Fans of Peaky Blinders have had reason to celebrate this week, as Netflix has shared a first look at the upcoming sequel series and confirmed the new lead for the next chapter of the Shelby story.
Billy Elliot star Jamie Bell will take on the role of Duke Shelby, Tommy Shelby’s son, in a series set in post-war Birmingham in the early 1950s.
The new drama is described as being set around a decade after The Immortal Man, with the story focusing on a city rebuilding itself after the devastation of the Second World War.
According to the official synopsis, Birmingham’s race to recover becomes a fierce struggle filled with opportunity, danger and violent ambition. Duke is said to be “older, wiser, more ambitious, and most certainly more dangerous”, suggesting that the Shelby family’s trademark ruthlessness is far from over.
The sequel series has been commissioned for two seasons, each comprising six episodes, and will once again be produced for Netflix and the BBC. Steven Knight, creator and writer of Peaky Blinders, is returning to helm the project, and has promised that the new series will stay rooted in Birmingham while exploring a very different era for the family.
Alongside Bell, Stranger Things‘ Charlie Heaton will also play a leading role, with Downton Abbey‘s Jessica Brown Findlay and No Time To Die‘s Lashana Lynch joining the cast in undisclosed roles.
The new series follows the original six-season run and the recent film The Immortal Man, which continued Tommy Shelby’s story before changing the focus to the next generation.
For long-time viewers, the sequel marks a fresh start rather than a farewell. The world of Peaky Blinders is expanding once more, and this time the Shelbys’ future belongs to Duke.
