and 4. They met on the set of ITV's Wuthering Heights adaption in 2009, when Riley portrayed Cathy Earnshaw and Hardy played Heathcliff. The couple has two children, the first born in 2015 and the second in 2018.29)
Steven Knight, the Peaky Blinders showrunner, met with Cillian Murphy and Jason Statham in Los Angeles to discuss the part of Thomas Shelby. Statham was first preferred owing of his commanding presence and physique. In Peaky Blinders mythology, Cillian Murphy famously persuaded Knight to alter his mind with a single compelling SMS message. It stated, “Remember, I'm an actor,” reminding the showrunner that, despite Murphy's dissimilarity to Thomas Shelby, he thought he could entirely turn into the gangster required for the role.30)