The six-part drama series for BBC Two is set to return in epic style.
Steven Knight the writer and creator of PEAKY BLINDERS will be bringing back the popular BBC 2 series onto our screens this coming Thursday on October 2nd and we cannot wait!
The first series of Peaky Blinders was described as the ‘anti-Downton’, and no wonder, given its early 20th century gritty gangland setting, stylistic tone and slow-motion set pieces, which set it apart from more staid period dramas.
Directed by Colm McCarthy, the second season of epic gangster drama Peaky Blinders is set in 1922 – the ‘roaring twenties’, a time of glitter and glitz and the jazz age where high society happily mingled with wealthy gangsters. The notorious Shelby family has made its mark on the tumultuous landscape of post-WW1 Birmingham and after turning his violent street gang, the Peaky Blinders into a legitimate business, Thomas Shelby, has designs on expanding the business out of Birmingham to run the race tracks in the south of England.
Tommy’s ambitions are limitless and going up in the world brings its own dangers and challenges, and Tommy’s pursuit of success in business sees a fast, furious and gripping tale unfold in the rollercoaster journey of the Shelby family’s latest fortunes.
During the 1920s on-track betting was legal but was still a rough and dangerous business. Tommy has to gather all his cunning and manpower to outwit the southern gangs and in turn, he learns to use his looks, charm and wit to seduce the upper classes the racetracks also attract.
The stellar cast of Cillian Murphy leading as Tommy Shelby, Sam Neill, Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Joe Cole and Ned Dennehy from series one, are joined for series two by BAFTA award-winning actor Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception) and Noah Taylor (Game of Thrones, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory), as well as Charlotte Riley (Edge of Tomorrow, Wuthering Heights), Screen International Star of Tomorrow Aimee-Ffion Edwards, newcomer Finn Cole (brother of actor Joe Cole) and once again a cameo from celebrated Birmingham poet, writer and musician Benjamin Zephaniah.
“Peaky Blinders is a passion project for me,” explains creator, writer and executive producer Steven Knight. “It’s based on stories told to me by my parents, about their parents and uncles. They grew up in 1920s Birmingham and were bookmakers and gangsters embroiled in gang wars during that period of British history. I thought the stories must have been exaggerated, but in doing the research, I found they’d actually spared me many of the gory details. The reality was much more traumatic and I just felt I had to tell the story”.
The term “Peaky Blinders” was actually the name of a gang that Knight’s own father’s uncles belonged to “They sewed razor blades into the peaks of their caps to use as weapons and they became a part of the uniform and people were terrified by them. The story that prompted this whole idea was one about my dad as an eight-year-old boy, being told by his father to take his uncles a message. He was terrified but did as he was told and ran barefoot through the streets of Birmingham to a room where men wearing suits were counting piles of money and drinking from jam jars because they wouldn’t spend money on glasses – they’d rather spend the money on clothes.”
To tease us even more with the impending return of the season, the BBC have released the first clip from the series 2 premiere episode:
The new series starts October 2nd, 9pm on BBC 2.
