A Peaky Blinders movie? Best of luck to the Shelby boys...
We’re getting a Peaky Blinders movie. Before any of you start to worry about what this might mean for one of the noisiest, most popular gangster dramas on the box, there are two things you should know. One: A Peaky film was always part of the plan. Two: We still have another season to go before Tommy Shelby and his family begin to make their way to the picture house. Speaking to Deadline, PB creator, Steven Knight, confirmed that the sixth season (which finally commenced production this week) would, indeed, be the last. “Covid changed our plans,” he explained. “But I can say that my plan from the beginning was to end Peaky with a movie. That is what is going to happen.”
Is this a good idea or a terrible one? Well, if TV history has taught us one thing, it’s that far too many well-loved television shows have struggled to make a successful transition to the big screen. You can have the same cast, the same characters, the same creative team and a bigger budget, but it doesn’t always work out for the best. Take this lot, for instance…
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016)
Landing in cinemas almost a quarter of a century after the acclaimed BBC sitcom first introduced the world to drunken PR agent, Edina (Jennifer Saunders) and her fashion editor bestie, Patsy (Joanna Lumley), it’s not entirely unfair to suggest that an Ab Fab movie was always going to slip on a banana skin. The moment had passed. There was nothing the show hadn’t already covered. True, the film does concern a plot in which the girls are accused of killing Kate Moss at a showbiz party, but believe us when we tell you that it isn’t nearly as funny as it sounds. Good intentions, tiresome followthrough.
The Inbetweeners Movie (2011) / The Inbetweeners 2 (2014)
Oh dear. Grossing a combined total of €125m at the box-office, The Inbetweeners Movies (which featured the original cast from the E4 sitcom) are probably up there as the most commercially successful film adaptations of a popular TV show. Shame about the material. Basically, the lads go on holidays, twice — to Malia in the first one, and Australia in the second. That’s it. That’s all we’ve got. It doesn’t work.
David Brent: Life on the Road (2016)
A Ricky Gervais one-man Office reunion. It’s sadder than it sounds.
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013)
It’s not terrible, you know. Everyone’s favourite radio personality makes his big-screen debut with a wobbly action comedy in which an angry Irish DJ (Colm Meaney) holds his North Norfolk Digital workmates hostage after he gets the sack. It’s up to Partridge (Steve Coogan) to discover his inner John McClane and save the day. Ninety minutes is too much Partridge. But there are a few laughs...
Sex and the City (2008) / Sex and the City 2 (2010)
The first film is almost as long as Ben-Hur. The second does things that nobody with eyes and ears should ever have to endure. Jaypers tonight, it was like being on holidays with a gang of Karens. An unfortunate stain on the beloved franchise — and one which Sarah Jessica Parker and two of her buddies hope to erase with a forthcoming TV revival — the SATC films are proof that bigger budgets and bigger running times mean nothing if there is no story to tell.
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE (2007)
The first 20 minutes are terrific. Coincidentally, that’s roughly the same time it takes to watch a single episode of the TV show. See? These things aren’t supposed to be stretched and bloated. They’re sitcoms. They’re meant to be sharp, short and funny. Leave ‘em alone.
Star Trek (The Original Series Films, 1979–1991)
A rare exception, Gene Roddenberry’s sci-fi series found a new lease of life on the big screen almost a decade after the TV show was cancelled. Why? Because the series boasted something of a cinematic quality. It always felt rushed and far too episodic on the small screen. It belonged at the movies, basically.