For nearly a decade, Peaky Blinders has captivated audiences with its dramatic (and, yes, violent) scenes and 20th century style. The show, which premiered in 2013, follows Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) and his ruthless gang as they navigate England during the period of time between the world wars. Making the award-winning series came with its challenges. How did producers compete with other hit period dramas at the time, like Downton Abbey? What did the show’s star think of his iconic haircut? Read on for all kinds of juicy, behind-the-scenes secrets—and don’t forget to watch the sixth and final season on Netflix right now.
1.Cillian Murphy smoked thousands of cigarettes every season.
Smoking is a big part of most scenes, and all of the cigarettes were real. “I asked the prop guys to count how many we use during a series and it’s 3,000,” Murphy told BirminghamLive.
2.The cigarettes were herbal.
In an effort to be as safe as possible, Murphy and the rest of the cast reportedly opted for herbal cigarettes, which don’t contain tobacco or nicotine, so they aren’t addictive.
3.The creator is also behind a popular game show.
Before Steven Knight was known for Peaky Blinders, he co-created Who Wants to be a Millionaire? “The original idea was you could win an unlimited amount of money, you could just go on forever, but the questions would become increasingly impossible so you’d reach a point where… But no-one would insure that just in case so we had to think of a limit, so we thought, well, a million, why not?” he told BBC Sounds’ The Media Show.
4.Some storylines are based on true events.
Steven Knight’s distant relatives were gangsters that ran Birmingham years ago. “One of the stories that really made me want to write Peaky Blinders is one my dad told me: he said that when he was eight or nine his dad gave him a message on a piece of paper and said ‘go and deliver this to your uncles.’ His uncles were the Sheldons, who eventually became the Shelbys,” he told History Extra.
5.The “Peaky Cut” was inspired by a style from back in the day.
The look is called an “undercut,” and was wildly popular in the early 20th century—especially among English street gangs and criminals.
6.Cillian Murphy isn’t a fan of the cut.
“People like the undercut thing; people go to the barber and ask for a ‘Peaky cut’. It’s crazy that people like it,” the actor told Shortlist in 2017. “It’s not grown on me in four years now. I normally keep my hair long.”
7.The cast often stayed in character between takes.
“It is not fun. It’s full on,” former star Alexander Siddig told NME about being on set. “You walk into a room and there’s a bunch of them sitting around a table all singing Peaky Blinders songs and you’re like, ‘Excuse me, wrong door’. They have a pack mentality and they hang out together, they’re fierce.”
8.Jason Statham was almost cast as Tommy Shelby.
The Fast & Furious star was showrunner Steven Knight’s first choice. It was only after Cillian Murphy texted him, “Remember, I’m an actor,” that he landed the part. The bold move convinced Knight that while he wasn’t physically what he had in mind for the role, he could “transform himself” once the scripts were written.
9.Helen McCrory’s accent was inspired by Ozzy Osbourne.
The late actress revealed she watched “endless” clips of the Black Sabbath singer to learn the Birmingham dialect. “My character’s obviously Ozzy in a skirt,” she once joked to The Daily Mail.David M. Benett//Getty Images
10.Liam Neeson helped Sam Neill with his accent.
Nailing the perfect Belfast accent wasn’t easy for New Zealand native Sam Neill. To complete his transformation into Inspector Campbell, the actor turned to friend Liam Neeson.
11.The show was inspired by old Westerns.
Show creator and head writer Steven Knight wanted to showcase working-class people, rather than royalty and nobility—something that’s rare in British period pieces. That’s why he turned to Westerns for inspiration.
12.It’s considered the anti-‘Downton Abbey.’
Producer Laurie Borg did not hold back on his thoughts on the rival period drama. “What we’ve tried to do is the complete opposite of Downton,” he joked to Digital Spy. “Which I think is brilliant for many reasons… but for me is probably the dullest television.”
13.Episodes weren’t filmed in chronological order.
Shooting out of order sometimes proved to be confusing for the actors. “We could be doing episode four in the morning and the finale in the afternoon,” Cilliam Murphy told BirminghamLive. Because of this, he started having the director write up cheat sheets for him to hang up in his trailer.
14.The use of fire is intentional.
It’s not a coincidence that flames seemingly follow Tommy Shelby everywhere he goes. In season 1, he was even referred to as a devil. As director Colm McCarthy explained to Den of Geek: “There’s definitely a sense of hell. That’s very deliberate.”
15.Cillian Murphy said playing Tommy Shelby left him “destroyed.”
Acting out such difficult material and intense violence isn’t easy, and leaves the lead drained by the end of filming a season. “The nature of the character is immersive. It’s an incredibly exhausting character to play. You have to leave reality behind for four months,” he told BirminghamLive. “I always come out of it destroyed but having felt like we have made something.”
