Written by Ben Murchison
Anytime someone asks me for a recommendation of a new show to watch, I smile and quickly make my pitch for Peaky Blinders. While the show may be set in Birmingham, England, there are plenty of Irish tie-ins within the cast and storylines – so with St. Patrick’s Day here and a fresh series (it’s what they call a season in the UK) of the show coming this Summer, the top five reasons (in no particular order) that you should binge watch and become a part of the Peaky (expletive) Blinders are the music, the stellar cast, it’s beautifully shot, it’s well written and it has a future.
1. The Music
One of the interesting things that the show does is use an eclectic soundtrack to drive its transitions and the more cinematic moments. While it is set in the Roaring Twenties and feature some music of the time, it’s the sound of bands like the Arctic Monkeys, The White Stripes, Radiohead and even Johnny Cash that are more prominently featured. This may be startling for some the first time they hear it, but it absolutely fits the show’s unique and sometimes abrasive tone.
The show starts with the always powerful “Red Right Hand” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, as Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) rides a horse through the streets of Birmingham, and it continues to feature various covers and interpretations of the theme throughout the show. It was a perfect selection from Music Supervisor Amelia Hartley, and she seemingly never misses whether she needs high energy, a love ballad, or something for a sobering or somber moment.
Fans of the show stretch far and wide, including some of the biggest names in music from Snoop Dogg to the late David Bowie. In fact, Bowie was so enamored with the show that he gave permission for his track Lazarus to be used in Series Four, and it was posthumously. The hardest thing for showrunners moving forward is simply telling bands no.
2. Stellar Cast
Even with good shows you can sometimes be taken out of it by a poor performance, but with the cast of Peaky Blinders, you get their absolute best. They are able to convey a nonchalant level of arrogance that you can only aspire to, but also bring the intensity, heartbreak and moments that just make you sit back in appreciation. Cillian Murphy as Tommy could carry things on his own if he had to, just in the way you can see his mind working while smoking a cigarette, but thankfully the rest of the cast more than carries their weight.
Some of the most impactful moments come from Helen McCrory who plays the matriarch of the family, Aunt Polly, and has to act out some extremely heavy moments with a blend of strength and grief. Paul Anderson as the eldest brother, Arthur, has to walk a thin line, playing someone who is fiercely loyal to a fault and a man of violence that can flip a switch and border on complete insanity. His ability to make you feel sorry for him despite some of the horrific things that he does is a testament to his abilities.
Real life brothers Joe and Finn Cole play John and Michael, and together they round out the male portion of the family’s inner circle. Each of them perfectly fulfills their roles. John is hardened from the war, but still very much the younger brother trying to come into his own, and Michael begins as an innocent outsider that continues to transition into the heir apparent to Tommy. The final major player in the inner Shelby circle is their sister, Ada, played by Sophie Rundle. She might be one of the most fun to watch! She takes absolutely no grief from her brothers, or anyone else for that matter, and flexes the power in her last name first before letting her own opinions and ideas serve her further.
Other core recurring characters are all given their moment in the sun, and nobody disappoints.
Sam Neill, Natasha O’Keeffe, Annabelle Wallis, Adrien Brody, Alexander Siddig, Noah Taylor, Aidan Gillen and Paddy Considine are just a few of the incredibly talented actors and actresses you may know that lend their talents to Peaky Blinders. It’s easy to see why other recognizable names like Sam Claflin and Anya Taylor-Joy are eager to join the upcoming series, and, if Adrien Brody’s turn as Italian gangster, Luca Changretta, in Series Four is any indication of how newcomers can enhance a show, it is only getting better because he took character acting to another level.
2a. Tom Hardy
In regards to reaching another level, watching Tom Hardy as Jewish gangster Alflie Solomons would be enough to get invested in this show by itself, so rather than just lump him in as a part of the incredible cast, you can consider him in a sub-category all his own. He is given some of the best dialogue that you never knew you needed to hear, and he delivers it as only he can. To simply say that his character is eccentric is a tremendous understatement, and while he may not appear in the large majority of episodes, when he does grace the screen, you just have to brace yourself for what is about to happen and laugh.
