Britain is a mixture of despair and hedonism in 1919 in the aftermath of the so-called Great War. Returning soldiers, newly minted revolutions, and criminal gangs are fighting for survival in a nation rocked by economic upheaval. One of the most powerful gangs of the time is the Peaky Blinders, run by returning war hero Thomas Shelby and his family. But Thomas has bigger ambitions than just running the streets. When a crate of guns is missing, he recognizes an opportunity to advance in the world because crime may pay, but legitimate business pays better. Trying to rid Britain of its crime is Inspector Chester Campbell, who arrives from Belfast to try to achieve that goal.
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Bowie was apparently a genuine fan of the show and once sent Cillian Murphy a picture of himself wearing a cap with razor blades sewn into the peak. He also agreed to let a track from what turned out to be his final album feature in the series, but sadly passed away before he ever got to see it air.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' Red Right Hand is so tied to Peaky Blinders now that it's easy to forget it's been knocking around since 1994 and has turned up in a pile of other things, including The X-Files, Scream, Hellboy, and even the comedy Dumb and Dumber.
Steven Knight wrote Peaky Blinders not long after directing Jason Statham in the film Redemption, and reportedly wanted him for the show. Statham's schedule wouldn't allow it, which might have been for the best given how central a convincing Brummie accent is to the whole thing.
Cillian Murphy played Scarecrow and Tom Hardy played Bane in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, and both ended up leading rival factions in Peaky Blinders. Murphy even popped up briefly in The Dark Knight Rises alongside Hardy, so the overlap runs deeper than just the casting choice.
The recurring flames that seem to follow Tommy Shelby around aren't just moody set dressing. Season two director Colm McCarthy has confirmed it's meant to draw a straight line between Tommy's criminal path and where it's ultimately taking him, spiritually speaking.
Creator Steven Knight has said the whole idea grew out of something his father told him as a kid, about being handed a note as a nine-year-old and sent to deliver it to his uncles, the Sheldons, who eventually became the Shelbys of the show.
Producer Laurie Borg has been pretty blunt about the show's positioning, saying the goal was to be the total opposite of Downton Abbey, which he's called about as dull as television gets. Where Downton kept things clean and genteel, Peaky Blinders leaned hard into grit and violence instead.
To keep his own vision for the show intact, creator Steven Knight has said he deliberately avoids watching other prestige crime dramas like The Wire or Boardwalk Empire, worried that their storytelling choices might bleed into his own writing without him noticing.
Among the show's more unexpected famous fans is Snoop Dogg, who reportedly invited Steven Knight over for a three-hour conversation about how Peaky Blinders' portrayal of gang life reminded him of what first drew him to gang culture growing up in Long Beach.
Steven Knight has described Peaky Blinders as the story of a family caught between two wars, and he's said the whole saga is meant to close on Birmingham's first air raid siren of the Second World War, putting the intended end date at around June 1940.
