Cillian Murphy – the man behind Thomas Shelby, OBE – has revealed we’re in for quite a stirring finale to conclude Peaky Blinders season 6, and by extension, the entire BBC series. Which certainly bodes well for fans. After all, if this is indeed the swan song, it better be a memorable one.
“Very big themes and big emotions,” Murphy tells Men’s Health.
“It feels like a climax of something.”
“There is so much good in [Thomas Shelby], but then there’s also this conflict and this violence and this trauma.”
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Cillian Murphy later touched upon the recent passing of his Peaky Blinders co-star, Helen McCrory – who portrayed Polly Gray / Shelby, family matriarch – in the very same interview. Murphy had in fact been off set the day he, along with everyone else, learned McCrory lost her battle with cancer.
“We’re all still deeply, deeply saddened… I’m deeply saddened and still trying to get over it. It’s hard to think of the series without her. She was so much a part of that. And always my favourite storylines were the Poly/Tommy storylines.”
Cillian Murphy says Peaky Blinders season 6 will be dedicated to Helen McCrory.
Earlier this year, reports confirmed the show’s sixth instalment would be its very last, by order of the BBC, despite earlier coverage indicating season 7 was pretty much a done deal. Creator/head writer Steven Knight, however, has promised Peaky Blinders will “continue in another form” – potentially in a feature-length film (which was also alluded to during earlier coverage), or even a spin-off series.
“My ambition is to make it a story of a family between two wars,” Knight told the press after winning a BAFTA for Best Drama Series in 2018.
“So I’ve wanted to end it with the first air raid siren in Birmingham in 1939. It’ll take three more series to reach that point.”
“In my mind, this story is the story between two wars. The end of the chapter of these people’s lives and this society is when the Second World War begins. Because it all changes after that, after the demolitions and the council estates, it’s a different world.”
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The pandemic-induced delay has only served to heighten general anticipation. As noted by both series director Anthony Byrne and Cillian Murphy, Peaky Blinders season 6 has been ready to go for some time now, with scripts drafted, sets and costumes assembled, locations booked, cameras + lenses tested, etc.
“We will be back as soon as we can, I promise,” says the leading man.
“Causing chaos and knocking heads, as usual.”
Emmett J. Scanlan – who portrays Billy Grade – has publicly described the scripts as being “so fucking good”; while Knight teased that Peaky Blinders will be back “with a bang” to deliver the “best series of all”.
At this stage, Peaky Blinders season 6 / series 6 is expected to hit the airways and streaming queues sometime in early-to-mid 2022.
