“Peaky Blinders” in season 5 (Image: Screengrab from YouTube/BBC)
Award-winning British television series “Peaky Blinders” will finally conclude with season 6, which will be capped off by a full-length film.
Creator-writer Steven Knight announced that the notorious Birmingham gangster family “is back with a bang” as filming resumes in the United Kingdom amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“After the enforced production delay due to the Covid pandemic, we find the family in extreme jeopardy and the stakes have never been higher,” showrunners said in a statement on Jan. 18.
“Peaky Blinders,” which started in 2013, tells the story of Tommy Shelby, played by the award-winning Cillian Murphy, as he leads his gangster family, the Peaky Blinders, to move up in the world from the lawless streets of Birmingham post World War I.
“We believe this will be the best series of all and are sure that our amazing fans will love it. While the TV series will be coming to an end, the story will continue in another form,” the statement read.
Clarifying to fans what this “another form” is, Knight told Deadline in an interview yesterday, Jan. 19, that the period gangster epic will indeed end with a movie.
“COVID changed our plans. But I can say that my plan from the beginning was to end Peaky with a movie. That is what is going to happen,” he was quoted as saying.
The BAFTA-winning show’s sixth season is written by Knight and is being directed by Anthony Byrne, who also helmed season 5, and is being produced by Nick Goding.
“We are very excited that filming for Peaky Blinders has begun and so grateful to everyone for all their hard work to make it happen. Steve’s scripts for series six are truly remarkable and provide a fitting send-off which we are sure will delight fans,” executive producer for the BBC Tommy Bulfin said in the statement.
Amid the threat of COVID-19, showrunners assured fans that the “production team have developed comprehensive production protocols to ensure that the series will be produced in a safe and responsible manner, and in accordance with government guidelines, during this time of global pandemic.” /ra
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