Spoiler Alert: This article contains major spoilers for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal, which premiered on Netflix on March 20th.
After six seasons of Peaky Blinders, Tommy Shelby’s reign in Birmingham and beyond comes to an appropriately violent end in the Netflix film Peaky Blinders: The Immortal. There, Cillian Murphy puts on his iconic flat cap for the final time before meeting a suitably messy ending. But just as the British crown is passed from monarch to heir immediately after death, so too is Chapeau passed from Shelby Sr. to his errant son the Duke, played by Barry Keoghan in the film.
A sequel spin-off to Peaky Blinders is in the works and will likely follow the Duke’s rise from crown prince to Brummie king, but viewers haven’t seen the end of the Shelby dynasty yet.
Ahead of the film’s theatrical release, creator Stephen Knight (who is also currently writing the screenplay for the next James Bond film) spoke with Variety about Tommy’s death, the very nasty father-son fight at the pig farm, and what’s next for Duke Shelby.
What was it like writing Tommy’s death?
I was especially moved when I saw the premiere the other day. Because He has always existed. For me, he’s been around since the ’80s. Because I wanted to do this on Channel 4 first. And it was always two brothers, the younger one being the leader. So, yeah, just to see that ending — and because that’s Killian and he did such a great job. But it’s also a character where you go to some pub and there’s this guy who’s a builder or something, and you know, he doesn’t look like a fan of any kind, he’s got his pants rolled up, and he’s got a Tommy Shelby tattoo on his leg.
Did you shed a tear?
As I write this, I sometimes find myself in tears. And I thought so.
Did you always know how he would go out?
No, that’s what I was trying to solve. I had a problem with that because Tommy Shelby said in the series that only Tommy Shelby could kill Tommy Shelby. But I didn’t want that to happen. And it suddenly became clear.
At what point did it become clear?
Probably about a minute before I wrote this.
Does that mean it’s Duke?
Yeah. That’s how it should be. Because this is about inheritance and legacy, and Tommy Shelby has always had a very interesting relationship with life and death. After World War I, he is constantly walking that tightrope – in Keats’s words, he is half in love with an easy death. And it’s not just that he’s probably mortally wounded. That is the conclusion of his journey. He goes to his family, meets up with Grace, and does just that. And the fact that he asked[Duke]to use a bullet with his name on it, it’s part of the tradition of son succession.
And in the end, Tommy is directing it, so he still seems to be in control. Did his funeral scene turn out the way you wrote it in the original script?
Yeah. Yes, what I wanted was to be with the mourners. And of course the book was important, and I wanted the words in the book to be his legacy, and that’s fine. But then it moves backwards so that the audience is invited to the funeral, but they’re not family, so when you see the flames at the end, you’re far away. It’s like stepping back from a painting to gain perspective. In fact, this is an event and you can see that it represents the fans of the show and the fans of Tommy Shelby. You were attending his funeral.
You can also get a glimpse inside the caravan. Is it what you wanted?
Well, I wanted him to lie about money. I thought that was very interesting. He has lived by saving money all his life. And now if he dies, everything will burn, he will take it all with him.
That’s a wonderful moment. Did Killian know that going inside would kill Tommy Shelby?
Yeah. I mean, it wasn’t me who said, “You’re going to die,” and we talked about it. In a way, it felt inevitable that this, this ending, would be with him. I couldn’t imagine him retiring. It had to happen, so it was just a matter of who and how.
Will we see more of Duke in the Peaky Blinders spin-off?
Yes, that’s right.
Will you be with Barry?
I can’t comment.
Was it difficult to film the shootout scene between Killian and Tim Roth outside the mortuary, surrounded by horses?
Obviously she has bangs. In other words, the impact noise was not that loud for horses back then. The horses were fine but we had to see them spooked. When that horse stands up in front of Killian and he’s standing there and he’s this far away from the hoof (gesturing), it’s real, not a stand-in. And it got to the point where it was like, “Oh my god, this could end really badly,” and Killian just stood there – and he’s not really good with horses – but he just stood there, and when the horse came down, he really started calming the horse down. I was filled with admiration for that.
Another memorable scene is the fight between Killian and Barry at the pig farm. Was it filmed in a studio or on location?
It’s in a really scary little garden somewhere. And the pigs, especially Barry, for some reason, as soon as he’s on deck, as soon as he’s on the ground, they try to eat him. Someone had to fight them off, and then you’re like, “Here we go again!” But yeah, that’s all true.
So is it real mud?
yes. And pig shit.
Oh my god.
So the original plan was to turn some of it into clean mud (as much as possible) without any pig donations, but pigs are the most lawless creatures on earth. And they trashed the whole place. And it’s the first day of shooting. So I’m there because I’m like, “Okay, let’s start the movie, good luck everyone!” Yes, it’s pig poop. Yes, they’re fighting real assholes in real mud.
How many takes did they do?
I think it was pretty quick. So it took me a whole day, but a little less the next day. I think[Killian and Barry]were both really good and they both understood the urgency and were pretty keen to get out of there.
I can imagine it. Naturally, it’s very slippery. Are the fights choreographed?
it was. And while initially Duke fights back even more and wins for a little while, in the end the editing felt right that if Tommy comes back, then Tommy comes back too and no one is going anywhere. So in the end he just wins. So they went through all of that for no reason.
Think you didn’t come out of the mud?
I’m a writer, so why would I end up covered in mud?
absolutely. Did you know from the beginning that you would have to recast the Duke, played by Conlan Kahn in the series?
Because of age, it has nothing to do with the actor, it’s 6 years later. And once that decision was made, I started looking, and there was only one person. I mean, he has the right look and he comes from the right place.
Do you think the show and film would have gone in a different direction if Helen McCrory hadn’t died?She played matriarch Polly Gray in the series until her death from cancer in 2021.
I think the basic story was the same. She obviously would have been in it too. But once she’s gone, you won’t know. It’s like you have all these magnets that are characters, and something is affected by that attraction, and if you take it away, it becomes something different. But losing Helen is very tragic. But we see her at the funeral, we see her picture.
Why did you choose a feature film format this time rather than another season?
Well, the plan was to make another season and then make a feature. But then the pandemic happened, so we couldn’t do season 7. So we thought, let’s tackle the movie straight.
Finally, speaking of movies, how is Bond doing?
Of course, I can’t tell you the details, but I really like it. It’s so much fun.
Will we hear about it soon?
I agree. Well, depending on what you mean by “immediately” (I’m not sure), yes. So things are going very well.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
