Peaky Blinders is returning to the small screen with a brand-new series, with filming reportedly set to begin this summer.
According to The Sun, the hugely popular BBC drama will jump ahead to the 1950s, following the events of the upcoming feature film The Immortal Man, which is set during the Second World War.
The last TV series ended in the 1930s, so the new episodes will pick up years later in a post-war Britain marked by the rise of Teddy Boy gangs and the looming presence of the Kray twins in London’s underworld.
A source told the publication: “The sixth series was meant to be the last and the film was supposed to end the story.
“But show boss Steven Knight couldn't resist coming back. He has been hinting for a while that he wanted to do more. Now the BBC has officially green-lit the project, and pre-production is under way, which will thrill fans.”
Filming is believed to begin in September, with a hoped-for broadcast date sometime next year on BBC One.
International audiences will be able to watch via Netflix, which is also backing the feature film.
The original series ran from 2013 to 2022, charting the dramatic rise of the Shelby family from post-First World War Birmingham through to the 1930s.
While casting details for the new series remain under wraps, Cillian Murphy, who reprises his iconic role as Tommy Shelby in The Immortal Man, is rumoured to return, this time possibly stepping into a more senior role as a mentor to a younger generation of gangsters, mirroring the matriarchal presence once held by the late Helen McCrory’s Polly Gray.
Elsewhere, the writer previously revealed that the film will see Thomas Shelby facing a new enemy, the Nazis, during the Second World War.
The film will take place in an era when Britain stood alone against Germany and Italy before the United States entered the war, placing Shelby in a precarious and dangerous position.
While the movie, which finished shooting in December, will bring a conclusion to a major chapter in the Peaky Blinders saga, Knight emphasised to The Standard that it will not be the end of the franchise.
“The film stands alone, but after the film, we’re going to be doing more stuff,” he confirmed. “A chapter is a good way of calling it - closing the chapter, not the book.”
