Birmingham’s most infamous—and stylish—criminal gang is back on Netflix with the streaming release of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man on Friday, March 20.
A follow-up to the hit historical drama, which starred Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby and ran for six seasons through 2022, the movie centers around a brewing conflict involving the former group leader and his son, Erasmus “Duke” Shelby (played by Barry Keoghan).
Although the Peaky Blinders were a real street gang, The Immortal Man—much like the Peaky show—plays loose with history, setting the story in Birmingham, England, during World War II. Here’s what you need to know about which elements of the movie are based on real people and events.
Who Were the Real Peaky Blinders, and When Were They Active?
The Peaky Blinders were one of a number of gangs that emerged in Birmingham—which had fallen into extreme poverty—starting in the 1870s, according to British GQ. The group emerged as a primary rival to the Sloggers, led by John Adrian and known for using a heavy buckled belt to assault and rob their victims.
The name may not have referred solely to a singular gang. Multiple factions were collectively referred to as Sloggers and Peaky Blinders, suggesting they became catch-all terms, according to historian Eric Mooman.
While the TV series depicted the Peaky Blinders as ruthlessly violent, the real-life group was more often tied to financial crimes such as illegal betting and the Birmingham black market. Still, court reports describe them as “foul-mouthed young men” keen on “insulting and mugging” passersby.
The 2022 BBC2 special The Real Peaky Blinders highlighted court records of multiple individuals from the group in 1904, including Harry Fowler and Ernest Bayles, 19-year-olds arrested for stealing a bicycle; Stephen McHickie, 24, who broke into a draper shop; and Thomas Gilbert, 38, whose crime was identified as “false pretences.”
A group called the Birmingham Gang, or Birmingham Boys—led by the fearsome Billy Kimber—became the dominant faction by the 1920s, according to BirminghamLive. A fictionalized version of the group appeared in the Peaky TV series, with Charlie Creed-Miles playing Kimber.
The Peaky Blinders were no longer active by the 1940s, when The Immortal Man takes place.
Where Does the Name ‘Peaky Blinders’ Come From?
The name Peaky Blinders reflects the group’s fashion and alleged weapon of choice, Historian Carl Chinn told BirminghamLive.
The moniker refers to the peaks of their flat caps, which had safety razors sewn into them, according to Chinn. These were believed to be used to slash the foreheads of their adversaries, causing blood to fall down their faces and figuratively blind them.
However, according to Chinn, this explanation is largely a myth. The razors were a relatively new fad in the late 19th century and considered a luxury item, meaning they would have been too expensive for the gang to use.
“Any hard man would tell you it would be very difficult to get direction and power with a razor blade sewn into the soft part of a cap. It was a romantic notion brought about in John Douglas’s novel, A Walk Down Summer Lane,” Chinn told BirminghamLive.
“But I can understand why the series producers used the name because it’s infused with gangsterdom."
Is Tommy Shelby Based on a Real Person?
The larger-than-life anchor of the TV series, Tommy Shelby, returns in The Immortal Man and is again portrayed by Oscar winner Murphy.
Tommy and the entire Shelby family are completely fictional, previously confirmed by Netflix’s Tudum. This includes Keoghan’s character Duke Shelby, who was introduced as Tommy’s illegitimate son during the sixth season of Peaky Blinders.
However, show creator Steven Knight revealed during a recent Ask Me Anything session on Reddit his own relatives helped inspire some of the gang leader’s emotional traits.
“The character of Tommy—it’s a bit like having a dream for me. Suddenly, this character is there,” Knight wrote, according to The Mirror. “If you analyse it, I suppose it comes from my dad and uncles and people of that generation. Men were different then. They wouldn’t let any emotion show. They were like locked boxes.”
Stream Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man on Netflix
Murphy, also a producer for The Immortal Man, recently appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers and explained how the plot—heavily focused on Tommy and his son Duke—came together after the COVID-19 pandemic scrapped plans for a seventh TV season.
“It was really about figuring out what was it that made Peaky tick and what made Tommy tick. And it’s family, right?” Murphy said. “That was the whole, the main thematic kind of drive of the show. So, therefore, we figured out, like, it had to be, like, family had to be the overriding kind of theme in this as well.”
The Shelbys return to the screen for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, now available to stream on Netflix. The movie also stars Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth, and Steven Graham.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
