If you think you can walk into Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man without doing your homework, prepare to be as lost as a Birmingham bookie on Derby Day. The Shelby family saga spans six seasons of ruthless violence, political maneuvering, and enough emotional trauma to fill several psychiatric wards. Creator Steven Knight didn’t just make a gangster show; he created a mythology, and The Immortal Man expects you to know your Polly from your Portraits.
The historical Peaky Blinders were real—actual bookmakers and racketeers who terrorized Birmingham during the 1800s with their signature baker boy caps concealing razor blades. A concerned citizen wrote to the Birmingham Daily Mail in 1898 complaining that these gangs “think nothing of grossly insulting passers-by” and noting with resignation that “99 times out of 100, they are not even brought to justice.”
Knight took this seed of working-class criminality and grew it into an epic about the Irish-Romani Shelby family, who evolve from street thugs to legitimate businessmen to political players while never quite shedding their violent origins.
At the center stands Tommy Shelby, played by Cillian Murphy with the kind of intensity that makes you believe he could actually stare down fascism. A World War I veteran who survived being buried alive in enemy tunnels, Tommy carries the trauma of that experience like a physical weight. He and his men were given the dangerous task of digging tunnels under enemy lines to plant explosives, and when they were left for dead without ammunition or supplies, they sang “In the Bleak Midwinter” as they waited for the end that never came. “We all agreed that everything after that was extra,” Tommy says, explaining his apparent fearlessness in the face of death.
His soft spots—horses, his family, and a deep hatred of fascists—complicate the ruthless businessman persona. He attempted to take down Oswald Mosley, the real-life founder of the British Union of Fascists, using his position as a Member of Parliament. His relationship with his son Duke, discovered only in Season 6 following the death of his daughter Ruby, represents a rare second chance at fatherhood. “A daughter lost, a son found,” as his sister-in-law Esme puts it when breaking the news.
The family dynamics require their own flowchart. Ada Shelby serves as the siblings’ only sister, often at odds with the family due to her communist leanings and her relationship with the late Freddie Thorne, a well-known communist with whom she has two children. She juggles her admirable ideals with working at the less-than-admirable Shelby Company Limited, representing the show’s constant tension between political principle and economic reality.
Uncle Charlie, the non-biological uncle of the clan, works for Tommy handling shipping and illegal activities with the curmudgeonly demeanor of a man who has seen too much. Johnny Dogs, a longtime friend, has literally cleaned up Tommy’s messes by disposing of corpses and even brokered peace between the Peaky Blinders and the rival Lee family.
Season 6 ended with Tommy at his lowest point. His Aunt Polly had been murdered by the IRA. His beloved wife Grace, the love of his life, was killed by a bullet meant for him. His daughter Ruby died of tuberculosis. His second wife Lizzie left him after discovering an affair, taking his son Charles with her. To cap it all off, his physician Dr. Holford delivered a death sentence—a brain tumor with months to live. His cousin Michael tried to kill him with a car bomb, leading Tommy to execute Michael in retaliation.
Facing isolation and despair, Tommy attempted to end his own life. But before pulling the trigger, he received a vision of Ruby encouraging him to light a fire. Using a newspaper as kindling, he spotted an image of Dr. Holford alongside his enemy Oswald Mosley, realizing the diagnosis was fake. In a rare moment of mercy, Tommy let the physician go when the clock chimed armistice hour, then rode off on his horse into an unknown future.
This is where The Immortal Man picks up the thread. Tommy Shelby, very much not dead, remains one of the most fascinating characters in television history—a gangster with a conscience, a capitalist with communist siblings, a leader who destroys everything he touches while trying to protect it. The film promises to continue his story against the backdrop of World War II-era Britain, with Murphy returning alongside director Tom Harper and creator Knight.
To walk into this blind is to miss the weight of every glance, the history behind every threat, the accumulated tragedy that makes Tommy’s survival both miraculous and damning. The Peaky Blinders aren’t just a gang; they’re a dynasty built on blood and bad decisions, and The Immortal Man is the next chapter in their reluctant legend.
Prepare for the return—watch all six seasons of Peaky Blinders on Netflix before The Immortal Man hits select theaters March 6 and streams March 20.
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