The real-life Peaky Blinders

PEAKY Blinders is returning to screens for more mayhem after thrilling viewers for over a decade.

- SUE LEE

But the truth about the real-life villains who inspired the series is just as gripping as the BBC drama.

New Sky HISTORY documentary series Original Gangsters tells the stories of some of history's most infamous criminals.

Psychologist Serena Simmons, a contributor to the programme, says: "We romanticise gangsters and the gangster era and it's easy to do because the stories are so compelling.

"People will always be drawn to gangsters because they're the stuff of myth. They are very good at creating mystery.

I think we're attracted by that." Peaky Blinders aired for six seasons between 2013 and 2022 and two more series and a film, The Immortal Man, are on the way.

They will take the saga into the 1940s and 1950s but the stylish, award-winning show is far removed from the crime gangs of Birmingham in the late 19th century.

At that time the city was one of the world's leading manufacturing centres but, while a few were pocketing vast fortunes, most lived in slums and at the mercy of thugs.

Birmingham historian Carl Chinn is an authority on the criminals of that period, being himself the greatgrandson of a peaky blinder - a "nasty vile man who used to beat up my greatgrandmother".

He explains: "It was a battle every day against 'King Poverty'. That king was relentless and uncaring.

"Fighting was almost a leisure activity for some men.

"They're living in poverty, they own nothing, they are looked down upon.

But the one thing that they've got is their fighting prowess." Thugs known as "sloggers" used buckled belts as weapons but the fore fathers of modern gangsters adopted a distinctive and uniform look.