By TANIA PHILLIPS
Peaky Blinders,
Monday, 9.20pm, ABC2
THE epic BBC gangster series Peaky Blinders has made its way to the ABC – premiering on ABC2 this week (up on iview now).
This is a gangster drama set somewhere you probably wouldn’t expect – on the mean streets of a lawless post-war Birmingham.
Britain in 1919 is a tumultuous mix of despair and hedonism, a nation cleaned out by the extravagances of the Great War.
Returning soldiers, newly-minted revolutionaries and criminal gangs all fight for survival in an industrial landscape gripped by economic upheaval.
Peaky Blinders follows the story of Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) and his family who run the most feared and powerful local gang, the Peaky Blinders. The gang is named for its practice of sewing razor blades into the peaks of their caps and make money from illegal betting and other blackmarket practises.
But Tommy has ambitions beyond running the streets and when a crate of guns goes missing he recognises a business opportunity and a chance to move up in the land.
This is written by Otto Bathurst and directed by Tom Harper and has nothing short of an all-star cast – led by Murphy but including Sam Neill or own Noah Taylor, Brit-boy man of the moment Tom Hardy and the talented Helen McCrory.
Two series have already screened in the UK (and here on pay TV) with a third starting filming this week in the UK. If you like good, gripping British drama then this might be worth a visit.
