Production Starts On BBC's Peaky Blinders
Tiger Aspect’s Peaky Blinders, a gangster drama set in post WW1 Britain, has started shooting in Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool.
Starring Cillian Murphy, Sam Neill & Helen McCrory, the BBC2 drama begins in 1919 in the lawless slums of Birmingham. Returning soldiers, revolutionaries and gangs all fight for survival in an industrial landscape gripped by economic upheaval.
The story centres on the Shelby family, whose many brothers and sisters, cousins and uncles, make up the fiercest gang of all, the Peaky Blinders. Named for their practice of sewing razor blades into the peaks of their caps, the Peaky Blinders make money from off track betting, protection and robbery.
Peaky Blinders is the first TV drama by series creator Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things and Eastern Promises) who says: "The story I want to tell is based on family legend and historical fact. It is a fiction woven into a factual landscape which is dramatic and cinematic, but which for very English reasons has been consigned to historical text books."
Executive Producer and Chief Executive, Caryn Mandabach Productions, Caryn Mandabach, says: "Speaking on behalf of all the producers fortunate enough to be associated with this work, we couldn't be more honoured or more lucky to be supporting Steven's vision. This is television at its best."
Controller BBC Drama Commissioning, Ben Stephenson, added: "Peaky Blinders is a phenomenally authored drama series shedding light on a piece of hidden British history. Authentic, bloody and utterly compelling, Peaky Blinders welcomes Steven Knight and Otto Bathurst to BBC Two and adds another boldly crafted drama to our upcoming shows."
Peaky Blinders is the first recipient of finance from the new Yorkshire Content Fund, which is managed by Screen Yorkshire, and will film throughout Yorkshire. Sally Joynson, Chief Executive of Screen Yorkshire, commented: “This is the type of production we are looking to attract to Yorkshire - big budget, epic storyline and with immense talent involved across the project. Peaky Blinders shows how our new fund is attracting productions of scale to the region.”
