Main content

Everything we know about Peaky Blinders

Matt Seel

Digital Content Producer, About the BBC

Peaky Blinders is a drama, written by Steven Knight and set in Birmingham, that started on BBC Two all the way back in 2013.

The series starts follows the Shelby family, leaders of the Peaky Blinders in 1919, several months after the First World War and the return of the men. The gang is led by the ambitious Tommy Shelby, who has big plans to expand the family's legitimate and illegitimate businesses.

Who's in Peaky Blinders?

Cillian Murphy. Cillian's first BBC role was in historical drama mini-series, The Way We Live Now, as Paul Montague in 2001. The year after, he starred in 28 Days Later - his breakout film role. Since then, he's starred in blockbuster Hollywood films including Batman Begins, Dunkirk and Inception. Murphy plays Tommy Shelby, the ambitious and relentless leader of the Peaky Blinders.

Helen McCrory. Helen's first role for the BBC was as Jean Rice in anothology series Performance: The Entertainer in 1993. Since then, she played Narcissa Malfoy in the Harry Potter series and Kathryn Villiers in this year's BBC drama MotherFatherSon. McCrory plays the matriarchal Aunt Polly, who ran the gang during the First World War.

Sophie Rundle. Sophie's first role for the BBC was as Miss Casson in an episode of Garrow's Law, back in 2011. Since then she has been in a number of award-winning BBC dramas including Happy Valley and Bodyguard, she also starred as Ann Walker in new series, Gentleman Jack. Rundle plays Ada Throne, the Shelby brothers' only sister, who tries not to be involved with the Peaky Blinders.

Who else is in Peaky Blinders?

Peaky Blinders has had a number of cast members through the years including Tom Hardy, Charlotte Riley and Paddy Considine. Here are some of the new cast for series five:

Anya Taylor-Joy. Anya's first role for the BBC was in mythic adventure series Atlantis as Cassandra in 2015. Her breakout role was as the troubled Thomasin in The Witch and she also played Petronella Brandt in the BBC's adaptation of The Miniaturist. Taylor-Joy plays Gina, Michael's new wife, not much is known about her but it will be interesting to see how Polly reacts to her son's new wife.

Sam Claflin. Sam's first role for the BBC was as Jack in White Heat back in 2012. Since then he's gone on to play Finnick Odair in the Hunger Games series as well as Will Traynor in the film Me Before You. Claflin plays nthe Fascist leader, Oswald Mosley.

Charlene McKenna. Charlene's first role for the BBC was as Josie in Being Human back in 2010. Since then, she has gone to star in Ripper Street as Rose Erskine and was in last year's Death And Nightingales as Mercy Boyle. McKenna plays the mysterious Captain Swing.

When does series five start?

Series five of Peaky Blinders starts on Sunday 25 August at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Need a recap?

Here's a beautiful, lyrical recap of the story so far from spoken word artist Casey Bailey:

You must enable javascript to play content

Is there a trailer for series five?

Of course there is!

You must enable javascript to play content

Don't miss series five of Peaky Blinders on Sunday 25 August at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

More Posts

Next

BBC Local Radio: helping the community