Filming starts very soon. Yes!
With news that Peaky Blinders will continue for an extra season, fans of the superb drama must feel like they’re drunk in The Garrison because the good news didn’t stop there.
Steven Knight, the show’s creator, also said that he’s very interested in developing a film adaptation and a musical.
Before we look too far ahead, there’s the small issue of Season 5 to deal with and after Irishman Anthony Byrne was announced as the director, we’re starting to get a few more snippets of information about the plot for the new season.
Ok, spoiler alert.
In an interview with the Birmingham Mail, Steven Knight revealed that the new season will start shooting this autumn and that the plot will be set in the 1930s.
“We are going into the 30s now. There is so much stuff happening, so why not finish the job? The depression and the rise of fascism form part of the storyline. It is setting those things up. In the 30s across Europe and Britain there was the rise of fascism,” he said.
Aside from this, it’s also possible to form a bigger picture of the plot when you combine Knight’s quotes with a previous interview that Paul Anderson (Arthur) gave to The Metro,
Aside from Luca’s demise, the epic shootout between Tommy and Alfie and the massive twist involving Arthur, there was one thing about the Season 4 finale that really stood out, Tommy’s decision to become a Labour MP for Birmingham South.
With regards to the plot for Season 5, Anderson has said that Tommy’s new political power will see his criminal empire and influence expanding.
In an interview with The Metro, he said that Tommy’s new political position as a Labour MP ‘gives Arthur and his family more power. Tommy is in a position of power, and he can only get stronger in that position. So we’ll all have more cover, we’ll have more opportunity and more protection. And by protection, I mean by society and the police and so on. We’ll be able to get away with things under the guise of, “we’re politicians, we’re respectable”. But we’ll be able to manipulate things more. Arthur will be even more Arthur. So it will be a lot of fun.”
The rise of fascism is an incredibly interesting plotline though because as fans of the show will remember, Tommy’s communist sympathies were revealed last season by Jessie Eden. Aside from this, we’re intrigued by Knight’s comments which mention the rise of fascism ‘across Europe and Britain.’
The common perception was that the story of Peaky Blinders would expand into the U.S. – Tommy’s business dealings with Capone being the main factor – but perhaps we’re about to go in a whole different direction.
Also, as a businessman, it’s likely that Tommy Shelby will come under extra pressure as the depression kicks in.
Season 5 of Peaky Blinders is due for air on BBC Two in 2019.