16.Most scenes were filmed in Liverpool.
Even though the entire show focuses on Birmingham, very little filming actually happened there. The cast and crew visited towns all over the U.K., but most scenes were shot in Liverpool and the surrounding Merseyside area.
’17.Peaky Blinders’ used the same horse trainers as ‘Game of Thrones.’
The horse professionals, called The Devil’s Horsemen, are known throughout the film industry for training animals to do stunts.
18.Two of the stars are related.
That’s right—John Shelby and Michael Gray are more than just cousins on TV. The actors, Joe Cole and Finn Cole, are brothers. Joe left the show in season 4, but he still gets the scoop from his brother. “Finn does give me little tidbits. But I prefer just to watch it as a spectator now,” he told Digital Spy.
19.And another two are married.
Alfie Solomons and May Carleton are a couple in real life. Actors Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley first met on the set of Wuthering Heights in 2009, and got married five years later.
20.Jack Rowan has real boxing experience.
Playing Bonnie Gold came naturally to the actor, who grew up boxing competitively. “It kept me from going down other paths,” he told i-D. “It gave me a place to dream.”
21.The Peaky Blinders are named after their hats.
In the early 1900s, gangs would wear flat, peaked caps that they could see under—rather than the larger-brimmed ones that were common for gentlemen at the time.
22.The term “blinders” is debated amongst historians.
Some experts argue that the term was meant to symbolize gang members “blinding” people with razorblades hidden in their caps. Others say razorblades were too expensive during the era, and they used metal-tipped boots, belt buckles, and knives instead. “Blinders” was also slang at the time for a stylish person, and may have alluded to the gang’s famously rigorous standards of dress.
23.Tommy Shelby is never seen eating.
Sure, he’s sat down for mealtime. But besides the two times he tasted blackroot, the character has never eaten on-screen.
24.But he is often seen drinking.
Nobody loves a good glass of whiskey like Tommy Shelby. The character is seen drinking over 200 times in the series.
25.There’s a ‘Peaky Blinders’ virtual reality game.
Want to see what it’s like to be part of the Shelby family? Here’s your chance. Cillian Murphy and Paul Anderson reprised their roles for the upcoming Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom game, which lets players come face-to-face with their favorite characters.
26.Tommy Flanagan isn’t old enough to be Paul Anderson’s father.
Despite playing father and son, there’s only a 13-year age difference between the actors.
27.David Bowie loved the show.
One year before his passing, Bowie sent Cillian Murphy a photo of himself with razorblades in his cap. He also played his final album, Blackstar, for Steven Knight before the public even knew about it—and gave him permission to use his music in the show.
28.Snoop Dogg is another famous fan.
While in London, the rapper had his agent set up a meeting with Steven Knight. What transpired was a three-hour chat about the show. “He’s talking about how the show reminds him of how he got into gang culture. It’s incredible,” Knight told The Independent. “It was surreal. We’ve kept in touch.”
29.There is a rule about violence.
Producers make an effort not to glamorize violence on the show. They followed a rule that “any act of violence has [to have] a consequence in terms of the story.” Meaning you’ll never see a gunshot or anything of the like just to create buzz—only if it contributes to the plot in some way.
30.The cast has two ‘Batman’ villains.
Fans might recognize Cillian Murphy as the Scarecrow in Batman Begins, while Tom Hardy terrified audiences as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.
31.The show’s theme song has been used in other famous works.
If “Red Right Hand” by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds sounds familiar, that’s because it’s been featured in a number of other properties including The X Files, Hellboy, Scream, and Dumb and Dumber.
32.The costumes reflect the characters’ social status.
The Shelby brothers are mostly spotted wearing “heavier, wool suits with single cuffs and detachable collars.” This shows that they live in the middle, between the upper class and lower class.
33.The original ending was different from the real one.
Without giving away any spoilers, Steven Knight changed the idea he had in mind for years about how the series would end. He planned to conclude with Birmingham’s first air raid siren of World War II, but things didn’t exactly go that way. “The ending is the one thing where you have to actually really really really concentrate rationally because there’s no way out after that,” he told Deadline.
35.A spinoff movie has been confirmed.
When you’re done watching the sixth and final season, don’t worry—there’s still more Peaky Blinders coming your way. A movie with Tommy Shelby at the center is already in the works. Steven Knight hinted that it will also feature more of Duke Shelby, and introduce “a new generation” of the gang.
35.A reboot isn’t off the table just yet.
As if the movie wasn’t exciting enough, Steven Knight hinted that a reboot or spin-off could possibly happen down the line. “I like the idea of wartime, or post-war Britain, cause it’s a very different landscape and I think it would be great to explore that. It brings a whole new look, and people dress differently and act differently so it will be interesting,” he told Deadline.
