About Peaky Blinders Season 1 – TV Series

Peaky Blinders Season 1

Peaky Blinders is a British period crime drama television series created by Steven Knight. Set in Birmingham, it follows the exploits of the Peaky Blinders crime gang in the direct aftermath of the First World War. The fictional gang is loosely based on a real urban youth gang of the same name who were active in the city from the 1880s to the 1910s.

It features an ensemble cast led by Cillian Murphy, starring as Tommy Shelby, Helen McCrory as Elizabeth “Polly” Gray, Paul Anderson as Arthur Shelby, Sophie Rundle as Ada Shelby, and Joe Cole as John Shelby, the gang’s senior members. Sam Neill, Annabelle Wallis, Iddo Goldberg, Tom Hardy, Charlotte Riley, Finn Cole, Natasha O’Keeffe, Paddy Considine, Adrien Brody, Aidan Gillen, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sam Claflin, Amber Anderson, James Frecheville, and Stephen Graham also star. The programme began on 12 September 2013, broadcast on BBC Two until the fourth series (with repeats on BBC Four), then moved to BBC One for the fifth and sixth series.

Netflix, under a deal with Weinstein Company and Endemol, acquired the rights to release the show in the United States and around the world. In January 2021, it was announced that the sixth series would be the last, followed by a spin-off film. The final series was broadcast in 2022.

Peaky Blinders Season 1

STORY

Episodes 01

In 1919 following the Great War, the Peaky Blinders, led by Thomas “Tommy” Shelby, a decorated former sergeant major, appropriate a consignment of guns from the local arms factory. Winston Churchill sends Chief Inspector Chester Campbell of the Royal Irish Constabulary to Birmingham to retrieve the guns. Tommy’s aunt Polly Gray urges Tommy to return the guns, but he feels that he can use them to his advantage. His brother Arthur Shelby does not agree with Tommy about fixing horse races, believing it will cause trouble with Billy Kimber, who runs the races. Inspector Campbell and his men capture Arthur and beat him while inquiring about the gun robbery. Inspector Campbell propositions Arthur and the gang to work with him to find the guns. Tommy’s sister Ada Shelby is involved with Freddie Thorne, a communist. A barmaid named Grace Burgess starts working at the Garrison, a bar owned by the Peaky Blinders. She has been placed in Birmingham by Inspector Campbell to help find the guns. Tommy’s friend Danny has a PTSD episode and kills an Italian business owner. To avoid a war with the Italians, Tommy agrees to kill Danny, with the Italians witnessing. However, Danny’s death is faked and he goes to London on a special assignment.

Episodes 02

Tommy, Arthur and their brother John Shelby meet with a rival Romanichal gang, the Lees, to look at a horse for the next race. The Lees insult the Peaky Blinders and a fight breaks out. Inspector Campbell’s special force launches a surprise crackdown, targeting communists and looking for the guns. Freddie and Ada escape, but Freddie has to leave town. Inspector Campbell confronts Polly and attacks all the Peaky Blinder establishments. In retaliation, Tommy arranges for a reporter to write about a burning of the King’s picture, which prompts Churchill to pressure Inspector Campbell. Tommy meets with Inspector Campbell and gives him an ultimatum: if the Peaky Blinders are left alone, he will return the guns; if Inspector Campbell interferes with his plans, Tommy will send the guns to the IRA and ruin Inspector Campbell’s work in Belfast. Inspector Campbell agrees but instructs Grace to get close to Tommy and find the location of the guns. Polly realises Ada is pregnant and tells Tommy, who threatens to kill Freddie but then instructs him to take Ada away. Freddie instead proposes to Ada and decides to stay in town. Billy Kimber and his men confront the Peaky Blinders, but Tommy convinces them to join forces in fighting the Lees.

Episodes 03

Ada and Freddie marry; Polly gives them money to leave the country. Despite Tommy’s best efforts to keep the guns a secret, people keep finding out about them, including two IRA members. Grace overhears them trying to blackmail Tommy and follows one of them, but he attacks her. Grace manages to shoot her attacker dead in self-defence. Tommy warns Billy Kimber that the Lees will once again rob Billy Kimber’s bookies at the races. Tommy brings Grace as his date to Cheltenham races in an attempt to distract Billy Kimber as well as convince him that he should hire the Peaky Blinders as his security. Billy Kimber agrees if he can have some time alone with Grace, to which Tommy agrees. At the last minute, he has a change of heart and claims that Grace is actually a prostitute with syphilis. Freddie decides Tommy is not going to scare him off and returns.

Episodes 04

Tommy makes his business legitimate by obtaining a betting licence. Although he does not quite trust her and is suspicious of her, Tommy hires Grace as his secretary. John calls the gang together to tell them he wants to marry Lizzie Stark, a local prostitute. Tommy disapproves because he does not think Lizzie has given up her former profession. His suspicions are confirmed when he requests her services as a test and she agrees. The Lees rob the Peaky Blinders’ gambling den as revenge for the Peaky Blinders having protected Billy Kimber’s bookies at the races. Tommy decides to call a truce with the Lees so that he can have an ally against Billy Kimber and marries John to the Lees’ daughter Esme to secure the agreement. Ada comes to the wedding but goes into labour soon after. Freddie comes to see the new baby but is arrested when he shows up.

