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Get ready Peaky Blinders fans, the fifth series is finally here, and there’s plenty of drama, violence and intrigue in store. GEORGIA HUMPHREYS chats to its writer Steven Knight, and some of the brilliant cast members, to find out more
THE year is 1929, and the world has been thrown into turmoil by the financial crash. It’s a time of both opportunity and misfortune for the Peaky Blinders gang. And Tommy Shelby MP (played so brilliantly by Dunkirk actor Cillian Murphy) is approached by a charismatic politician with a bold vision for Britain.
There you have it: The setting for series five of Steven Knight’s crime family saga, which has been so successful it’s now moved from BBC2 to BBC1.
Eighteen months since the last episode of Peaky Blinders aired, it would be a massive understatement to say expectations are high.
CATCHING UP WITH TOMMY
AT THE end of the fourth series, the Shelby gang’s feud with New York Sicilian mafioso Luca Changretta came to blows, changing the family’s lives forever.
It also led to more PTSD for former soldier Tommy. So, how is the flat cap-wearing, chain-smoking gang boss different this series?
“In a way, he’s starting to thaw out, feel things again,” explains Brummie Steven, 60.
“The acts that he did of charity, but for a cynical reason, have gradually become real. He’s slowly discovering that he’s always been a good man doing bad things for a good reason. Maybe. But maybe not – you can look at it and say you can’t justify his actions.”
The writer, whose other credits include TV series Taboo, adds: “In series 5 he’s haunted by things he’s done in the past. But I always try to put into context that, whatever bad he’s done since World War One, during the war, at the request of commanding officers,
6-8,000 people were being killed per hour.
“That’s where the moral compass got destroyed and now, he’s basically trying to piece it together.”
There, he meets a new character and real-life historical figure Oswald Mosley MP (played by Sam Claflin).
And as for what’s in store politically, Steven notes: “It’s quite bizarre how Peaky, whatever period I’m writing in, seems to have a spooky connection to what’s going on at the time.
“Never more so than with series 5 where, politically, it’s the early 1930s – there is nationalism, populism, racism sweeping across the Western world,” he continues.
“That’s just fortuitous for me – Playing a blinder: writer, Steven Knight
NOW that Tommy is a politician
– last series he was elected as Labour MP for Birmingham South – we see him heading down to Westminster. terrible for the world – in that what I’m writing feels to have a direct connection to the way things are going at the moment.”
IT’S AS VIOLENT AS EVER
YOU’D think Helen McCrory, who plays Aunt Polly, the matriarch of the family, would be used to the brutality of the family’s on-screen crimes.
But, at a screening of the first episode in Birmingham, she had to look away at one point.
“I, as Helen, can’t watch it,” admits the 51-year-old Londoner, who also appeared this year in BBC2’s MotherFatherSon.
WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? Tonight, ITV, 9.10pm
ONE of the best quiz shows on the box is back for a new run, though the top prize could do with a little tweaking.
Given the fact the series is now 21 years old, you’d think the cash would be closer to £1.7million in line with inflation. But that aside, it’s still a hefty sum for lucky players to take home, if they have the skill and nerve to go the distance.
Jeremy Clarkson has done a terrific job in Chris Tarrant’s place, and this week he returns as the acerbic host.
As ever, contestants have lifelines, including Ask the Audience, Phone a Friend and 50-50 available if they get stuck.
“It’s disgustingly violent. And it should be. I think it’s much more disturbing that somebody slashes somebody’s face, or somebody shoots somebody, and it’s all just the end of it.
“It should be horrifying, and you should have the people who are responsible for the violence unable to self-medicate or having mental health problems, or all the things that do happen to people if you kill other people. It is not a natural state of affairs.”
THE FEMALES REMAIN FEISTY
RIGHT from the start of Peaky
MIDSOMER MURDERS Monday, ITV, 8.30pm
WITH more than 300 homicides over two decades, Midsomer county is one dangerous place to live. Perhaps unsurprisingly there’s another one this week as Blinders, there have been several interesting female protagonists – including Ada, the only female Shelby sibling, played by Sophie Rundle, 31.
“They’re not strong female characters, they’re just female characters with all that natural strength,” the Gentleman Jack star, who was born in Newcastle-uponTyne, says passionately.
“They’re funny and they’re ambitious and they’re ba**sy, and they’re rude and they’re fallible and you know it’s so much more than just being a strong female character – it’s about being multi-faceted.
DCI Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon) gets to relive his former days of sporting glory. It revolves around ex-rugby player and businessman Mark Adler (Nicholas Goh). He’s the owner of the Causton Lions rugby team, and has his wife Samantha (Tamzin Outhwaite) by his side. However, when Mark is found dead in a cryotherapy chamber, Barnaby and DS Winter (Nick Hendrix) are called in to investigate.
THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF Tuesday, Channel 4, 8pm
THIRTEEN of the nation’s best amateur bakers enter THE tent to tackle challenges set by Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith.
Kicking things off is Cake Week, and while a fruit cake