Peaky Blinders: release date confirmed for final series
Fans don't have long to wait for the final small screen chapter of the Shelby gang
By Nick Reilly
The final season of ‘Peaky Blinders’ will begin airing later this month, bringing an end to the fabled antics of Tommy Shelby and his gang on the small screen.
The Birmingham-set crime drama, which stars Cillian Murphy as gang boss Shelby, will air its final season from Sunday February 27, the show’s social media accounts confirmed.
They also shared a short time-lapse video which chronicled the creation of a Digbeth graffiti mural which depicted Tommy Shelby to highlight the announcement.
While the series marks the end of the Shelby family’s story on the small screen, show creator Stephen Knight previously confirmed that shooting for a film will begin in 2023.
A feature-length film will be the final instalment of the hugely popular show, with Knight promising that it will tie up any loose ends and bring the series to a close.
Full plot details for the final series are yet to emerge, but Murphy previously teased that fans will be treated to an “intense” experience.
He told Rolling Stone UK last year: “I think it’s going to be very intense. “The word we keep using is ‘gothic’. Yeah, it’s going to be heavy!”
The arrival of the show’s sixth and final season comes after one of the show’s main stars, Helen McCrory, passed away last year. The actress, who portrayed Aunt Polly, died from cancer. It was originally thought she would feature heavily in the final season.
The new series is also expected to see the return of Tom Hardy as Alfie Solomons, a major crime rival of Tommy Shelby.
Aside from the show, fans can also get their real-life Peaky fix in the form of an immersive experience and a ballet prequel based on the show, which are both scheduled to open later this year.
The first of those is ‘Peaky Blinders: The Rise’, an immersive experience staged at Camden’s The Vanguard Theatre in London, near the location of the TV show’s Solomons Yard, which begins in Summer 2022. Immersive Everywhere, the team behind previous immersive shows themed around ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’, will head up the production.
It’s set to be followed in the Autumn by Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby, which has been adapted for the stage by creator Steven Knight after he teamed up with the Rambert dance company.
Rambert’s artistic director Benoit Swan Pouffer says the “uplifting and inspiring” show will offer a fresh take on Tommy Shelby’s story in a post-World War One Birmingham.
The show is set to debut at Birmingham Hippodrome on September 27, with subsequent London dates at Wembley’s Troubadour Theatre expected to follow before a wider UK tour in 2023.