Intense Peaky Blinders fans have been on something of an emotional rollercoaster for the last few days. First, they learned that the series would be concluding on TV after the upcoming season 6, which just started filming this week after being delayed by COVID-19 for almost a year. This flew against what creator Steven Knight had stated in the past, that it would take seven seasons to finish telling the story of Tommy Shelby and his family. Never fear, though—Peaky isn’t simply going to end early, before it has time to conclude in style. Today, Knight said that a feature film is most definitely his plan for ultimately concluding the iconic series.
“COVID changed our plans,” said Knight, speaking with Deadline. “But I can say that my plan from the beginning was to end Peaky with a movie. That is what is going to happen.”
As previously mentioned, season 6 just began filming this week, with Knight saying that “fascism is afoot” in the story, which begins in the U.K. in 1929, with Tommy Shelby as an MP. In the upcoming season, he’ll be grappling with “real-life fascist firebrand Oswald Mosley” (Sam Claflin) in a battle for his soul and the soul of Britain. By the end of this season, we might even be hearing some rumblings about Hitler and Germany.
“This final season of our beloved Peaky Blinders is going to be the best one yet,” said Executive producer Caryn Mandabach to Deadline. “Steve’s uncanny ability to be prescient about world events is only matched by his ability to make Tommy Shelby the most indelible character of our times.”
Peaky has been a marketing giant, with countless tie-ins and merchandizing opportunities, so other continuations such as spin-off series may be in the cards as well. But you can bet that much of Knight’s attention, after season 6 is in the books, will be focused on making that feature film conclusion happen in short order.