Peaky Blinders to return with two new series focusing on a ‘new generation’

Peaky Blinders is to return with two new series focusing on a “new generation of Shelbys”, the BBC has announced.

It comes after the Peaky Blinders film, starring Irish actors Barry Keoghan and Cillian Murphy, wrapped filming in December last year.

The sequel series will pick up after the events of the forthcoming feature film and is to be filmed at Digbeth Loc Studios in Birmingham.

Oscar-winning actor Murphy, 49, will return to executive produce but it has not been revealed if he will reprise his role as Tommy Shelby.

The BBC show, which first aired in 2013, depicted the lives of the notorious Shelby family, a gang rising to prominence in post-First World War Birmingham.

The sixth series, which was broadcast in 2022, was billed as the final series, but creator Steven Knight teased in 2024 that the new film “won’t be the end”.

The new episodes will once again be set in Birmingham, with events taking place in 1953, when the city is building a future out of concrete and steel after the Second World War.

Creator and writer Knight, 66, said: “I’m thrilled to be announcing this new chapter in the Peaky Blinders story.

“Once again it will be rooted in Birmingham and will tell the story of a city rising from the ashes of the Birmingham blitz.

“The new generation of Shelbys have taken the wheel and it will be a hell of a ride.”

When the original series came to an end in 2022 after nine years, Tommy Shelby appeared to put his criminal past behind him.

The series tackled the rise of fascism, Irish republican politics and communist activities throughout the period after the First World War – along with Tommy’s ambitions in politics.

The film, which is thought to be titled The Immortal Man, is set following the events of the sixth season and will follow the family into the Second World War.

Ahead of the show’s sixth season in 2022, a striking 12.71m (41.7ft) high mural of the series’ gang leader Tommy was painted on the side of a building overlooking the Old Crown pub in Digbeth.

Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, said the show “made a huge impact when it first came to our screens 12 years ago” and added: “I can’t wait for his scripts to be brought to life when filming begins in Birmingham.”

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Peaky Blinders is a worldwide phenomenon that’s boosted our tourism and global reach.

“We’re proud to be working with the team bringing the production back to the Shelbys’ home of Birmingham and job opportunities will follow for local people to become part of this story.

“It’s this sort of backing from some of the biggest names in entertainment that will turn the West Midlands into the creative capital of the UK.”

The series, both with six episodes each, will air on BBC One in the UK and will be released on Netflix globally.