REVIEW #75 Peaky Blinders (2013-present)

Peaky Blinders is set in Birmingham just after World War 1 and follows Tommy Shelby the leader of the Peaky Blinders Gang. Starting out with small town organised crime, through the seasons they progress into big players around the country taking on outfits from London and New York before entering politics and infiltrating the British Government. 

CAST & THE ACTING 

I think the casting for Peaky Blinders is actually one of the best I’ve seen from any series! Cillian Murphy plays Tommy Shelby and to say that he does brilliantly would be an understatement, this character has to be one of my favourite protagonists across film and TV. The late Helen McCrory played Polly Gray, the auntie of the Shelby Brothers and she also delivers a great performance. Polly’s character goes through so much during the 5 seasons, being one of the leaders of the criminal organisation but also having a wide variety of personal issues that Helen portrayed brilliantly, showing a real range in her acting ability. Paul Anderson is Arthur Shelby the hotheaded brother whilst Joe Cole plays John Shelby and Harry Kirton plays Finn the youngest of the brothers. Each of them are so different but the chemistry between the actors really creates that brotherly bond that gets the audience so invested in this family, despite the bad things they do. There are a number of big names that have played a role in this series, the most notable performance being Tom Hardy who plays Alfie Solomons the leader of the Jewish Gang in London and it’s definitely one of my favourite performances from Hardy who is brilliant every time he appears. I could really keep naming actors you are sure to know but I’d be going on for a while but to summarise, the acting is outstanding and as I mentioned above, these actors know how to get an audience hooked on a character and they do it so well.

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

The anchor in every season is the Peaky Blinders gang and how it develops from a relatively small gang to a huge criminal empire that begins to transition into a legitimate business through various ventures. Each season features a new threat to the Peaky Blinders and the Shelby family and each season is just as gripping as the last, so full credit to the writers for keeping it fresh and entertaining. This storyline does create some great action sequences but what I really enjoy is the in depth character exploration, each of these characters have real personal battles going on which makes them relatable to the audience, which gets them so invested in their stories. For example we see Tommy deal with PTSD from the war whilst also carrying the burden of leading the Peaky Blinders and all the pressure that comes with that. Arthur struggles with substance abuse and serious anger issues, Polly has her own family issues that gets revealed in the later seasons. All of this really builds such strong profiles for the characters which helps create a sense of realism that the viewers love. It’s all set from 1919 just after the war which sets a course of events that influence that gang throughout the 5 seasons. So a really strong storyline that keeps getting better, I can’t wait for the new season.

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

I was relatively late to watching Peaky Blinders, I think I started watching just after season 3 was released and what surprised me the most was the beautiful cinematography. Some of the scenes look absolutely fantastic and created the best visuals without having to use expensive special effects and CGI, which makes it even more impressive. The special effects in this series are more along the lines of explosions or the blood perhaps, from some of the deaths but that’s all they needed. It was set in 1919 so they needed it to look as realistic as possible. However I want to mention the costume and props because they are spot on, this series actually brought back the flat cap and had everyone wearing one. They really capsulated the time period through the costume and I think that did contribute to the cinematography too because the shots had that old fashion, dated look to them which worked really well. 

OVERALL (10/10)

I was going through it and trying to think of any faults with this series but I found myself struggling to find any at all. I find it hard to name my favourite series because I have watched so many and the genre I want to watch is very dependent on my mood but having said that this could be number 1 or at least top 3! The casting and the acting is brilliant, the plot is gripping and entertaining and the progression of the gang is realistic and understandable. The character exploration and sub plots that arise from that are really well thought out and the actors do those storylines justice with their talent. The cinematography is great and created some of the best scenes from any series I have watched. The BBC continues to create some fantastic dramas and I am so excited for the new season, if you haven’t watched this already please do because you will love it! My first 10/10 series.

Thanks for reading!

Callan