Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has revealed that his original plan for ending the crime drama has been altered by the recently announced film spin-off.
Cillian Murphy leads the cast of the hit show, which follows gangsters in Birmingham after the First World War, which returns for its long-awaited sixth season this year.
Knight had previously said that the show would end with the outbreak of World War II, depicting the first air-raid sirens to blare out through Birmingham as the devastating conflict began.
However, with the confirmation of a feature film continuation, the story of Shelby and his associates will now be expanded to follow them through the tumultuous 1940s – and this is just “the beginning”.
“It was always Britain between the wars – how the lesson from one war was not learned and was repeated,” Knight told Empire Magazine, explaining how he initially mapped out the Peaky Blinders saga.
“It’s also the end of empire: we enter the Second World War and by the end of it, there is no empire, really. But I… have revised the scope of what it is. It will now go into and beyond the Second World War.”
He added: “Because I just think the energy that is out there in the world for this, I want to keep it going, and I want to see how this can progress beyond that… I think of this sixth series as the end of the beginning.”
It’s unclear what the status of Peaky Blinders will be after the sixth season and sequel film, but that last comment suggests the franchise could stretch on for many more years and entries.
The star-studded cast of the upcoming episodes includes Murphy, Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit), Tom Hardy (Venom), Sam Claflin (Enola Holmes) and Stephen Graham (Line of Duty).
Peaky Blinders is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.