There haven’t been many more engrossing dramas in recent years than Peaky Blinders. The show created by Steven Knight made its way onto our screens back in 2013, and the final television series was released earlier this year ahead of its crossover onto the big screen.
It has become a cultural phenomenon, with the show even headlining its own festival in Birmingham. It has also made waves in the world of fashion, with flat peak caps donned by the Peaky Blinders quickly becoming a trend of style that remains to this day. But, you can find five interesting facts about the BBC smash-hit right here.
It Wasn’t Filmed Entirely In Birmingham
Despite being based on a real-life gang from Birmingham, it may come as news to fans that the entire season wasn’t filmed in the Second City. Knight did reveal that the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley will always be the spiritual home for the show, but the majority of the biggest scenes were shot up north.
WeLoveBrum found that a number of filming locations were set in Liverpool, including St George’s Hall, Liverpool Cathedral and Powis Street. Meanwhile, other scenes were shot in Leeds, Bradford and on the Wirral.
Thousands of Prop Cigarettes Used
Cigarettes are a huge part of Peaky Blinders, with all characters seen smoking throughout its run. However, no character is more synonymous than a smoke than Tommy Shelby.
Cillian Murphy admitted in interviews that it was found that around 3,000 prop cigarettes were used throughout a season of filming. Of course, the smokes aren’t real, with Murphy also revealing that the cigarettes used were herbal, and they didn’t actually contain any nicotine or tobacco.
Mixing Fact and Fiction
While the Peaky Blinders were a gang that ran the street in Birmingham in between the First and Second World Wars, a lot of their business operations in the show are made up. However, a number of the characters used in the show are based on facts, with Knight admitting that he would take inspiration from stories that he was told when he was a child.
Some of the characters that were real people include Jessie Eden, Billy Kimber and Darber Sabini. The most recent adversaries to the Shelby’s in season six were also real-life fascists, as Lady Diana Mitford and Sir Oswald Mosley were focal in parliament before the start of the Second World War.
Stars Looked For Help
Throughout the run on television, a lot of the incredible actors that picked up roles in Peaky Blinders looked for help from other stars. For example, Helen McCrory used help from Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne when perfecting her Brummie accent, while Sam Neil enlisted the help of James Nesbitt and Liam Neeson when trying to get into his Northern Irish character of Inspector Campbell in seasons one and two.
The Show Could Have Looked Entirely Different
One of the biggest stars of the show is Cillian Murphy, as he plays Tommy Shelby unlike any other actor could. However, things could have looked completely different is Knight followed through with the original plan when it came to casting. Originally, the plan was for Jason Statham to portray Tommy, but Knight had a change of heart after Murphy text him during the casting process.
