Peaky Blinders’ Cillian Murphy reveals why some people are so devoted to the show
As Peaky Blinders returns, Cillian Murphy and new cast member Charlie Murphy chat about the success of the show and how it could turn into a film
So great is the anticipation for series four of Peaky Blinders that when the trailer was released online, it got seven million views.
Indeed, fans of the 1920s-set gangster show are so fanatical that some have even gone to the length of having tattoos of their favourite characters – with none more popular than charismatic leading man Cillian Murphy, who plays Tommy Shelby, the head of the Midlands criminal family.
“People have shown me pictures of Tommy tattoos,” smiles Cillian, 41, looking slightly embarrassed at the extent of the adulation. “It’s quite alarming. Maybe just buy the box set!”
One person who genuinely did need to buy the box set was Charlie Murphy. A newcomer to the show – both as an actor and a viewer – Charlie has previously cut her teeth on another gangster drama, the Dublin-set Love/Hate.
“I didn’t watch Peaky Blinders at all,” says Charlie, who’s best known for playing Ann Gallagher in Happy Valley. “It was on my list because so many of my peers love it and my family are massive fans.
And I love Cillian as well – I know him from the Irish theatre scene.
"But before I auditioned I started watching it to get the Brummie accent, which I’d never done before – and I was hooked. After the audition I binge-watched it all – twice! It’s such an exciting world to watch unfold.”
It’s a world that Charlie’s character, Jessie Eden – a real-life trade union activist who, at one stage, led 10,000 women out on strike over disparity in wages – has a significant impact on from the moment she sashays through Tommy’s factory, only stopping to fix her make-up in the gents’ toilets: ‘You don’t have a women’s lavatory on the second floor because no women get this far up’ she tells an outraged male employee.
“She’s a fascinating character,” says Charlie, 29. “I don’t know why more hasn’t been written about her.
"It’s clear from the first episode that she’s done her homework on Tommy, which is intriguing for him. There is a spark between them. It’s based on intelligence.
"I think she’s prepared to go as far for her cause – the union – as Tommy is for his. She’s passionate and confident because she is the voice of the people. Being fearless means you’re quite dangerous at times.”
Before Tommy gets to cross swords with Jessie over women’s wages, there’s the small matter he needs to sort of him having shopped the rest of the Shelby family to the police at the end of series three.
Things are not looking too clever for John, Arthur, Michael and Aunt Polly, who have a date with the hangman at Birmingham’s Winson Green Prison.
And if that wasn’t enough, series four sees writer/creator Steven Knight finally pitting the small-time Peakys against the mighty Mafia.
“The Peaky Blinders are up against the greatest threat there’s ever been for them,” says Cillian. “You can’t get bigger than the Mafia. Tommy recognises this is a different level.”
The show has always boasted a very high calibre of guest villain – from Sam Neill’s corrupt Major Campbell to Tom Hardy’s brutal Jewish gang leader Alfie Solomons and Paddy Considine’s twisted Father Hughes – and this season is no exception with the arrival of Oscar winner Adrien Brody as a vengeful Mafioso.
“We’re so lucky that this show attracts actors of that calibre,” says Cillian. “Every year since the start it’s done that. Adrien just has this incredible energy and obviously there is going to be a showdown at some point.”
The only question remaining is: how much further can the show go? Season five has already been confirmed by the BBC and there’s been talk of a movie spin-off and even a musical.
“In theory, I’d be up for the film, yeah,” says Cillian. “If the writing is as good as it is for this, then for sure. A musical, though, is not for me. I’ll pass on that one!”
NEW! Peaky Blinders, Wednesday, 9pm, BBC2
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