For 13 years, Peaky Blinders has been quietly building a massive fandom. It’s one of the best shows you’ve probably never seen. As Proma Khosla noted in her Mashable article, “Everyone I’ve ever talked to about the BBC period drama has either never even heard the name, or is obsessed with it.”
Even the creator of the show, Steven Knight, is astonished at the “Peaky Blinders” fandom. When Knight visited our Say More studio to speak with Executive Producer Mark Stetson about the new film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, he told stories of rap stars Snoop Dogg and A$AP Rocky demanding to meet him to share their love for the show. His meeting with A$AP Rocky led to a memorable Christmas dinner at Knight’s house.
Bringing an epic and beloved story like Peaky Blinders to a close had to honor the characters and the loyal audience. Luckily, Knight knew from the very beginning how this story would end: “I always wanted to finish this part of the ‘Peaky’ story with a film in the Second World War.” He envisioned the story spanning from post-World War 1 to World War 2 to highlight the impact on the often forgotten working class in England.
Tommy Shelby (played by Cillian Murphy) is the head of the Peaky Blinders, a pivotal character known for his distinctive style. In Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, we find him separated from the family and life he once knew. In the conversation with Stetson, Murphy, Knight, and co-star Barry Keoghan discuss the exciting moment in the film where Tommy dons his legendary suit and reclaims the role of a hero from the first six seasons.
“He’s like Batman,” Knight exclaimed.
“Even I was cheering, and you were coming to get me,” said Keoghan.
Murphy explains finding the right moment to get Tommy back into his Peaky Blinders kit: “It’s like drawing back the bow, and how long do you keep it taut before you let it go? And then when we let it off, the audience loved it.”
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man will stream on Netflix starting March 20.