The BBC has confirmed that a second series of Peaky Blinders, starring Cillian Murphy and Sam Neill, is on its way...When we met with writer/director Steven Knight on the eve of Peaky Blinders' BBC Two premiere, he told us that we were "pretty safe" to expect a second series commission. Six new episodes of the Birmingham-set crime drama had been confirmed "as far as the BBC ever do", and "all the main players [were] down for it and really enthusiastic".
Good news all round then, that it's been made official. The BBC has ordered series two of Knight's impressive six-part series, due to film in early 2014.
Knight told us he'd begun writing the new series in September, and that it would "start in 1922 and take us through that year and see Tommy make his next steps." What else can we expect from the second run? "There's going to be two new villains [...] we're going to have some good names, good actors to play those."
As relayed here, one actor Knight was trying to get for the first series was a certain Mr Jason Statham, so we can't help but wonder if he could number amongst those new villains. A website can but dream... Read our spoiler-filled reviews of Peaky Blinders' first series, and interview with creator Steven Knight, here. BBC