Cillian Murphy โ the man behind Thomas Shelby, OBE โ has revealed weโre in for quite a stirring finale to conclude Peaky Blinders season 6, and by extension, the entire BBC series. Which certainly bodes well for fans. After all, if this is indeed the swan song, it better be a memorable one.
โVery big themes and big emotions,โ Murphy tells Menโs Health.
โIt feels like a climax of something.โ
โThere is so much good in [Thomas Shelby], but then thereโs also this conflict and this violence and this trauma.โ
RELATED: โPeaky Blindersโ Season 6 โ Everything We Know So Far
Cillian Murphy later touched upon the recent passing of his Peaky Blinders co-star, Helen McCrory โ who portrayed Polly Gray / Shelby, family matriarch โ in the very same interview. Murphy had in fact been off set the day he, along with everyone else, learned McCrory lost her battle with cancer.
โWeโre all still deeply, deeply saddenedโฆ Iโm deeply saddened and still trying to get over it. Itโs hard to think of the series without her. She was so much a part of that. And always my favourite storylines were the Poly/Tommy storylines.โ
Cillian Murphy says Peaky Blinders season 6 will be dedicated to Helen McCrory.
Earlier this year, reports confirmed the showโs sixth instalment would be its very last, by order of the BBC, despite earlier coverage indicating season 7 was pretty much a done deal. Creator/head writer Steven Knight, however, has promised Peaky Blinders will โcontinue in another formโ โ potentially in a feature-length film (which was also alluded to during earlier coverage), or even a spin-off series.
โMy ambition is to make it a story of a family between two wars,โ Knight told the press after winning a BAFTA for Best Drama Series in 2018.
โSo Iโve wanted to end it with the first air raid siren in Birmingham in 1939. Itโll take three more series to reach that point.โ
โIn my mind, this story is the story between two wars. The end of the chapter of these peopleโs lives and this society is when the Second World War begins. Because it all changes after that, after the demolitions and the council estates, itโs a different world.โ
RELATED: Jason Statham Was The First Choice To Play Thomas Shelby
The pandemic-induced delay has only served to heighten general anticipation. As noted by both series director Anthony Byrne and Cillian Murphy, Peaky Blinders season 6 has been ready to go for some time now, with scripts drafted, sets and costumes assembled, locations booked, cameras + lenses tested, etc.
โWe will be back as soon as we can, I promise,โ says the leading man.
โCausing chaos and knocking heads, as usual.โ
Emmett J. Scanlan โ who portrays Billy Grade โ has publicly described the scripts as being โso fucking goodโ; while Knight teased that Peaky Blinders will be back โwith a bangโ to deliver the โbest series of allโ.
At this stage, Peaky Blinders season 6 / series 6 is expected to hit the airways and streaming queues sometime in early-to-mid 2022.
