The fifth season of Peaky Blinders’s British mob story has finally hit American shores, and while fans are busy bingeing the latest exploits of Tommy Shelby and his family, they’re also gearing up for what’s next for everyone’s favorite Birmingham bad boy.
Here’s everything we know about the future of the Peaky Blinders.
WHEN IS SEASON 6 COMING OUT?
There’s no word yet on exactly when the Shelby family will be returning to our screens, but the current signs point to early 2021. Season five director Anthony Byrne confirmed to British GQ in August that the new season is already in the works and that he’ll be back on directing duty when production kicks back into gear next year.
“I’m reading the scripts at the moment, which Steven is writing,” he told GQ. “I start properly on series six in early November. Then we start shooting early next year, is the plan.”
He also said that while he had to think hard about returning for another season, ultimately he felt compelled to finish the story he started telling in season five.
“I really had to think about it because it’s a massive commitment to make, but it felt like this series is part one of two,” he said, speaking about season five. “I think previous series had very definite endings, whereas I think this series doesn’t end that way. So I felt more and more that I wanted to come back and finish this.”
While its possible that with a swift schedule the show could put out another season by the end of 2020, considering that Byrne spent sixteen months working on the show’s fifth outing, we’re not getting our hopes up yet.
WILL SEASON 6 BE THE LAST?
Creator Steven Knight confirmed in May 2018 that there was still more Shelby drama to come, both for season six and possibly into the future.
“We are definitely doing [series] six and we will probably do seven,” he told the Birmingham Press Club at the time. “We’ve talked to Cillian Murphy and he’s all for it, and the rest of the principal cast are in for it.”
Commenting after winning a Bafta for Best Drama Series, he added, “My ambition is to make it a story of a family between two wars, so I always wanted to end it with the first air raid siren in 1939.”
Considering that season five revolved around the 1929 stock market crash, there’s still plenty of ground to cover before the Shelbys reach the first World War, but for now we’ll just have to wait to learn more about what roads the show will take getting there.
WHAT’S IN STORE FOR THE REST OF THE SERIES?
In a Canneseries TV drama festival masterclass in Cannes, creator Steven Knight offered fans a few hints about the future for Tommy Shelby; specifically, where he sees the character ending up by the time the show reaches its conclusion.
“[Season 7] will tell a different story, where Tommy Shelby–who begins as this nihilistic, looking-out only for his family person–will be redeemed, and he will become good,” he explained. “I want to take him on that journey from the person we saw [in Season 1], to the person he will become in 1939.”
He also noted that he’d originally pitched the show’s concept to Channel 4 25 years ago, but that he was glad that it wasn’t actually picked up until 2012, when technology had advanced enough to allow for the show’s high production values.