Peaky Blinders is back, but without an invaluable member of the Shelby family – the late Helen McCrory, who played matriarch Aunt Polly.
Following the star’s death from cancer in April 2021, it was known that the formidable aunt of the main character Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) would somehow be missing from the series.
And minutes into season 6, the tragic details of Polly Gray’s exit storyline were revealed.
Tommy discovered his aunt was murdered off-screen by Captain Swing of the IRA in retaliation for his attempts to kill their fascist leader, Sir Oswald Moseley, at the end of season 5.
“We’ve made changes to the structure of your organisation,” Swing told Tommy. “You’ve had a crutch to lean on, we kicked away that crutch. From now on it’ll be us you lean on.”
She went on to tell Tommy that his aunt’s death was “his own responsibility because he consistently failed to understand his own limitations”.
In honour of her Romany gypsy heritage, the entire Shelby family held a memorial for Polly, where a carriage holding her body was burned along with her photographs and paintings.
The memorial also featured a three-minute silence to honour the actor and character, before the camera panned up and Polly’s eyes were seen in the smoke.
Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Charlene McKenna, who plays Captain Swing in the hit BBC drama, said of the events of the episode: “I was like I’m going to be the most hated person in England because I would hate me because I, like every other fan, adore Polly’s character and Helen McCrory the actress.
“I think they handled a very sad, very difficult thing very beautifully. I think someone counted and it was basically a two-minute silence. Anthony [Bryne] did that so beautifully. And it’s a very hard thing to do.”
Discussing her role as IRA boss Captain Swing in season 6, the star continued: “But yes, I’m bearing the brunt of being the reason that Polly is no longer with us. And everyone hates me, which is great.”
She added: “My role in that is to be as cutthroat as possible. It’s up for me to take the role and be the bad guy, take it on the chin – and hope that people remember that I am an actress. We’re two different people.”
Additional reporting by Abby Robinson.
Peaky Blinders season 6 airs on BBC One, and 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.
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