Daily Mail - 17.08.2019

Daily Mail, Saturday, August 17, 2019 Page 25

Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne.

Murphy conquered his during a

‘quite drunken Saturday’ with

Knight in the Garrison pub (which

features in the show).

Sam Neill, 71, who was born in

Northern Ireland but moved to

New Zealand when he was seven,

enlisted the help of fellow actor

friends James Nesbitt and Liam

Neeson to perfect the Belfast growl

of detective Chester Campbell.

LOOKALIKE ‘MOB’ LIFE

SCOtt BLOWER, a gardener

from Sale, Greater Manchester,

looks so like tommy Shelby that

fans (of both sexes) go crazy when

they see him — even abroad.

‘I was getting mobbed,’ recalled

Scott, 47. ‘Even on the plane

people thought I was him. It

was crazy.’ He has embraced

the resemblance, with a job in a

Peaky Blinders-themed bar, where

he is paid to stroll about in full

twenties garb.

Even his girlfriend, Nicola Stones,

admits she first fell for him when he

was dressed as tommy.

CASHING IN

tHERE have been numerous

Peaky Blinders-themed weddings,

parties — and even funerals.

the Jockey Club at Newmarket

hosted the first official Peaky

Blinders Race day this month.

An official Peaky Blinders

music festival will take place next

month in Birmingham, featuring

acts such as Primal Scream,

Anna Calvi, Slaves and the

Streets’ Mike Skinner.

Enthusiasts can also snap up

Peaky Lego figures, mugs, t-shirts,

pyjamas, duvet covers, beer, ale

and spiced dry gin, and sign up for

Peaky bus tours in both Liverpool

and Birmingham.

BOWIE TIPPED HIS CAP

DAvID BOWIE was a massive fan

and once sent a photo of himself to

Cillian with razor blades in his cap.

In response, the actor sent him a

flat cap from the show and, in series

three, in tribute to the late singer,

tommy appears in a hospital bed

similar to that of Bowie’s music

video Lazarus. Singer Ed Sheeran,

actors Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and

tom Cruise and directors Michael

Mann and Steven Spielberg are all

huge fans.

Rapper Snoop Dog called a

three-hour meeting with Knight in

London’s St Martin’s Lane hotel to

chat about gang culture.

IN GOOD COMPANY

WHEN it first aired in September

2013, critics called the show a ‘new

Boardwalk Empire’ (Sky Atlantic’s

successful gangster series set in

Atlantic City).

But Knight first pitched his

idea to Channel 4 back in 2001,

years beforehand.

Knight watches neither

tv dramas nor films, so has

never seen the Sky show, or any

number of the other top shows

to which Peaky Blinders has

been compared, such as the Wire.

PEAKY THE MUSICAL

A BOOK — entitled By Order Of

the Peaky Blinders: the Official

Companion to the Hit tv Series

— will be available from October.

A movie, musical and even a

ballet are also potential mooted

future spin-off projects.

And, if all that wasn’t enough,

Knight is now planning a 40-acre,

£100 million film and television

studio in the West Midlands.

TO BE CONTINUED...

KNIGHt, who has written every

episode of Peaky Blinders (and

already penned series six and

seven) says that the final series

will end when the air raid sirens of

World War II sound.

THE Peaky Blinders

might spend their

days hatching vicious

schemes to quash

their enemies, but

underlining every

Shelby plan lies

a deep-seated

conviction in the

importance of family.

Everything Tommy

does is to ensure

that the Shelby

family — who were

once desperately

impoverished

nobodies — continue

to wield influence.

While Tommy is off

plotting in London, his

aunt Polly Gray, (Helen

McCrory, right) more

than fills his boots.

Indeed, it often seems

it’s the females of the

Shelby clan who have

the real power — with

‘Aunt Pol’ positioning

herself as the family

matriarch and

Tommy’s sister Ada

(Sophie Rundle) one of

the few brave enough

to stand up to him.

THE AUNT WHO PUTS

TOMMY IN HIS PLACE

CILLIAN MURPHY, the 43-

year-old star of films 28

Days Later and Batman

Begins, shuns celebrity and

lives quietly with his artist

wife Yvonne McGuinness in

his native Ireland.

Helen McCrory, 50, is

married to Homeland actor

Damian Lewis.

Tom Hardy played Jewish

gang leader Alfie Solomons

and his real-life wife, Charlotte

Riley (both pictured above),

played posh May Carleton.

Sophie Rundle, star of

Gentleman Jack and The

Bodyguard, plays Ada Thorne,

née Shelby: the Shelby

brothers’ only sister.

Michael Gray, Polly’s son,

and Tommy’s brother John

Shelby are played by brothers

in real life, Finn and Joe Cole.

Hunger Games star Sam

Clafin joins some of Britain’s

hottest actors for series five.

STAR TURNS IN

BRUM’S BACK

STREETS

It started as a cult TV

gang drama. Now, with

millions set to watch

Peaky Blinders’ fifth series,

how its A-list cast (and

costumes to die for) have

spawned an entire industry

What an

absolute

Blinder!