While it is a good idea to watch the entire show with subtitles to ensure you keep up with the thick accents, you definitely want to have them on anytime Alfie is speaking. While he mumbles through a lot of his dialogue, you don’t want to miss a single word. He isn’t trustworthy, he sometimes speaks in riddles, and he is utterly disrespectful, but you absolutely love the man.
3. It’s Beautifully Shot
Each series features the unique touch of a new director and cinematographer, but what remains constant is the authentic look and feel of what the time must have been like in Birmingham and the area surrounding of Small Heath as it recovered from the first World War. The iron and steel industry keep the backgrounds lit with smoke, sparks and flashes of fire. The factories, homes and landscapes dip your toes in the era, but the props, cars, weapons and especially the costumes leave you fully submerged. To put things plainly, everything just looks damn cool, and while you may not want to truthfully endure the lifestyle, or go quite as high and tight as their trademark haircuts, you may find yourself wanting to have a whiskey and smoke at the Garrison pub.
Outside of just sets and wardrobes, meticulous measures go into lighting the shots, and they use whatever elements are available to enhance filming whether that be the sun, rain or fog. Close-ups of the actors often quietly show various emotions that they want to convey. This is especially done with Murphy’s blue eyes that seemingly could have made him famous even without his stellar acting talents. They also have a talent for blending longer shots with fast cutting, and have perfected a slow- motion walk that would make any super hero group jealous. Flashbacks are done artistically and grainer to distinguish them, and creative camera angles keep things fresh. Again, it is all too stylish and cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjtF4w9QRCQ
4. It’s Well-Written
Creator Steven Knight has a special tie to the show – it was inspired by his own family’s direct involvement with the real Peaky Blinders of the era. While the Shelby family and their rise to power is fictional, the Peaky Blinders were a real gang in Birmingham, and Knight does a terrific job weaving them in amongst real events, rivals, and political climate of the time. The bond and admiration between the men who fought in France is felt throughout. The Irish Republican Army, Italians, Russians, the Red Army invasion of Georgia, Communism, Fascism, Feminism, all sorts of isms play a major role and the Shelby’s are at the center of it all thanks to Tommy’s grand ambition. You feel fully immersed in it all.
Rarely does Tommy do something purely out of passion rather than calculation and clear intent. He picks his fights with purpose, and, even when it looks as if he might be in over his head, he finds a way to spin things in his favor. That spinning may require uneasy alliances, double-crossing, and keeping his family in the dark, but Knight is able to make you feel like you are a part of this family and are in on all their secrets and inside jokes.
You have to appreciate it when a writer respects your intelligence and doesn’t feel the need to hold your hand through the plot points. You are able to uncover details as the characters do on screen and, if you re-watch episodes, it’s really neat to see how it was all set up much earlier. The attention to detail in the writing extends to all members of the cast, as each character is fleshed out with their own traits – and the research and attention doesn’t stop there! Knight took time in nailing not only all of the history that was unfolding at the time, but also deeply engrain the gypsy culture that the Shelby and Lee clans share. It is especially fascinating to listen to them speak in and follow unfamiliar customs.
What should be appreciated most is how perfectly each series plays into the next. Actions have consequences and those play out to completion as the show moves on. Cleverly, there are seemingly throw away lines that hold meaning upon a second viewing, and characters spoken about in passing that may turn prominent later on. In the same way, unless someone is killed off, they are never entirely gone from the story and even then, their presence remains.
5. It Has a Future
The best news for anyone just getting wrapped up in Peaky Blinders is that Knight has spoken several times about his plans to continue the show beyond its upcoming series. The intention is to complete seven series and a potential film, all of which will span how the Shelby family spends their time between World War I and World War 2. He said, “My ambition is to make it a story of a family between two wars, so always I’ve wanted to end it with the first air raid siren in Birmingham in 1939.” When a writer knows the creative track that they want to follow and exactly when they want to conclude, a quality can remain in the writing from not having the burden of developing endless storylines that sometimes cause a show to jump the shark.
A six-hour series to be filmed every year or two is not an overly daunting commitment for a cast to undertake, and so you can continue to get your key players together while still allowing them to pursue other projects. This means that you don’t typically see people leave the show for logistical reasons but only to advance the story. While you don’t want something as quality as this to end, at least you know it will still be at the top of its game when it goes and you won’t be surprised when it does.