Episodes 05

Believing Tommy betrayed Freddie, Ada does not want to see or speak to the Shelby family. Arthur Shelby Sr. (Tommy Flanagan), who deserted the Shelby family a decade ago, comes back into town. Tommy wants nothing to do with him, but Arthur believes he has changed. He gives Arthur Sr. a large sum of money to build hotels in the United States, only for Arthur Sr. to abscond with it. An IRA member starts inquiring about the man Grace killed. Tommy and Grace kill the other IRA members. Now in love with Tommy, Grace tells Inspector Campbell that if she tells him where the guns are, he must leave Tommy and the Shelby family alone. She suspects the guns are buried in a false grave after discovering that Danny is not really dead. Grace gives up the location to Inspector Campbell and resigns service to the Crown. Inspector Campbell proposes marriage, which Grace rejects. Tommy and Grace consummate their connection, secretly witnessed by Inspector Campbell. Arthur attempts suicide by hanging himself, but survives when the rope snaps off its hook.

Episodes 06

Inspector Campbell confirms to Churchill that Grace should be commended for her part in finding the missing guns. Polly meets with Grace to reveal she knows Grace’s secret and that she will never forgive her. The Peaky Blinders, led by Danny, spring Freddie from prison. Tommy gathers the Peaky Blinders and the Lees to take on Billy Kimber’s men at the tracks, but Billy Kimber catches the Peaky Blinders off guard and outnumbered by confronting them at home. Freddie helps the Peaky Blinders by bringing out a machine gun from the stolen weapons, but Ada jumps into the middle of the standoff trying to bring peace. Billy Kimber opens fire on the Peaky Blinders, killing Danny and injuring Tommy. Tommy, in turn, shoots Billy Kimber dead. Tommy meets Grace and she tells him she loves him and will go to London for a few days; she has an idea of how they can be together. Tommy writes a letter and flips a coin to decide if he will go with Grace. As this happens, Inspector Campbell confronts Grace at the railway station and points his pistol at her. As the scene fades, there is a gunshot.

CAST

Cillian Murphy as Thomas “Tommy” Shelby, the leader of the Peaky Blinders.
Sam Neill as Chief Inspector/Major Chester Campbell (series 1–2), an Ulster Protestant policeman drafted from Belfast.
Helen McCrory as Elizabeth Pollyanna “Polly” Gray (series 1–5), née Shelby, the aunt of the Shelby siblings, and treasurer of the Peaky Blinders.
Paul Anderson as Arthur Shelby Jr., Tommy’s best friend and eldest of the Shelby siblings.
Annabelle Wallis as Grace Shelby (series 1–3, 5), née Burgess, a former undercover agent, and Irish Protestant. She is Tommy’s first wife and mother of his son Charles.
Iddo Goldberg as Freddie Thorne (series 1), a known communist who fought in the Great War and was Ada’s husband.
Sophie Rundle as Ada Thorne, née Shelby, the only sister of the Shelby brothers.
Joe Cole as John “Johnny” Shelby (series 1–4), the third-youngest Shelby brother and a member of the Peaky Blinders.
Ned Dennehy as Charlie Strong, owner of a boatyard and an uncle figure to the Shelby siblings.
Benjamin Zephaniah as Jeremiah ‘Jimmy’ Jesus, a preacher, and friend of the Peaky Blinders.
David Dawson as Roberts (series 1), Billy Kimber’s accountant.
Andy Nyman (series 1), Richard McCabe (recurring series 2), and Neil Maskell (series 5–6) as Winston Churchill
Charlie Creed-Miles as Billy Kimber (series 1), a local kingpin and leader of The Birmingham Boys who runs the local races.
Tommy Flanagan as Arthur Shelby Sr. (series 1), the father of the Shelby siblings and Polly’s brother.
Lobo Chan as Mr. Zhang (series 1), a business owner in Chinatown.
Neil Bell (series 1) as Harry Fenton, a former landlord and owner of the Garrison pub.
Samuel Edward-Cook as Danny “Whizz-Bang” Owen (series 1), Tommy’s former comrade and a loyal member of the Peaky Blinders.
Tony Pitts as Sergeant/Inspector Moss (series 1–4), a police officer from Birmingham.
Kevin Metcalfe as Scudboat (series 1–2), a henchman of the Peaky Blinders.
Jeffrey Postlethwaite as Henry (series 1–2), a Peaky Blinders henchman.
Matthew Postlethwaite as Nipper (series 1–2), a Peaky Blinders henchman.

PRODUCTION

Development

Peaky Blinders was created by Steven Knight and produced by Katie Swinden. Screen Yorkshire provided funding for the production through the Yorkshire Content Fund, ensuring that the majority of the show was filmed in Yorkshire as part of the deal. Linguists were not hired in the production to assist in the show, leading to the Romani Gypsies in the earlier series frequently speaking broken Romanian (as opposed to Romani).