Peaky Blinders creator teases spin-off series as he reveals Tommy Shelby’s fate is already set in stone
THE World of Peaky Blinders looks set to outlive its beloved protagonist Tommy Shelby.
The BBC series has captivated audiences with its gritty take on Birmingham’s gangster culture and was duly awarded with the Best Drama gong at the National Television Awards earlier this week.
Creator Steven Knight confirmed that when the show returns later this year for season six it will involve a time jump that lands Tommy and co at the dawn of World War II.
While this seems to spell the beginning of the end for the story arc originally laid out by Knight, he has now suggested that Peaky Blinders will live on in the form of a spin-off series.
“I know how it’s going to end, this particular incarnation of the family story, I know that it’s going to end at the beginning of the Second World War,” he told Radio Times.
“But after that I think that the momentum is such that maybe we will continue with other bits of the story.”
In the short term, Knight claimed that the season 5 cliff hanger, which saw Tommy contemplate suicide, shouldn’t worry fans too much.
“[A cliff hanger] encourages people to then go to the next thing, and I will continue to do that, it’s become a bit of the style of Peaky to end with a question so that’s what I want to do,” he went on.
“[Tommy] dead? Never – he’s immortal!”
That doesn’t mean Tommy won’t face his fair share of hardship, though.
“Trouble, trouble and trouble is what’s coming – with a bit of happiness as well,” Knight teased.
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“I’ve always intended at the very, very end there will be redemption, there will be resolution and there will be a kind of happiness, but along the way there will be trouble.”
The comments come after director Anthony Byrne took to Instagram last week to reveal the title for the season 6 premiere.
The front page of the script revealed that the series opener is called Black Day and Byrne captioned the shot: "We are in pre-production on Season 6.
"More to come, By Order of..."
Peaky Blinders is expected to return to BBC One later this year.