The wheels of the next chapter of Peaky Blinders have been turning for quite some time. Filming on the seventh season has been underway for months in Birmingham, ever since Jamie Bell and Charlie Heaton were announced as the new leads. It was clear that creator Stephen Knight had no intention of ending the franchise with The Immortal Man. Now, with the BBC unveiling additional cast members, the scale of the project is becoming even more apparent.

Set in the early 1950s, roughly a decade after the events of the upcoming film starring Cillian Murphy, the new series will follow Duke Shelby and Charles Shelby in Birmingham, trying to rebuild itself after World War II. More than a continuation, the new season appears to mark the beginning of a new era for the Peaky Blinders.

Jamie Bell, who takes over as Duke, Tommy Shelby’s eldest son, and Charlie Heaton, who plays Charles, had already been announced. We also knew that Jessica Brown Findlay, Lashana Lynch, and Lucy Karczewski had joined the cast in undisclosed roles. Now, the BBC has confirmed more characters, reinforcing the idea that the new generation of Shelbys will face worthy rivals.

Conleth Hill, best known for playing Varys in Game of Thrones, will portray Clemmy Keeler, the patriarch of the Keeler crime family, a rival clan determined to compete with the Peaky Blinders for control over Birmingham’s future. His son, Aidan Keeler, will be played by Cal O’Driscoll, while Daniel Monks has been cast as Detective Inspector Bell, suggesting that law enforcement will also play a significant role in the coming conflicts.

Among the familiar faces returning are Ned Dennehy and Packy Lee, reprising characters who survived both the original series and Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.

In a statement, Stephen Knight said he was thrilled about shifting the story to post-war Birmingham and praised the arrival of Jamie Bell and Charlie Heaton as key figures in this “new era” of Peaky Blinders.

Production is taking place at Digbeth Loc. Studios near Birmingham city centre and represents the first major commission under a new partnership between the BBC, the West Midlands Combined Authority, and Create Central, backed by an annual £40 million investment in the region.

Another important detail is that the expansion of the Peaky Blinders universe already seems to have been planned with the long term in mind. Both seasons seven and eight are expected to consist of six one-hour episodes and will air on the BBC in the UK, with Netflix handling international distribution.

For years, it was impossible to imagine Peaky Blinders without Tommy Shelby. Stephen Knight now seems ready to test that assumption. And judging by the ever-growing cast, he appears more than confident that there are still plenty of stories left to tell in Birmingham.