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Belfast Live
Entertainment
Peter McGoran

Peaky Blinders Season 6: The Belfast connections in explosive first episode of new series

Peaky Blinders is finally back on our screens after an agonising two-year wait, which left fans speculating about the fate of crime boss-turned-business man-turned-crime boss again Tommy Shelby.

The show, which has received critical acclaim since it first premiered in 2013, will come to a close following the conclusion of the sixth season.

In Sunday night's first episode, fans got a glimpse into the aftermath of Tommy's suicide attempt.

Read more: Peaky Blinders' new series leaves some viewers in the dark

The story also covered plenty of ground related to Belfast and Northern Ireland.

Here's a look at the Belfast connections from Season 6 Episode 1:

'Captain Swing'

Irish actress Charlene McKenna made a brief but impactful appearance in the fifth season of Peaky Blinders, playing the role of the mysterious IRA boss called simply "Captain Swing".

The character proved to a be a crucial one right from the get-go in season six.

In a phone call with Tommy Shelby at the start of the episode, Captain Swing reveals that the IRA were the ones who intervened during Shelby's failed attempt to kill the Oswald Mosley.

While it may seem bizarre that the IRA would have saved an English fascist leader, there has been speculation about the real-life historical context for this intervention.

Radio Times points to a Dublin Review article which says that, despite being a fascist, Mosley had envisioned partial independence for Ireland from Britain, meaning he may have found common cause with the IRA in the 1920s.

Either way, the IRA's intervention also resulted in the paramilitary group killing Tommy Shelby's close confidante Aunt "Polly" Gray (played by Helen McCrory, who passed away in 2021).

With both Tommy and Polly's son, Michael, planning their revenge over this murder, we're likely to hear more from Captain Swing and the Shelby gang's dealings with the IRA in the future.

Tommy has a Belfast connection for shipping opium

After his failed attempt at killing Mosley, Tommy Shelby has given up alcohol and found himself on an island off the coast of Canada.

It's revealed that he's been trying to start a transatlantic opium trade to fill the gap in the market for illicit substances following the end of prohibition in America.

Key to this operation are Belfast-based associates who have helped Tommy source "the finest opium in the world", which he plans to ship from Liverpool to Boston and introduce to the American market.

It's not yet clear who these associates are. Tommy Shelby has his fair share of Irish connections, as well as having had a his fair share of run-ins with paramilitaries and gangs on both sides of the divide in early 20th century Ireland/Northern Ireland.

One theory is that Tommy has forged a connection with Captain Swing and the Belfast-based IRA in the four years since they foiled his plan to kill Mosley. Despite them killing one of his closest confidantes, Aunt Polly, it's likely that Tommy's business-oriented mindset has kept him from seeking immediate revenge.

Johnny Dogs is set to have an interesting role in the future

While he wasn't seen in the first episode of the new series, Johnny Dogs (played by the incredible Belfast actor Packy Lee) appears to be set up for a crucial role in the next episode.

Towards the end of the first episode, Tommy Shelby got spooked and enraged when his wife Lizzie told him that their daughter Ruby had taken ill and was feverishly saying the Romani words "Tickna mora o'beng."

Perhaps fearing some sort of supernatural omen, Tommy instructed his wife to send their daughter to "Johnny Dogs and his wives" so that they could look after her.

Fans of the show will know that Johnny Dogs grew up in the north of Ireland and has a gypsy background. We're likely to see this come to the fore in the coming episodes.

Read more: 'Struggling' Northern Irish actor makes big break with short film set to be screened in Chicago

Read more: NOrthern Irish films: Nine gems you might've missed - and where to watch them

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