Interwar · Series · 2013–2022
Peaky Blinders
Home from the trenches, Tommy Shelby turns his family's Birmingham street gang into a business empire, from racecourse rackets to Parliament and the dark politics of the 1930s.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 7 places.
Stop 1: Small Heath, Birmingham
Key location
Back from France, Thomas Shelby runs the family's betting shop and gang from the smoky streets of Small Heath.
Stop 2: Worcester Racecourse
Tommy's plan to take over Billy Kimber's betting pitches comes to a head on race day.
Stop 3: Camden Town, London
Expanding to London, the Shelbys collide with Sabini's Italian gang and strike a risky deal with Alfie Solomons in Camden Town.
Stop 4: Epsom Downs Racecourse
Derby Day brings a high-stakes gamble in which Tommy has bet everything, including his life.
Stop 5: Palace of Westminster, London
Now a Member of Parliament, Tommy tries to turn the Wall Street Crash and Westminster politics to his advantage.
Stop 6: Bingley Hall, Birmingham
A rally for Oswald Mosley in Birmingham becomes the stage for a plan that can go terribly wrong.
Stop 7: Miquelon Island
As American Prohibition ends, Tommy travels to a remote French island off Canada to secure his place in the liquor trade.
What really happened
The Peaky Blinders were real Birmingham street gangs of the late nineteenth century, largely gone by the time the series begins in 1919. Steven Knight moves them into the interwar years and mixes invented characters with real figures such as the racecourse gangsters Billy Kimber and Darby Sabini, whose Birmingham and London mobs fought for control of on-course betting in the racecourse wars of 1921-1922.
Later seasons follow the shell shock of veterans, the General Strike of 1926, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the rise of Oswald Mosley, a Labour MP who founded the British Union of Fascists in 1932. The series takes liberties with chronology, for example showing Churchill as Home Secretary in 1919 and Mosley as a fascist leader in 1929.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- Peaky Blinders
- Created by
- Steven Knight
- Countries
- United Kingdom
- Languages
- English
- Seasons
- 6 seasons
- Released
- 2013–2022
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe, The Americas
- Themes
- Home front
- Politics
