Playing a blinder

Cillian Murphy hails his co-stars, Birmingham, Peaky fans and the end of an era

- By Vicky Dearden and Zara Zubeidi

CILLIAN Murphy has pulled on Tommy Shelby's razorbladed cap one last time, returning to the role that turned him into a global icon.

Showing in selected cinemas from tomorrow, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man serves as the bigscreen finale to the much-loved crime saga and expectations couldn't be higher.

For Cillian, 49, it's been somewhat surreal getting back into character after all these years. The sixth season of the hit show, which initially aired on BBC in 2013, wrapped in 2022.

He says: "It always feels fresh, but it always feels familiar, you know what I mean? Because I've been playing him for so long. But it always represents a challenge because the writing is so good. It's a gift that keeps giving.

"That's always been my job, just do the scripts justice. And they're remarkable pieces of writing, you know... 36 hours, Steve Knight [writer and creator] has written, so you've just got to really go for it, and it's been a privilege." Set in 1940, with the shadow of the Second World War looming large, the film, which streams on Netflix from March 20, finds Tommy returning from a seven-year exile to a very different Peaky Blinders.

The gang is now being run by his illegitimate son, Duke Shelby, played by Barry Keoghan.

Ada Shelby (played by Sophie Rundle) warns her brother that Duke has been "running Peaky Blinders like it's 1919 all over again." And Tommy isn't convinced he belongs in that world now, admitting in the trailer: "I can't help him because I'm not that man any more." Still, this is Tommy Shelby and walking away has never really been his style.