Express & Star

By order of the Peaky Blinders: Season five release date confirmed with new image of Tommy Shelby

It's the moment Peaky Blinders fans have been waiting for - the release date of season five of the hit BBC drama.

Published
Last updated
Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders (Robert Viglasky/Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd)

And now, that air date has been revealed alongside a brand new picture of Tommy Shelby.

The image was released as it was confirmed that the Birmingham-set drama will be back on BBC One at 9pm on August 25.

The dramatic picture shows the gangster-turned-MP, played by Cillian Murphy, siting at a table with his head in his hand.

In front of him sits a gun and a single bullet.

The BBC previously shared a new 60-second trailer previewing series five - which also celebrated its premiere in Birmingham earlier this month.

Tommy Shelby and his family are thrown into chaos as they battle to survive amid the financial crash of 1929.

Now taking up his seat in parliament, Tommy, played by Cillian Murphy, is teetering between opportunity and misfortune.

Shelby will meet a charismatic politician with a bold vision for Britain - with rumours suggesting that will be Oswald Mosley MP, a notorious real-life figure who led the British Union of Fascists from the early 1930s.

Season five will delve into Tommy's political world amid the growth of fascism in Birmingham, Britain and beyond.

Writer Steven Knight told reporters: “The story of the Peaky Blinders and of the Shelby family gets woven into the political fabric of Britain and Europe as the 1920s end and the thirties begin.

"Tommy Shelby faces the darkest force he has ever faced and his struggle is as relevant today as it was then."

At a screening in London, he added: “The things that were happening in the time that we’re setting the series have an unbelievable resonance to what’s going on now.”

Series four ended with Tommy striking a deal with the authorities to infiltrate the communist movement as a Labour MP.

The cast of Peaky Blinders at the series five premiere at Birmingham Town Hall

Also returning to the series are regular cast members Helen McCrory, Sophie Rundle, Finn Cole and Packy Lee.

The cast returned to the Black Country Living Museum, in Dudley, last year to film scenes for the latest season.

Last week it was also revealed that a Peaky Blinders festival will be coming to Birmingham with live music from the likes of Primal Scream and Anna Calvi.

Called the Legitimate Peaky Blinders Festival, the event will celebrate the popular drama series across two days in Birmingham's Digbeth area in September.

Some 20,000 fans are expected to attend each day of the festival, which has been co-curated by the show's creator Steven Knight and will include appearances from cast members.

Rockers Primal Scream and Mercury-nominated artist Anna Calvi, who created the score for the new series, have been confirmed as headliners, and there will also be performances from the likes of Nadine Shah and Slaves as well as a BBC Introducing Stage.

Live recreations of scenes from the gangster period drama involving 200 actors will be shown, as well as fashion shows and displays of men's grooming inspired by the series.

The festival will also include a cinema, a museum, food and drink offerings and poetry, among other activities and sights.

Paul Anderson and Cillian Murphy filming scenes for series five of Peaky Blinders at the Black Country Living Museum

In addition, Knight will take part in a Q&A session along with special guests, and David Beckham's fashion brand Kent and Curwen will showcase its official Peaky Blinders collaboration.

Knight said: "It is with enormous pleasure that I announce the first ever Legitimate Peaky Blinders Festival, which is happening in the streets and alleys of Digbeth, Birmingham, on Saturday September 14 and Sunday September 15.

"It will be a festival of live music, performance, poetry, immersive theatre and experiences which will celebrate the swagger of the men and women who walked these same Digbeth streets 100 years ago.

"Along with the music line-up, we have the world-famous ballet Rambert performing a specially written and choreographed Peaky Blinders ballet. There will be fashion shows, street food, pop ups and bars including a re-imagined Garrison Tavern."

Knight told fans to "expect the unexpected", adding: "Expect 1919 to come crashing into 2019 and, be assured, everything is officially by order of the Peaky Blinders."