‘Lots of twists and turns’ in store for Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders

‘Expect the unexpected!’ Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight reveals there are ‘lots of twists and turns’ in store for Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby in ‘powerful’ final series


Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has teased that fans can expect ‘lots of twists and turns’ in the final season of the period crime drama.

The screenwriter, 62, claimed viewers should ‘expect the unexpected’ of Cillian Murphy’s Birmingham gangster character Tommy Shelby, during an appearance on BBC Breakfast on Friday.

He began: ‘Expect the unexpected. It’s about Tommy’s redemption, will he or won’t he be redeemed? There’s lots of twists and turns and he’s up against some very, very powerful enemies. But his biggest enemy is himself.’ 

Coming soon: Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight (pictured) revealed there are ‘lots of twists and turns’ in store for Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby during Friday’s BBC Breakfast

Steven also spoke about continuing on with the show after Helen McCrory, who played Aunt Polly and who passed away from breast cancer last April.

He said: ‘The loss of the character is massively secondary but we felt we had to carry on.

‘In terms of the character, although Polly is gone, her strength and influence and energy remains throughout the series.’

Meanwhile, Cillian previously admitted he hopes the new season will ‘live up to the memory’ of his late co-star Helen.

Exciting: He began: 'Expect the unexpected. It's about Tommy's redemption, will he or won't he be redeemed?' (Cillian pictured in-character)

Exciting: He began: ‘Expect the unexpected. It’s about Tommy’s redemption, will he or won’t he be redeemed?’ (Cillian pictured in-character)

Helen did not film any scenes as her iconic character Aunt Polly in the sixth and final series of Peaky Blinders following her cancer diagnosis. 

But the actor, 45, insisted her character’s presence is still ‘very much felt’ during a recent interview with Esquire UK.

He said: ‘I think the whole series is really in tribute to her and to honour her. Her presence and her character’s presence are very much still felt in the series, and it is very much part of Tommy’s journey in the season.

‘It’ll be different without her, you know. It simply won’t be the same. I’ve spoken about how phenomenal she was as an actress and as a person and it is an enormous loss to the whole acting community and not just for our show.

Tragic: Steven also spoke about continuing on with the show after Helen McCrory, who played Aunt Polly and who passed away from breast cancer last April (pictured in-character)

Tragic: Steven also spoke about continuing on with the show after Helen McCrory, who played Aunt Polly and who passed away from breast cancer last April (pictured in-character)

‘My thoughts are always with Damian [Lewis, her husband] and her kids. I just hope that the show will live up to her memory and our memory of her.’ 

The BAFTA Cymru award winner did not get the chance to appear in any scenes and creators of the BBC drama had to rewrite ‘vast sections’ of the show. 

Filming for the last series was brought to a standstill in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and resumed in January 2021.

Helen swore friends to secrecy as she faced gruelling breast cancer treatment.

She passed away in April last year and had appeared on TV to promote the Prince’s Trust only six weeks before her death, and shared her secret struggle with ‘very, very few people’. 

The broadcast date for the new series has been pushed back after Covid delayed post-production but is due to be unveiled this week.

According to reports, Aunt Polly was set to have a larger role in the new series, before she had to be rewritten out of the script.

Helen played Polly Gray since series one which aired in 2013 and last played the role in 2019.

Peaky Blinders returns to BBC One on February 27 2022. 

Awful: She did not get the chance to appear in any scenes and creators of the BBC drama had to rewrite 'vast sections' of the show (pictured in 2014 with Cillian)

Awful: She did not get the chance to appear in any scenes and creators of the BBC drama had to rewrite ‘vast sections’ of the show (pictured in 2014 with Cillian)

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