Peaky Blinders Is Back: What We Know About the New Series

It's happening. Peaky Blinders is returning to BBC One and BBC iPlayer with a brand new series, and Steven Knight — the man who built the Shelby empire from scratch — is writing it.

This isn't a reboot. It's a continuation. A new generation of Shelbys, set in Birmingham in the 1950s. Different decade, same DNA.

For audiences outside the UK, Netflix will carry it. Same as before.

If you haven't seen the original run, or need a refresher before the new series drops, Netflix has a full recap of seasons 1 through 5 worth watching. It covers the whole arc — the rise, the wars, the losses.

The clip is short — just over 30 seconds — but it's doing a lot of work.

We hear lines about treason. About a war. About someone who's been told to stay out of something, and has decided they're in. "I thought you decided this wasn't your war." The answer: "It is now."

That's the Shelby formula, honestly. Someone pulls them in. They resist. Then they don't.

The 1950s setting matters here. Post-war Britain was politically volatile — British fascism didn't disappear in 1945, it went underground and mutated. If the show is placing a new Shelby inside that moment, there's real historical weight to dig into. Knight has always used period politics as more than backdrop.

Knight created Peaky Blinders in 2013. Twelve years later he's still the one writing it.

That matters. A lot of beloved shows fall apart when the original creator steps back. Knight hasn't. He wrote every episode of the original six series, and he's the one shaping this new chapter.

His IMDB page shows how much ground he covers — screenplays, TV, film — but Peaky is the thing he keeps returning to. You don't do that unless the story still means something to you.

The question is how much of the old world survives into the 1950s. Different characters, presumably. Different Birmingham. But if Knight is writing it, the sensibility will be recognizable.

Part of what made the original series so distinctive was visual. The suits. The haircuts. The way the show made 1920s Birmingham feel cinematic rather than dusty.

The Shelby Brothers clothing line grew directly out of that — people wanted to dress like the characters, which is not something that happens with most period dramas.

The 1950s setting gives the costume and production team a different palette to work with. Postwar Britain had its own sharpness — the Teddy Boys were already emerging by the early 50s, and working-class style in Birmingham was its own thing. Whether the show goes in that direction or keeps the Shelby look updated but consistent, we'll see.

Either way, the visual identity of this show has always been deliberate. That won't change.

BBC One and BBC iPlayer for UK viewers. Netflix for everyone else. That's the confirmed distribution.

No full cast list is public yet. The teaser doesn't show faces clearly — it's mood, not announcement. But the "looking for your son" line at the end suggests generational continuity is a real plot thread, not just marketing language.

The director of the original pilot and several early episodes was Tom Harper. His Letterboxd page gives you a sense of his range — he went on to direct Wild Rose and The Aeronauts after Peaky. Whether he's involved in the new series hasn't been confirmed.

What's confirmed: Knight, the BBC, Netflix, and Birmingham in the 1950s. That's enough to build on.

Before the new series arrives, it's worth sitting with what the original built.

Six series. Tommy Shelby going from black-market razor gangs in Small Heath to the floor of Parliament. The show earned its ending — or what looked like an ending — and now it's opening again.

If you want to prepare properly, the seasons 1–5 recap on Netflix is the fastest way in. And if you want to do it properly — with a drink in hand — Lagavulin's distillery runs visits. The whisky that became synonymous with the show.

The Shelbys are back. The world still doesn't give a fuck about them.

They've decided that's fine.