---
title: "Peaky Blinders"
year: 2013
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/peaky-blinders"
fi1m_score: 77
critics_score: 72
critics_reviews: 8
published: "2026-09-17T02:22:54.789400+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-17T02:22:55.337436+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Peaky Blinders (2013)

Created by Steven Knight · MPA TV-MA · Drama, Crime

**Fi1m score: 77** · Critics 72 from 8 reviews

*In a sentence:* Nine years of Cillian Murphy walking slowly through smoke in a coat that costs more than Birmingham

> Steven Knight’s Birmingham gangster saga is handsome, loud and, for its first two series, tightly written. It then grows grander and slower and falls in love with its own walk. Cillian Murphy and Helen McCrory keep it upright to the end.

## Synopsis

Birmingham, 1919. Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) has come home from France to Small Heath, where his family runs the Peaky Blinders, a gang named for the razor blades stitched into their caps, and makes its money on illegal betting. His older brother Arthur (Paul Anderson) believes he is in charge; his aunt Polly (Helen McCrory) has kept the books through the war and knows otherwise. A crate of guns goes missing from the BSA factory and ends up in Shelby hands, and Chief Inspector Chester Campbell (Sam Neill) is sent over from Belfast to recover it. Tommy wants to move the family up into legal racecourse business. His sister Ada (Sophie Rundle) is secretly seeing Freddie Thorne (Iddo Goldberg), a communist Campbell also wants.

## Review

Steven Knight’s saga of a Birmingham gang runs six series, from 12 September 2013 to 2022, and carries an 18. It is about the Shelbys, gypsy bookmakers of Small Heath who come home from the war with a talent for organised menace, and about the cleverest of them, Tommy, who wants more than a betting shop. It is a good series that was, for two years, a better one. The first two series are some of the sharpest British crime drama of their kind. Watch all six and you will see it learn its own tricks and repeat them.

Otto Bathurst directs the opening episodes and sets a look the series never changes: streets always wet, air full of coal smoke, a forge at the end of the road throwing sparks into the dark. Grant Montgomery builds Small Heath as one long brick street with the Garrison pub in the middle. Stephanie Collie’s costumes are the series’ most copied idea: flat caps with blades sewn into the peaks, long coats over three-piece suits, collars they could not afford. The cinematographers change (six are credited, George Steel and Laurie Rose among them) and the picture does not: faces lit from one side, everything else brown, black or the orange of fire.

Cillian Murphy is the reason to stay. He plays Tommy almost without moving, a cigarette at the corner of the mouth, eyes that give away nothing until a scene is over and you realise they were calculating all through it. Sam Neill’s Chief Inspector Chester Campbell, sent from Belfast to find a crate of stolen guns, is the right opponent: a righteous man who quotes scripture and enjoys hurting people, and Neill lets us watch him enjoy it. Their scenes together, two men in a room agreeing to hate each other, are the best writing Knight has done for the series, and they gripped us in a way we had stopped expecting from a period drama with a horse in it.

Helen McCrory’s Polly is the other reason. She ran the business while the men were in France and lets them know it, and McCrory gives her a hard, amused patience that turns, when needed, into something frightening. Paul Anderson’s Arthur is shaking hands and sudden violence, a man who came back from the tunnels worse than he went. The weak thread in the first series is Sophie Rundle’s Ada and Iddo Goldberg’s Freddie Thorne, the communist she is secretly seeing; it gives the politics a face and drags whenever the camera leaves the Shelbys for it.

Then there is the walking. The theme is Nick Cave’s *Red Right Hand*, and the soundtrack is full of songs recorded eighty years after the events, which in the first series works as a jolt. Martin Phipps’s score underneath is low strings and a drum like a heartbeat; Anna Calvi and Paul Hartnoll also take music credits. The editors, Matthew Cannings and Celia Haining among seven credited, cut Tommy walking towards the camera in slow motion, coat open, smoke behind him, and it is a fine shot. By series four it arrives every episode and we could set our watch by it.

The later series get bigger and simpler. Adrien Brody arrives as the New York gangster Luca Changretta with an accent that took us out of every scene; Aidan Gillen’s Aberama Gold is far better, a gypsy killer with real charm. Charlie Murphy’s Jessie Eden, the union organiser, gives series four a politics it needed. But Tommy’s plan always works, we always learn what it was ten minutes from the end, and the phrase “by order of the Peaky Blinders” comes round like a catchphrase. Somewhere in series five we were counting the episodes left, which we never did in 2013, and we were sorry about it.

It does not have the patience of [*The Sopranos*](https://film.one/tv/the-sopranos) or the reach of [*Boardwalk Empire*](https://film.one/tv/boardwalk-empire). What it has is a particular city, a particular accent and a lead who can hold a close-up longer than almost anyone working. Give it the first twelve episodes without reservation. After that, carry on if you are enjoying the coats, and you probably will be.

