Peaky Blinders (TV series)

Peaky Blinders
Genre Historical fiction
Created by Steven Knight
Written by Steven Knight
Directed by
  • Otto Bathurst
  • Tom Harper
  • Colm McCarthy (series 2)
  • Tim Mielants (Series 3)
Starring
Opening theme "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Composer(s) Mearl
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 12
Production
Executive producer(s)
Producer(s) Katie Swinden
Location(s) Birmingham, England
Cinematography George Steel
Production company(s)
Distributor

Endemol UK (UK)

The Weinstein Company (US)
Release
Original network BBC Two
Original release 12 September 2013 (2013-09-12) – present
External links
Peaky Blinders at BBC Programmes

Peaky Blinders is a Birmingham historical based fictional crime drama television series starring Cillian Murphy as the boss of the historical Peaky Blinders gang[1] operating in Birmingham, England, during the aftermath of World War I. The series was created by Steven Knight, and produced by Caryn Mandabach Productions and Tiger Aspect Productions.

The first series aired on BBC Two on 13 September 2013 and ran for six episodes. The second series premiered on 2 October 2014. The third series is currently filming and is scheduled for broadcast in late 2016.

Premise

Peaky Blinders is a gangster family epic set in Birmingham, England, in 1919, just after the First World War. The story centres on the Peaky Blinders gang and their ambitious and highly dangerous boss Tommy Shelby (played by Cillian Murphy). The gang comes to the attention of Chief Inspector Chester Campbell (played by Sam Neill), a detective in the Royal Irish Constabulary sent over from Belfast (where he'd been sent to clean up the city of the IRA, gangs, and common criminals). Winston Churchill (played by Andy Nyman in series 1 and Richard McCabe in series 2) charged him to suppress disorder and uprising in Birmingham and recover a stolen cache of arms meant to be shipped to Libya.[2][3][4][5][6]

The second series is set two years after the first and sees "the Shelby family expand their empire South and North while maintaining a stronghold in their Birmingham heartland".[7] Beginning in 1921, it ends with a climax at Epsom race-course on "Derby Day" in June 1922.

Cast

Main

Recurring

Production

Candidates for roles as teenage male extras queueing in Birmingham

Peaky Blinders was created by Steven Knight, directed by Otto Bathurst, and produced by Katie Swinden. The writers are listed as Steven Knight, David Leland, Stephen Russell and Toby Finlay.[9]

The series was filmed in Birmingham, Bradford, Dudley, Leeds, and Liverpool.[10] Railway sequences were filmed between Keighley and Damems, using carriages from the Ingrow Museum of Rail Travel (owned by Vintage Carriages Trust[11]) and carriages owned by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Trust.[12]

Sam Neill enlisted the help of Northern Irish actors James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson to help him perfect a Northern Irish accent for the role of C.I. Campbell. In the end, he had to tone the accent down since the series is being marketed in the United States.[13]

Second series

A second series was commissioned shortly after the broadcast of the first and aired in the autumn of 2014.[14] On 11 January 2014, auditions were held in Digbeth area of Birmingham (near where parts of the series is set) for white and mixed race teenage male extras, resulting in lengthy queues.[15][16] Tom Hardy and Noah Taylor join the cast for the second series.[17]

Third series

Shortly after the final episode of the second series, the show announced via its official Twitter account that it had been renewed for a third series.[18]

On 4 October 2015, Deadline announced that Paddy Considine [19] was added to the cast of series 3.

On 5 October 2015, the official Peaky Blinders Twitter account announced that filming for Series 3 had begun.[20]

US distribution

On 24 September 2014, it was announced that Netflix 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.[21]

Episodes

Series 1

# Title Directed by Written by Original air date UK viewers
(millions)[22]
1"Episode 1"Otto BathurstSteven Knight12 September 2013 (2013-09-12)3.05
2"Episode 2"Otto BathurstSteven Knight19 September 2013 (2013-09-19)2.45
3"Episode 3"Otto BathurstSteven Knight26 September 2013 (2013-09-26)2.20
4"Episode 4"Tom HarperSteven Knight, Stephen Russell3 October 2013 (2013-10-03)2.31
5"Episode 5"Tom HarperSteven Knight, Toby Finlay10 October 2013 (2013-10-10)2.03
6"Episode 6"Tom HarperSteven Knight17 October 2013 (2013-10-17)2.24

Series 2

# Title Directed by Screenplay and Story Written by Original air date UK viewers
(millions)[22]
1"Episode 1"Colm McCarthySteven Knight2 October 2014 (2014-10-02)2.31
2"Episode 2"Colm McCarthySteven Knight9 October 2014 (2014-10-09)2.18
3"Episode 3"Colm McCarthySteven Knight16 October 2014 (2014-10-16)2.20
4"Episode 4"Colm McCarthySteven Knight23 October 2014 (2014-10-23)2.06
5"Episode 5"Colm McCarthySteven Knight30 October 2014 (2014-10-30)2.10
6"Episode 6"Colm McCarthySteven Knight6 November 2014 (2014-11-06)2.24

