The Shelbys are back.

And not just with the long-awaited feature film. Steven Knight has made good on his word: the story of Peaky Blinders didn’t end with season six, nor will it conclude with the movie now in post-production. Instead, the saga will expand with two newly commissioned sequel series, each six episodes long, ordered by Netflix and the BBC. And yes, Cillian Murphy — our eternal Tommy Shelby — is on board, this time also as executive producer alongside Knight.

From cult status to fulfilled promise

For fans around the world who turned Peaky Blinders into a cult phenomenon, speculating about the film is almost irrelevant. What matters is that it exists — a promise Steven Knight had made from the very beginning.

The series, which premiered in 2013 and bowed out in 2022, ended on an open and uneven note. Tommy Shelby, the anti-hero with a plan, a man who sacrifices everything and everyone to achieve his goals, once again defied expectations. Instead of dying, as many predicted, he survived — riding away on a white horse, leaving behind a criminal empire that grew from Birmingham’s streets to England’s halls of power. It was less a conclusion than an ellipsis.

The film: what we know (and don’t)

Knight has long said that Peaky Blinders would only truly end with the conclusion of World War II. The bastard son introduced in the finale hinted at the next Shelby leader, while the political landscape — with blue-blooded neo-Nazis on the rise — remains wide open.

It would be natural for the film to pick up right where the series left off, but that’s still unconfirmed. Cillian Murphy is locked in, but other key names from the final chapters — Anya Taylor-Joy and Sam Claflin as Oswald Mosley —are not returning.

Rebecca Ferguson and Barry Keoghan’s casting sparked excitement but also confusion. Who will they play? Knight teased only this: “The script puts Peaky Blinders into World War II, and it’s very good.” Keoghan added fuel to the fire: “I’ve read the script, and I loved it. It’s going to be epic.”

Producer Caryn Mandabach added another twist: “The decision was to make the film separate from the series. We won’t be in 1938. We’re going to jump forward, as we always have.”

So much mystery still surrounds this story.

The sequels: Birmingham reborn

Meanwhile, the newly announced series is set in 1953, as Birmingham rises from the ruins of the Blitz. The race to control the city’s reconstruction project will be fierce — full of danger, opportunity, and bloodshed. And, as ever, the Shelbys will be right at its center.

Production will take place at Knight’s Digbeth Loc. Studios in Birmingham, with Kudos (SAS Rogue Heroes, House of Guinness) and Garrison Drama (responsible for the original run) at the helm.

An ever-expanding legacy

Peaky Blinders has grown far beyond television — spawning books, fashion lines, a video game, even ballet and immersive theatre. With the film and two sequel series now on the horizon, it’s clear the Shelbys are more than just a story from the past. They are a cultural universe, constantly reinventing itself.

Knight put it simply:

“A new generation of Shelbys has taken the wheel — and it’s going to be one hell of a ride.”

And we, the fans, are more than ready to ride along.