*Fi1m score 77, published 17 September 2026.*

### Reviews we read (8)

- **The Guardian** (90/100, inferred): The critic finds the series magnificent and a beautiful, engrossing story of demobbed squaddies in postwar Birmingham, shot with passion, style, rough humour and much rain. Cillian Murphy and Sam Neill deliver standout performances in this stylish drama. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/sep/14/peaky-blinders-wipers-times-review)
- **Radio Times**, David Butcher (85/100, inferred): The critic calls Peaky Blinders a classy crime saga with a killer soundtrack and rare accents, blending violence, sadness and cinematic panache. At its core it explores grief, love and family as both allies and enemies, with Cillian Murphy's Tommy Shelby as one of the great screen gangsters. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/programme/b-stool5/peaky-blinders/)
- **The Times**, Hugo Rifkind (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the series as a strong, stylish debut that rehabilitates the Brummie accent and delivers a menacing, high-quality gangster drama set in post-WWI Birmingham. The lavish sets, strong cast including Cillian Murphy and Helen McCrory, and overall execution stand out as highlights. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/hugo-rifkind-on-tv-these-gangsters-of-brum-put-the-accent-on-menace-tqwkxjwjvw0)
- **The Telegraph**, Neil Midgley (40/100, inferred): The glossy production values and deft weaving of period context are praised, but the unrelenting gloom and lack of endearing qualities in the central character make it hard to care about the anti-hero or invest in the story. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10321416/Peaky-Blinders-BBC-Two-review.html)
- **Variety**, Brian Lowry (30/100, inferred): The series is a handsome but hollow British import that feels like a wan wannabe gangster drama despite its meticulous period trappings and strong cast. It offers an interesting window into post-WWI Birmingham but lacks connection to the characters and relies on heavy-handed flourishes. [Read](https://variety.com/2014/tv/reviews/tv-review-netflixs-peaky-blinders-1201314584/)
- **Den of Geek**, Louisa Mellor (90/100, inferred): The series is a stylish, intelligent and exhilarating British period drama that builds a meticulously detailed world full of compelling characters. It stands out for its strong performances, especially Cillian Murphy's restrained lead turn and Sam Neill's powerful antagonist, along with striking visuals and an anachronistic soundtrack. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/peaky-blinders-episode-1-spoiler-free-review/)
- **The Ringer**, Kevin Clark (85/100, inferred): The critic praises Peaky Blinders as a stylish, over-the-top, and absurdly fun ride of a television show that delivers exactly what viewers want. They highlight the strong performances, particularly Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, and the show's crowd-pleasing nature despite its cheesiness. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2022/06/10/tv/peaky-blinders-season-6-finale-tribute-legacy-impact)
- **Digital Spy**, Alex Fletcher (80/100, inferred): The opening episode delivers an exhilarating and gritty take on post-WWI Birmingham gang life that rises above typical period dramas with its sharp pacing and strong character work. Cillian Murphy's restrained, magnetic performance as the anti-hero Tommy Shelby is singled out as a highlight. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a514949/peaky-blinders-review-did-the-british-boardwalk-empire-cut-it/)

## Details

- **Created by:** Steven Knight
- **Creator:** Steven Knight
- **Director:** Anthony Byrne, Tim Mielants, Colm McCarthy, David Caffrey, Tom Harper, Otto Bathurst
- **Writer:** Steven Knight, Toby Finlay, Stephen Russell
- **Cinematography:** Si Bell, George Steel, Laurie Rose, Cathal Watters, Simon Dennis, Peter Robertson
- **Editor:** Mark Davis, Paul Knight, Christopher Barwell, Matthew Cannings, Celia Haining, Mark Eckersley, Dan Roberts
- **Music:** Anna Calvi, Paul Hartnoll, Martin Phipps
- **Production design:** Nicole Northridge, Grant Montgomery, Richard Bullock, Stephen Daly
- **Costume design:** Alison McCosh, Lorna Marie Mugan, Stephanie Collie, Alexandra Caulfield
- **Producer:** Katie Swinden, Laurie Borg, Nick Goding
- **Cast:** Cillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby; Paul Anderson as Arthur Shelby; Joe Cole as John Shelby; Helen McCrory as Polly Gray; Iddo Goldberg as Freddie Thorne; Sophie Rundle as Ada Shelby; Adrien Brody as Luca Changretta; Dave Simon as Lancaster Officer Mulchay
- **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA
- **Release (the US):** 12 September 2013
- **Genres:** Drama, Crime
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EM12mcTEI88

## Where to watch in the US

- Netflix: streaming
- Amazon Prime Video: buy, hd

*Checked 2026-09-17.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- BAFTA Television Awards 2014: British Academy Television Craft Awards (won)
- Royal Television Society Awards 2014: Royal Television Society Awards (won)

## If you liked this

- *Boardwalk Empire* (2010), Fi1m 80: Prohibition gangsters with better tailoring and more patience for the politics. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/boardwalk-empire.md)
- *The Long Good Friday* (1980), Fi1m 88: A British gang boss with a plan and a city that stops cooperating. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-long-good-friday.md)
- *Gomorrah* (2014): Naples crime families, no glamour at all, and nobody walks in slow motion.
- *Once Upon a Time in America* (1984), Fi1m 81: Leone’s immigrant gangsters across decades, mournful where Knight is loud. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/once-upon-a-time-in-america.md)
- *Babylon Berlin* (2017): Weimar Berlin, a damaged detective, and a soundtrack that also refuses its period.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/peaky-blinders