Reception

The reception for Peaky Blinders was largely positive, with notable praise for its writing, acting, visual style and stylish cinematography. David Renshaw of The Guardian summarised the series to be 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."[23] Sarah Compton of The Telegraph gave the series a 4/5 rating, praising the show for its originality and "taking all of our expectations and confounding them."[24] Alex Fletcher from Digital Spy believes "Peaky Blinders has started as sharp as a dart,"[25] while Den of Geek called the series "the most intelligent, stylish and engrossing BBC drama in ages."[26] 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."[27]

The show has been celebrated for its stylish cinematography and charismatic performances, as well as for casting an eye over a part of Britain and British history rarely explored on television.[28] Reviews for the second series have remained positive, with Ellen E. Jones of The Independent 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.[29] Several critics have also favourably compared the show to US drama Boardwalk Empire,[30][31] which shares the same themes and historical context. Show writer Steven Knight stated in an 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."[32]

References

  1. ↑ Bradley, Michael (12 September 2013). "Birmingham's real Peaky Blinders". BBC News (West Midlands).
  2. ↑ Stubbs, David (6 September 2013). "Peaky Blinders, Britain's answer to Boardwalk Empire (Creator Steven Knight and star Cillian Murphy discuss the BBC's epic new gangster drama)". The Guardian.
  3. ↑ Bamigboye, Baz (20 September 2012). "These horribly sharp dressers star in sinister six-part BBC series". Daily Mail (UK) (U.S. Showbiz). Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  4. ↑ Whooley, Declan. "Is Nidge really joining the IRA?". JOE.ie. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  5. ↑ Sweeney, Ken (4 January 2013). "Nidge jumps the fence and joins IRA – but don't worry 'Love/Hate' fans, it's for the BBC". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  6. ↑ Melrose, Kevin (17 February 2014). "Actor will appear opposite his 'Dark Knight Rises' co-star Cillian Murphy". Hitfix.
  7. ↑ Hadlow, Janice Hadlow – Controller, BBC Two (25 October 2013). "Media Cenre – BBC Two announces second series of critically acclaimed drama Peaky Blinders". BBC.
  8. ↑ "Peaky Blinders recap: series two, episode two – it's not easy being Tommy Shelby". The Guardian. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  9. ↑ "Media Centre – BBC Two announces drama series Peaky Blinders". BBC. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  10. ↑ Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning (21 September 2012). "Media Centre – New BBC Two drama, Peaky Blinders, commences shooting". BBC. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  11. ↑ "Filming Peaky Blinders". Vintagecarriagestrust.org. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  12. ↑ "The Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway Trust". Lyrtrust.org.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  13. ↑ "BBC News – Sam Neill plays Belfast detective in BBC gangster drama". BBC.co.uk. 19 October 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  14. ↑ Hadlow, Janice – Controller, BBC Two (25 October 2013). "Media Centre – BBC Two announces second series of critically acclaimed drama Peaky Blinders". BBC. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  15. ↑ Young, Gary (2014-01-08). "TV company looking for new Peaky Blinders". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  16. ↑ Stacey, Alison (2014-01-11). "Video: Hundreds queue for Peaky Blinders auditions in Birmingham". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
  17. ↑ Walker, Ellie (14 February 2014). "Peaky Blinders series 2: Tom Hardy joins the cast". Radio Times. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  18. ↑ Deardon, Lizzie (7 November 2014). "Peaky Blinders to return for a third series, BBC announces". The Independent. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  19. ↑ http://deadline.com/2015/10/peaky-blinders-season-3-new-cast-paddy-considine-tom-hardy-tommys-wedding-1201566671/. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ↑ "And they're rolling!! Break a leg everyone! @theotherJoeCole @MousseTash @FinnCole @rundlesophie @HarryKirton @Aimeeffion @caramaka". Twitter. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  21. ↑ Spangler, Todd (24 September 2014). "Netflix Procures ‘Peaky Blinders’ Brit Drama in Exclusive Pact With Weinstein Co., Endemol". Variety. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  22. 1 2 "BARB Top 30s".
  23. ↑ Renshaw, David (22 May 2014). "Peaky Blinders – box set review". The Guardian.
  24. ↑ Compton, Sarah (12 September 2013). "Peaky Blinders, BBC Two, review". The Telegraph.
  25. ↑ "'Peaky Blinders' review". Digital Spy. 2013-09-12. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  26. ↑ "Peaky Blinders episode 1 review". Den of Geek. 2013-09-12. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  27. ↑ "Review: Peaky Blinders (U.K. Blu-ray)". Cult TV Times. 2013-10-22. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  28. ↑ Keith Watson (2013-10-17). "TV review: Peaky Blinders was a fantastic political thriller | Metro News". Metro.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  29. ↑ Jones, Ellen E (3 October 2014). "Peaky Blinders, series 2, episode 1 – TV review: Second series boasts a host of big new names". The Independent.
  30. ↑ Stubbs, David (6 September 2013). "Peaky Blinders, Britain's answer to Boardwalk Empire". The Guardian.
  31. ↑ "Peaky Blinders". The Independent. 2013-08-30. Retrieved 2014-02-14.
  32. ↑ "Steven Knight on Peaky Blinders, series 2, Birmingham, Cillian Murphy, working class drama, Nick Cave & more…". Den of Geek. 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2014-02-14.

External links

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See also

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